Quinta das Vistas Palace Gardens Hotel

I stayed there a week ago with some friends and we had the time of our lives. We made an online reservation on their website witch is very complete and organized. Its a delightful hotel, with amazing view, and I just loved the arquitecture. Excellent service and personal attention, the staff told us what we needed to know about the island and the best way to enjoy it. The accommodations are great, with quality furniture and very clean. The food is delicious. Great interior and exterior heated pools, surrounded by beautiful gardens and their SPA has a nice relaxation room with panoramic view, and a lot of other services, including massage, Jacuzzi, Turkish bath... Great holidays to remember and hope to return soon.

Beautiful hotel with an ambience beyond compare and fantastic surroundings. Great service, the staff is very helpful and friendly. Congratulations for the design interiors in perfect harmony with the old traditional house. Most important, my husband is on a wheelchair and we had a special double room perfectly accessible. I recommend this hotel and the Madeira island itself if you just need a peaceful and wonderful place to be.

I went there this summer and all I can say is that it's a beautiful hotel with the most charming & friendly staff! The view is breathtaking. I already recommended to all my friends! Excellent hotel and spectacular island. I will return for sure!

Stayed with my husband for a week in June 2004 and had a wonderful time. It's five star hotel that lives up to the five star rating! The view is breathtaking, probably the best view in Funchal. The pool and terrace were wonderful, the restaurant food delicious. Worth ever penny, we're planning to go back next year.

I was looking at reviews of this hotel, as I was planning to stay there again soon. I was absolutely astonished to read the views of whoever wrote "Cold Throughout". I was fortunate to stay at the hotel in March last year and both my wife and I thought it was excellent. It is a very elegant and personal medium sized hotel. The food was superb and the ambiance sophisticated. I have travelled extensively and it is one of the best hotel experiences I have experienced. No it is not a "major". 5* star hotel, but you do not need to be big and part of a major chain to be 5*

My wife and I stayed here in July 2003 and it was a fantastic relaxing experience from start to finish. Taxi pickup at airport, arrived extremely hot and had the fantastic experience of arriving at the hotel to be greeted by friendly and attentive staff by our names, our luggage was immediately taken to our suite and enjoying the cool and refreshing air conditioning throughout the hotel. Our suite had fantastic views across Funchal harbour on one side and the mountains on the other from a large balcony. a bottle of madeira wine and what I thought was tasty cake waiting for us to enjoy. Robes and slippers freshly available for us. The restaurant we just kept coming back to time and again during our stay. The quality of the food and it's preparation kept our taste buds coming back for more. After a delicious meal on the restaurant balcony on an evening with a nice bottle of red all served by highly professional and friendly staff who could give a run for their money to many that we have experienced in hotels all over Europe, there was nothing better than a walk through the large and well maintained gardens. before retiring to our huge, freshly turned down bed (After another glass of Madeira on the room balcony!). Did I mention the lovely touch from the maids, little wrapped chocolates placed on each pillow every evening when the bed was turned down. Next morning a swim in one of two pools, one of which is half indoors and half out, balancing a drink on the side of the pool whilst staring out over the harbour. Delicious Lunch on the restaurant balcony(As good as dinner for quality, variety and service). A 20 minute walk down the hill to the centre of Funchal. On return another swim followed by massage in the hotel. Several days of that and you never want to go home, you certainly want to return which we will do next year! day trips around Funchal or the rest of the Island are easily organised by asking the reception staff who we found could not be more helpful. I assure anyone we are not in the pay of the hotel but I was prompted to write this after seeing a couple of dodgy reviews of the hotel and felt I had to put the record straight. Someone mentioned that the staff were stuffy!! The staff in our experience were professional, friendly and attentive, though not obtrusive. The week was not cheap, but if you want a week of luxury and pampering then take it here.

This is a Beautiful small hotel. We stayed with our baby son and found it very lovely. views from terraces and rooms were excellent. Lovely pool. restaurant was good ( a bit over the top on silver service) lovely cream teas on terace in afternoon! but room service food wasn't up to the same standard. The pool was small but very relaxing with treatments available. We will definately go back.

We had a lovely week at the Quinta Das Vistas in February this year. It is a lovely looking hotel - small and intimate. The staff were helpful and inobtrusive - perhaps a little too inobtrusive at times. Breakfast buffet varied and generous. Rooms are lovely - cool and simple with the hugest beds! The bath in the bathrooms is very small which was suprising and there is a lack of storage space. Restaurant was nice, excellent food and not too expensive (although bear in mind that it is not expensive at all to eat out in Madeira). Pool is nice but small and the pool deck is comfortable. Very badly understaffed at the weekend. It is a walk into Funchal (about 20 minutes downhill) but we did eventually find a quick way - however a taxi is only about £3-4 from cental Funchal. The peace would keep me up here anyday despite the hotel's small faults.

I stayed at this property during Feb '03 for one week. Upon arrival late in the evening there was no official (i.e. person employed as) porter to help with luggage, instead a female receptionist wandered out to help. The room and bathroom were of a good size, and comfortable, but no great claims in the design stakes; furniture was not top quality. A complimentary bottle of Madeira wine and the most revolting fruit cake formed the welcome gift. The bar area had no fulltime bar staff, instead cocktails were mixed by the restaurant waiters, and not well I must add. The bar food, like that in the restaurant was excellent, if a little classical in its styling. Service was stuffy and old fashioned - flambéed steaks at the table in the 21st century in a modern property was most irregular and terribly naff. The whole hotel itself was cold, i.e. the temperature throughout was cold. The health centre was also cold, and the pool just 18 degrees celcius which was far too cold for winter, after complaining they warmed it to 20, still too cool. The "spa" comprised a sauna, steam room, and a couple of treatment rooms, pleasant enough, but nothing special at all; even the jacuzzi was cold. This cold theme continued into the restaurant, "bar". The general manager spent much of his day showing tour operators around the property, and much to my annoyance walked them from the garden (which was muddy) into the swimming pool area. Overall, this hotel does not have enough staff, by pure numbers to be a five star property. I'm not one of these people who from just having a poor experience will relegate a five star category property to a three star. However, simply examining the physical structure of the hotel, rooms, décor, the property is, at best a four star superior. The service is of this standard, but nothing more. I managed to book this property at a very low promotional rate, that was what it was worth. The rack rates published now are terribly overoptimistic on their part, the property is simply not worth it. Furthermore, it is positioned about 20-30 min walk from the town centre, this is a walk along roads, some of which do not have pavements. For around 180 USD it is a good buy, and will suffice as a comfortable base. I would reccommend a hotel located in the centre of Funchal by the sea, the Cliff Bay or Crowne Plaza are good alternative. Reid's traditionally being the premier property, and as such a more expensive substitute. Enjoy Madeira, it's a pleasant island, but don't choose this place unless you get a very good deal.

Newly opened hotel, formerly the manor house residence of a prominent Madeiran family. Elegantly furnished and beautifully appointed spacious bedrooms and public rooms. Wonderfully relaxing location perched on top of a hill, away from main tourist area. Fantastic panoramic view over Funchal, yet only 20 minutes (very steep) walk from the centre (5 minutes in a taxi). Excellent facilities with hanging indoor/outdoor pool (if a bit small!), excellent range of spa treatments as well as gym. Food wonderful - half board menu changes daily. Highly recommended for location, food and relaxation in true 5 star style, but probably not for children. We will be back!