Spent a week in December 2012 here looking for some Winter sun and found it. Great weather pretty much all year round means this is a great Winter destination. You can lie by the pool and swim in the heated pools even at this time of year and get a great tan. Hotel is advertised as 4 star and possibly just about gets there (bit dated) but the main advantage is the sister hotel which is just a few paces away and you can walk between the two via connecting pools and corridors. This means you get double the facilities, great pools (indoor and out), spa, restuarants, etc. I booked a suite which had two rooms and this was fine. Not as large as expected but adequate with great sea views. Try and get a higher floor facing the sea. You get nice balcony and can sit out and watch the sunset every evening. Loads to do in funchal and in Madeira and definetely you need to hire car and explore island, have fun in the casino and take the great cable car rides up into the hills. Would recommend Madeira and this location. Funchal is definetely the place to stay on the island and I would avoid other resorts unless you really want you escape, as I saw little to do in other places on the island.

I have just returned from Funchal after a fantastic stay at the Eden Mar Resort. I have to thank the hotel staff and management for a wonderful visit and for the flowers, champagne and rose petals in our room to celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary my wife and I were most impressed. I am now a blue club member of the Porto Bay group and we will certainly stay here again.
The reception staff were very friendly and always available to help and offer advice and guidance. Our studio room on the fifth floor was perfect, very large, comfortable beds, kitchen facilities and lovely views out over the Atlantic Ocean and the hotel gardens. We only ate breakfast in the hotel and we found the selection of food more than adequate for our needs, there was a fast selection of breads, fruits, cold meats and hot items to choose from. You would really have to be picky not to have a good breakfast to set you up for the day. The rooms, reception areas and the restaurants are spotless and the level of cleanliness superb.
The facilities are excellent with a choice of indoor and outdoor pools, mini golf, table tennis and various hotel organise events like Yoga, garden visits and a free courtesy bus to Funchal. The gardens are well worth a visit and they are well maintained by the hotel team.
Overall I found the Eden Mar to be an excellent and very comfortable place to stay and we will return.
We were very fortunate with the weather with five sunny days in the low twenties and two overcast. Shorts and tee-shirts during the day and a jumper and long trousers at night.
The Christmas lights, flowers, Christmas nativity scenes, choirs and live music in Funchal was first class and well worth a visit.
Visited our usual places for lunches and diner Solar da Ajuda, Casa Italia but our favourite this time was the restaurant at the Whitehouse, lovely surroundings, excellent service and food. They are serving a tourist menu for 15.50 euros, courvert, starter, sirloin steak, desserts, dinks and coffee good food at a great price.
The only downside to our break in Funchal was to find some of our favourite places closed/shutdown, Joe’s bottle shop, Boutique cake shop and the small café restaurant just passed the Forum Shopping Centre which was called the Batidos Snack/Café bar. They used to do great fruit smoothies, fruit salads, soups and snacks which we both missed on our recent trip.
That’s all for now so I would like to wish all on this forum a great Felix Natel, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Spent a week here in November and thoroughly enjoyed it. Had room 1202, if I remember rightly, and thought the premium for a larger suite was worth every penny. The suite was a good size and had a great sea view, though it was above a car park. This didn't worry us at all, but might worry some. In fact, the car park is part of a very good supermarket which is located underneath the hotel and we found this a great benefit. As other reviewers have said, the breakfast is excellent. Ate one lunch at the hotel - very good, with large portions. Hotel is excellently located for many good restaurants within walking distance, but it's a goodly walk into Funchal town centre. There is a free hotel bus shuttle service which needs to be booked at reception, or there are always plenty of taxis and/or buses. Used the swimming pool once and thought it well maintained and with good facilities.

Always a pleasure to come back! Our fifth time in this hotel (and twice in the Residence). Staff is very friendly and always helpfull. This year twice a week a concert of classical music from students of the conservatory. Also a golfclinic. Three times a week aquagym with Aurelio, who let us exercise very hard to loose the calories we gain from the nice meals. He knows all of us by name! The garden was as lovely as ever and the weather was also very nice. We had breakfast on our big terras outside in the morning.
Looking forward to come again next year.
Joke