"It’s a very good, 5 star hotel. Very spacious and the main hotel is on the top of a cliff with levels below where you can lounge and use the poolside bars (Blue Lagoon, Cactus Bar).
Pools: heated, one indoors (29ºC) with a channel through to the outdoors - easily accessible. A second, salt water pool (22ºC) below the hotel under the cliff, just above sea level with a kids pool nearby, a lifeguard and access to swim in the sea. There are lot of loungers but in the busy seasons it could be difficult to find a spot.
Kids: there is plenty provided for kids. A well equipped indoor playroom and a playroom near the kids pool where pool toys can be taken out or played with inside. I’m not sure what supervised activities are provided.
Rooms: The best rooms have a Funchal view and the higher up the better. If you book a suite (superior upper floors), you get fresh flowers, fruit and wine on arrival, free water & juice from the mini bar and can have breakfast at Il Gallo d’Oro and Avista restaurants.
Restaurants:
The main restaurant (Rose Graden) is very good with a view of the gardens and the sea - provides a large buffet for breakfast with a very broad selection of local and continental food plus a section where eggs, omelettes, pancakes, waffles etc can be made to order. Evening meals were of a good quality but expensive. We paid for a 5 night evening meal package (€120 for two) but would not recommend this as it is expensive and gives you a fixed menu, a house wine and coffee. It was better (and cheaper) to pick and choose what you wanted off the a la carte menu and wine list. Has a good selection of local wines and those from mainland Portugal.
A two Michelin star restaurant (Il Gallo d’Oro) - serves a quality breakfast (served and buffet) for those with a suite and high quality evening meals. Has a good view over the gardens to the sea.
Avista restaurant: perched on a cliff edge and has a spectacular view across to Funchal. Serve a quality breakfast (served and buffet) if you have booked a suite. The evening meals are similar to the Rose Garden and perched above in an old house above is the Avista Asia restaurant, with equally spectacular views of Funchal. The service was not perfect.
Bars: The Cliff Bar is open most of the day serving drinks and smaller meals. Good to relax at at lunch or in the evenings. Has a happy hour each day and most nights they had live music. Some seats have good views across to the sea. The Blue Lagoon and Cactus bars closed too early (6 or 7pm).
Other rooms: there are rooms indoors where you can sit and relax (Navigation Room - great views). There is also a well stocked games room.
Gyms & Spa: We didn’t use these but they looked good.
Location of the hotel: 17km from the airport. It is less than a half hour walk into Funchal. The walk back has a bit of a pull uphill initially but there are plenty of busses (1, 2 & 4) at €2 a trip. If instead of turning right to Funchal, you turn left, there are plenty of hotels, restaurants and a good, modern shopping centre (Forum Madeira) with a decent supermarket. It is about a 20 min walk to the Forum or a €2 bus.
Things we experienced:
Transport: The taxis are inexpensive, and there are very good busses with routes all over the island for a fixed €2 per trip. It was very valuable to have a hire car for part of the stay and tour the island and its villages. The main roads which encircle the island with some cutting across are excellent. It becomes more challenging on the smaller roads!
Weather - We went in October when there can be rain, but we had two weeks where every day the temperature was around 25ºC with little rain. A good time to go as Madeira was not too busy.
Funchal:
Funchal Cathedral worth a visit.
Funchal Old Town - some of it was interesting but it is full of tourist shops and not very good restaurants. We enjoyed walking around Funchal as there is very interesting architecture and history. The Jesuit College Church and Town Hall were worth a visit.
São Tiago Fort - a bit of history of Madeira and their fending off of pirates and invaders. Very good views back over Funchal and the port.
Mercado Dos Lavradores (farmers’ market) - a highlight of our visit. Full of fresh, local produce. Good to visit on a Friday when the traditional fish market is in full flow.
Blandy’s - there are other Madeira wine producers (H&H, D’Oliveiras, Defreitas) but we had a good tour and tasting at one of the most historic.
Cable car (15 min) from Funchal up to the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens.
Monte Palace Tropical Gardens - we drove up to the gardens and also took the cable car from Funchal. A fantastic collection of flowers and trees with views over Funchal. It has other interest (art, history) and is the point where you can take a toboggan (Carreiros do Monte) back down into Funchal.
Cabo Girao Miradouro (a drive) - towering glass skywalk (589m) at the top of a cliff. Would have been spectacular views but the clouds came in and we couldn’t see anything.
Restaurants: Restaurant Casal da Penha (Michelin bib) near the port of Funchal was very good - traditional, local food, good portions and although the terrace is promoted, eating inside with the local people was more interesting. The Mozart restaurant in Funchal was recommended as was Cabo Aero Cafe in Sao Jorge.
Places we missed:
Sao Vicente Caves - lava tube caves (were closed for renovation following an earthquake).
Walks along the centuries-old irrigation canals (Levadas) which criss-cross the island.
Ferry to Porto Santo.
Carreiros do Monte - not for us, but going down a steep hill into Funchal in a wicker sled was extremely popular with very long queues.
Would go back. The staff were excellent."
