Calheta Beach Hotel

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5 readers found this review helpful

My husband booked this on a whim, he was really bored, and it was a cheap offer.
We had never been to Madeira before and had no idea how far the Hotel was from the airport, we also didn't realise that there was little to do in Calheta itself, hence no hire car at the airport! We got a taxi from the airport, cost €70! John nearly had a heart attack!
Anyway, the hotel is fantastic, beautiful rooms, lovely pool, although a little cold in February.
The breakfast was a buffet, mostly catering to the Dutch and German guests but with a nice line in bacon and eggs as well. We got into the habit of getting a couple of rolls and some cooked meat slices for lunch too.
We did hire a car, after the first day when we walked miles, all up-hill! And woke up the next day unable to walk! Very steep hills! So we hired a smart car €13 a day, our first experience of the little bumper car! (Nothing to do with holidays, but we've now bought a smart car for over here, because we loved driving it so much over there!) Anyway have car, will travel, and we went everywhere on the island.
We picked up leaflet about the various bus tours and followed the maps so we saw everything that the tour buses saw but more so, we stopped at one point and there was a guy selling fruit and he let us try all these weird and wonderful things, some of which we even bought.
We loved the island but a week is definitely enough, we saw the mountain tops and the depths of the caves and we loved it all but after that there's not much to do.
Don't be put off, it really is a beautiful island, and if you stay in Funchal, the capital city, I think there will be a lot more to do. Enjoy, fionat.