Overall we were very disappointed with this holiday. Hotel too remote, up long mountain road with hair-pin bends and often rocks on road. Not a lover of sheer drops, I hated this journey and by the end of the week my nerves were jangling. Once back at the hotel there was nothing to do and nowhere to go in the evening. Also a lot cooler than down in Funchal. HB basis and the food was poor; just two choices for starter and main at evening meal and as a non-meat eater I was sick of espanda (black scabbard fish) by the end of the week. Puds were poor too. The vegs were overcooked and my husband was serverd undercooked chicken and rancid steak. Most nights we were on our own in the restaurant and it was quite chilly. On the plus side, the staff were lovely. We hoped to walk levadas in Nun's valley but rep advised against this as they are quite treacherous and yet the proximity to levadas is one of the main attractions given for this hotel. Two nights maximum would be enough at this hotel.

We arrived the Monday after the worst of the fires on Madeira, hotel had just reopened but were welcomed warmly. All the staff are exceptionally friendly, food was good but a little basic if you are on the half board menu (drinks not included but not to expensive). Hire car is a must here. We would definitely stay again.

LOCATION: The main drawback of this hotel is the location. It is NOT within walking distance of anywhere and the local bus service is awful. The hotel is situated in the hills and accessed via a steep winding road traversed by regular coach trips. You will need to book a car. The hotel has an excellent souvenir shop attached to it - best prices in Maderia for a Morrocan cow-boy hat :)

FOOD: Restaurant was expensive, and the food ok. Better was the snack menu - eat outside on the veranda. Beware, at weekends it seems to be a popular wedding venue and the main restaurant is NOT accessible when a wedding is on, although you can order food.

ROOMS: Adequate with air con (working and not extra). Huge balcony. Clean sheets and towels. Very quiet at night.

HOTEL GROUNDS: Nicely presented. NO SWIMMING POOL ONLY A JAQUZZI. Excellent views, near to a local and very impressive scenic beauty spot. Massive balconies.

OVERALL: Decent enough for the money, and I would go back to this hotel again but probably not back to Maderia.

RESORT: I found the island a little boring and expensive. Best restaurants are in Funchal - but they are pricey as you are sharing the island with the Cruise ship crowd. 10 days in Maderia was LONG.

DO: Whale watching and visit the Blandy's Sherry factory. Go walking - be warned the walks are HARD unless you just want to stroll the promenade. There is also an island located nearby that is inhabited only by Tarantulas (there are no Tarantulas on the main island). Do expect fantastic views and challenging hiking type walks. There are also some great and historic little towns on Maderia built by the Portugese.

DONT: Go into ANY gift shops - the sales people are VERY pushy. Don't expect large sandy beeches - there aren't any.

We stayed at this hotel for 8 nights towards the end of March 2010. After the recent damage to the Island we were hesitant about going, but were encouraged by the local reports and blogs from the Islanders. We both enjoy walking and as this was our first trip to Madeira we wanted to stay somewhere outside of the many Tourist Hotels in and around Funchal, hence the reason for choosing this Hotel. Our first impressions were how steep the terrrain on the Island was, the Hotel is perched on a large flatish ledge that overlooks the Curral Valley, approx 800m above it , so the views down to the valley floor and the surrounding mountains are breathtaking. There are only 25 bedrooms in the hotel, which are split over 2 floors below the main reception floor, all the bedrooms are at the back of the hotel which overlooks Curral Das Freiras, they all have balconies of some sort, so the views from your room are wonderful. The front of the Hotel is geared up to receiving the hoards of day trippers off the Cruise Ships, which come up the narrow roads throughout the day to take in the views. Adacent to the Hotel is a bar and large shop selling local hadicrafts. The Day Trippers make the place seem busy, but they don't interfere with the general operation of the Hotel. From outside the Hotel entrance there are steps up 50m or so to a viewing platform, which seems to hang over a precipice! The Public areas in the hotel are quite spacious, with lots of comfy chairs to relax in, and a Pool Table on the lowest floor. However, we found that during the evening the lights here were never switched on (there is a switch in the fuse box on the wall), and there was no heating, and as it was late March it was still rather chilly in the evenings at this altitude. As for the other Hotel's amemrties, the Sauna was never working, and the water temperature of the Jacuzzi was only 32deg, so not really hot enough to relax in. The Restaurant is very good, meals were well presented and not overpriced, though the menu didn't vary from day to day, so if you were staying for a couple of weeks you would soon work your way through it. There is nowhere else to eat in the locality. Breakfasts were good, with fresh fruit, eggs, bacon etc, plus the usual bread/rolls/jam./cheeses, can't really be faulted.
For walkers like oursleves, a lot of the Tourist Guides do not recommend that you hire a car, as most of the walks are linear so you generally dont end up where you started. The alternative is to use the local buses on the Island, which are frequent and cheap. The Bus service that servers the Hotel area is #81, which goes form Funchal to Curral Das Freiras, a few of the buses (3 per day each way) divert to call at the hotel, otherwise it is a 3km walk down to the main road below to the bus stop. However, the buses from here are frequent and run into the late evening, which is not the case in other areas of the Island. The trip down the hairpin bends down to Funchal can be hair-raising, It generally varies from exciting, to reckless, or suicidal, depending on the driver. The late evening buses are probably the scariest, as there is little other traffic on the roads, so the drivers just assume they have the whole road to themselves and go for it!
There is a decent track down from the Hotel to Curral Das Freiras, which takes around 75 minutes, a bit longer back up. The local Levada walks in and around Curral are all closed due to the recent damage, so we ended up catching an early bus into Funchal every day after breakfast, and then another bus to our Levada starting point, this required some degree of planning the night before, as you have to co-ordinate the start and end points of your walk with the bus services. Overall it was an enjoyable holiday, the views from the hotel are fabulous, but be prepared for lots of waking if you dont have a car.