"We had a deluxe suite room on floor -5 – this is one large room, rather than multiple rooms, as the word ‘suite’ often implies. The balcony was vast (although there were only two chairs, despite the room sleeping four) and the views were amazing. We found the wardrobe space to be ample, the beds were reasonably comfortable and the TV, that could turn to face in either direction, was a quirky touch. The minibar was unusable and seemed to get very hot; a small empty fridge would have been much preferred. There were some finishing touches that seemed to have been missed (wires hanging knotted from the ceiling etc). We requested extra pillows via a QR code and these were delivered to the room without a fuss. The air conditioning system seemed to work well and was included in the cost of the room, whereas the safe did not appear to function (there was a hole drilled right through the door!).
Staff in the reception area could be hit and miss. Some were friendly and helpful. Others behaved as if it were an inconvenience to have guests at all. At check in, we paid the tourist tax (which we anticipated) but were also asked to put a €100 deposit down on a card. I did this without arguing about it though I wondered why it was necessary. In the restaurant, the staff appeared to be annoyed when I wanted to pay for our drinks with cash, so we ended up agreeing to put things on the room tab. I made sure this was below the €100 taken already. However, at check out, I was informed that I had to pay again to clear the room tab and then wait for the €100 to be refunded back to my card. This took over a week to clear. It was definitely a faffy situation and we observed another family struggling with this as they had not anticipated needing more money available whilst the hotel 'sat on' the original amount.
We did not use the bar as the hotel information stated this was for adults only; as a result, we did not get to enjoy any entertainment during our stay.
The restaurant was on floor -9. We often walked the four floors between the restaurant and our room as there was only one tiny customer lift available (plus lots of banging and clattering of engineers appearing to be working on a second lift) - the lift was so small that we couldn't fit in as a family with our suitcases, which is far from ideal. A singular lift in a hotel built across ten floors resulted in a lot of waiting around or braving the many, many flights of stairs.
In the restaurant, the food was okay; we all found things to eat. For dinner, there were usually two meat choices, two fish choices and some vegetarian options alongside the side dishes. My son has two severe allergies; the staff were helpful and, each day, the chef would come to speak to me to show me what was and wasn't safe. On a number of occasions, there wasn't a "main" item that was suitable and they graciously offered to cook a steak for my son - these steaks were incredible and seemed to be the envy of everyone else who walked past our table. Dining at the time the restaurant opened, we were always able to be seated by the window, with amazing views out over the ocean. Breakfast starts at 7.30am; we had two full day tours but these collected us at around 8.15am from the main road - it meant we were able to have a very quick breakfast before heading up to the collection point. If you wanted to do a tour that would leave earlier, however, I suspect you would have to forfeit your breakfast.
The hotel location had pros and cons. It was beautifully quiet - I often sat on the balcony and enjoyed only hearing the sounds of the ocean. We welcomed the calm and the quiet. You have access to the main coastal footpath from the bottom of the hotel; we enjoyed walks in both directions after our evening meals. However, there was no supermarket/mini market available within walking distance (that we found) and there were only a small number of cafes/restaurants nearby too. In other hotels of this rating, a small onsite shop is common for water and other essentials, so this was a key failing in a hotel so far out of town. If you were not staying half board, I expect you would have to drive to eat out or source food each evening.
The pool area was lovely and clean - with lots of lizards to watch as you relaxed. It felt private as it is raised about the coastal path. The children's area is included in the main pool, which was great as we were able to encourage our son into the larger pool area with ease. There are a lot of steps down to the pool - this is detailed on the Jet2 hotel page but should not be underestimated. Once you exit the hotel on floor -10, there is a steep and long decline down to the pool area including concrete steps, wooden steps and sloped areas. The pool bar was okay; we ate there twice without any issues, aside from being pressured not to pay with cash. The chicken toastie was especially nice. We also had no issues getting a sunbed, although we only went down to the pool area after 4pm (when we returned from our adventures).
We hired a car for part of our stay, so we booked a car parking space at a cost of €10 per day. However, we decided to utilise organised tours instead and returned our car early. When we informed reception and returned our lock/key (leaving space available to be rented out to another customer), the man actually laughed at the idea that we might be able to have any sort of refund. It left a bad taste in the mouth.
We utilised the bus into Funchal on a couple of occasions. We had no issue reserving a seat using the link provided at reception. We booked the 9.30am bus out and the 4.30pm bus back; this gave us enough time to explore lots of museums and other areas of Funchal and still have time for a swim in the pool. The bus drops you off near the Ronaldo statue, so it is an easy location to find when you want to return to the hotel. Given the traffic, I would recommend using this service instead of driving into Funchal in a hire car.
Overall, we had a pleasant stay but I would not class this hotel as a 4* and I think there are a lot of things that would need to be improved to make it so. Long dark corridors, the tiny lift, poor reception staff attitude, limited local facilities etc all count against such a high rating. However, the restaurant staff are a real highlight of the hotel; they made our stay a lot easier than it might have been, especially given the allergies we present with."
