My husband and I went to Casa Branca for our 10 day honeymoon and wanted something special - we had seen the hotel on the Small Luxury Hotels website and took this to be a good sign as we have stayed in places listed by them before and always found them to be of good standard. Our normal holidays are off the beaten track and away from the hoards but nothing expensive.

Casa Branca is in a great location as you can walk down to the harbour easily (not so easy back up the hill but good exercise!) and it is also set in beautiful gardens. The staff are friendly and helpful and the food in the restaurant was some of the best we've eaten BUT...

...I would not class this as a Luxury or Spa hotel. We stayed in a Superior room and although the bathroom was lovely (marble and light and airy) the bedroom itself was very plain and sparse actually bordering on a Travelodge. The bed had the hardest mattress I've ever slept on. I like firm mattresses but this was seriously uncomfortable. The pillows weren't great either and there was no mattress pad between the sheet and mattress so the comfort factor was very definitely missing.

Also, service around the pool area was lacking. A member of staff came down once but of her own choice I think, rather than it being a regular thing. There were no complimentary refreshments, not even water, which I think should be a given at a 5 star hotel and in the hot weather. Something that really annoyed me was when I asked for a jug of water to have at the pool I was told I was not allowed this but would have to buy a bottle of their mineral water. I thought that refusing a guest something is appalling - I think the hotel is actually very expensive bearing in mind we were there on just a B&B basis so to be refused water so they can make more money by selling bottles was insulting. I also asked for a glass of water one evening when we were at the bar (already having ordered a few cocktails) and was told again that I could not have a glass but had to buy a bottle. I stood my ground and said I only wanted a glass and asked was it not drinkable or something and the barman's response was to frown at me and say in a very unimpressed way, "well i suppose it is but it's from a tap". Either way I gave up and to avoid the issue spoiling our stay didn't ask for water again!

Part of our booking was a champagne breakfast on our first morning which we were both looking forward to. The breakfast was just a basket of rolls and a couple of pastries (all cold) and the 'champagne' was just local fizzy wine - I called reception when we tasted it and they came very quickly with two flutes of the real thing but I do think they were trying their luck, presuming we may not have know the difference so they could keep costs down.

Lastly, do not go here expecting anything resembling a Spa! There is one treatment room and, although the lady doing the treatments is lovely very good, it is only her so she obviously gets very booked up and there are no his and hers treatments. The 'jacuzzi' is somewhat of a joke - it is little more than a sunken bath tub and situated in a seperate very sterile and cold room (despite us fiddling with the heating thermostat.) It was more like a hydro-therapy room in a hospital.

We were so disappointed with the lack of comfort and Spa facilities that we took a taxi up to Choupana Hills a few days in to the holiday to check it out. It does not fail to impress - stunning location but far up in the hills so you cannot walk into town, the spa is everything a spa should be and the cabins were furnished in a much more suitable way for this class of hotel. The only reason we didn't move to Choupana was because we would have forfeited our deposit at Casa Branca and this was simply not an option.

Having said all of the above, we had an amazing holiday but most certainly not due to where we stayed, just the fact that we were on our honeymoon and glad to be spending the time together.

We've just returned from our honeymoon in this hotel, which we booked partly on the strength of the reviews on here. We were not disappointed. Admitedly we usually go for much more budget holidays, so we can't really compare hotels of a similar class, but were really impressed.

The grounds were beautiful (and as my husband is a gardener himself, he can vouch for the skill of the huge team they had working there), and the rooms were well equipped and tastefully decorated. The facilities were great - lovely pool area, if a little cold, fantastic views from the deck bar, and nice to have indoor spa facilities as the weather wasn't great. it all made for a really relaxed atmosphere. Touches like free internet access in the library, umbrellas in the rooms for guest use and plenty of towels for use in the pool, spa etc, all added to the impression of luxury.

The location of the hotel was good - on the town end of the 'hotel zone', so both areas were in easy walking reach, and it was just set apart from the other hotels enough to feel secluded. There were lots of restaurants in the vicinity - we tried and liked Paradise, Moby Dick (non-promising exterior bu great, good value food and service) and Fora d'horas.

The staff were very helpful and pleasant, and most seemed to speak about 4 languages! They gave us complimentary wine and fruit on our arrival as it was our honeymoon, and more wine on my birthday, and little touces like this make a big difference.

