Cais da Oliveira Hotel

The property is made up of three connected hotels, with rooms and service at a good standard. Its pools outside have lovely views of the sea and islands, and there's also a great spa with a heated indoor pool. Funchal is some distance away, so you'll need a taxi or Uber, roughly 15 euros.

The setting worked really well for exploring Madeira. Canico felt calmer and sunnier than Funchal and the northern coast, with Funchal about 10 minutes away and the island's other places and hiking routes roughly 20 minutes to an hour away. Shops and plenty of restaurants, Italian, Portuguese, fish, Asian and Russian, were within a five-minute walk. We found them good and reasonably priced, without the tourist traps we saw in funchal. Cais da Oliveira is the oldest building in the Rocamar hotel complex. The rooms are a little dated, but ours was very spacious and spotless, with a great sea view from the balcony. Breakfast and evening drinks are served at Rocamar, a few minutes' walk away. That made Cais da Oliveira feel like the quietest of the three hotels, and we slept well. Breakfast was very good, especially on the terrace overlooking the ocean. We also loved all three pools, the indoor spa and direct access to the sea. There were plenty of free sunbeds each day. Staff were professional and helpful throughout. Parking costs 7 euros a day and is worth it, since street spaces nearby were usually hard to find. The one small letdown was mediocre Wi-Fi. We really enjoyed our stay and thought the price for what you get was very good. Already miss Madeira!

The hotel and apartments were great, and the spa is well worth visiting. The steam room was excellent, while the sauna felt a bit cold. Our room was clean, and breakfast had lots of choice and was lovely. The location is good, with some good local restaurants and a few bars, but be ready for Madeira's hills.

It's a relaxing place, with good walks around the village, though there's not much else to do there. The sea view is lovely, reception is friendly, and cleaners come in daily. There are only two English-language TV channels, so bring a book. The food at the place called the "snack bar" is really good and reasonably priced, despite the name. The hotel bus to the capital costs 5 euros and is worth taking, but it doesn't leave until 17.30, so it makes for a long day.