The breakfast buffett had a great choice, including a menu of freshly cooked items. We ate lunch there once, which was nice if a little 'fancy' for lunchtime. The deck bar did lovely afternoon teas and evening drinks. We ate in the restaurant once, on my birthday, and were impressed by that as well, although it is a lot more expensive than eating in other restaurants locally, but a much more gourmet meal.

A few tiny criticisms (but none serious enough to warrant giving it less than an excellent rating!):
The food and drink was expensive, but I guess that's to be expected in a hotel of that class.
Sometimes some breakfast food was not hot enough.
As many reviewers have mentioned, tea and coffee making facilities would be good in the rooms - especially as the hotel were not great at either!
Again, as some other reviews have mentioned, the bar did seem a bit short staffed in the evening.

But none of these spoiled our enjoyment at all!

Having checked out the reviews on trip advisor we were not disapointed with our stay in the Casa Branca. Hidden away from the hustle and bustle and set within the most beautiful walled garden, he hotel offers a haven of peace and tranquility. It was really lovely siting out in the early morning having our breakfast watching the sun rise over the mountains The staff could not have been more helpful and friendly nothing was too much trouble for them. The bedrooms were a good size with everything you would require for your stay and the added bonus of direct access to the gardens. The restaurant was very good and obviously very popular.The swimming pool was tucked away at the bottom of the garden and was well equiped with sun beds, umbrellas, chairs, towels, showers etc. Walking from the hotel to the centre of Funchal took about 35mins and a very pleasant walk but remember if walking back it's uphill all the way!! but good for burning off all the calories. The majority of the levada walks are accessible by local bus which is great others you can reach by car or organised groups the choice is yours. If you decide to holiday in Funchal then check out the Quinta Da Casa Branca and enjoy.

Have just returned from a week at this lovely hotel staying in a superior room. We were looking for a quiet break and the location of this hotel is just perfect for this. A little away from the main business of Funchal with beautiful gardens. 5 gardeners are working full time there and it shows.
It is a shame the hotel has not given the same staffing ratio in some of the guest services. There was an excellent barman (Bruno) but he is also called upon to deliver room service and do other tasks. Guest often have evening room service and this impacts on the Deck Bar service with waits of 10 minutes to be offered a drink being quite common which we do not think a 5 star hotel should have. Bruno covered this well but sadly when he is on his days off, the lad put in charge is struggling and we saw guests give up and leave to have dinner without having a drink.
The Garden Restaurant is very good, it is true the breakfast is repetitive but very fresh and well served by the staff who are very friendly. We had pleasant lunches there and thought the prices were very comparable with prices in town.
The main restaurant is variable - we opted for 3 nights flexi dine and were surprised as others have noted to experience a different level of service to those eating a la carte. On the final night it all fell apart - Delia the head lady was not on - we asked for details of our a la carte allowance as we wanted to do something more special but were advised we had to eat table d hote even though the menu said ask for your allowance!! The set menu is strange as although there are 3 choices, one item is always repeated twice but cooked in two ways so we had a choice of veal stew, veal steak or fish one night; grilled tuna; baked tuna or lamb chop on the second and grilled swordfish; browned swordfish or pork on the third. The food was good and fresh and certainly those eating a la carte seemed to be very happy.
Reception was helpful and the restaurant recommendations were all very good. We also made our own decisions to go to Villa Cipriani and Sal Da Ajuder based on recommendations on these board and were very happy with these as well.
Poolside is lovely and there were never problems getting a chair but we did wonder if the hotel was full or maybe everyone was relaxing elsewhere as the garden has lots of nice corners for this.
Superior rooms are lovely but watch who you have booked it through as we were advised as we were booked through First Choice we were not entitled to free soft drinks as others were which was disappointing as we had seen this as a valuable perk. Not sure I would pay the extra next time, would depend - I also could not work out why, given the balconies are the same size as the terraces we were only given chairs, but ordinary rooms get loungers - however because the rooms were south facing we did not have the issue of having to pull the chairs around the gardens to chase the sun as ordinary rooms had - we had the lovely shutters as well so could pull shade over whenever we wanted.
Would we go here again - yes, but will recognise without changes this is a nice 4-5 star hotel and not, unless there are changes in the staffing numbers, a 5 star.