Quinta do Monte Panoramic Gardens

The staff were very accommodating, and room service was good. There’s easy access by cable car down to Funchal for entertainment. The hotel has beautiful surroundings and exceptional gardens full of subtropical plants. A lovely, quiet place to stay.

The staff were excellent, friendly and always ready to help or share information. They brought milk and tea to our room when we asked. The hotel is very quiet in the evening, though the area outside gets busier during the day because the cable car and gardens are nearby. We found the room very clean and spacious, with daily cleaning and fresh towels when we left the damp ones in the bath. The mattresses looked new. The rooms are dated and could use some refurbishment, with a cracked bathroom tile here and there and marks on the walls, but that didn’t spoil our stay. There’s a fridge in a cabinet, wifi and a decent smart TV. We didn’t hire a car. An Uber into Funchal was about €8, and the bus stop next to the hotel had regular service into town for just €2. Nearby streets are narrow and tricky to pass on, though that seems to be how the island is laid out. Breakfast was okay rather than top tier, but offered enough for most people, with fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, bread, cold meats, cheeses, juices, tea and coffee. The pool house is a bit run down. The jacuzzi was out of service during our stay, but the pool was clean, at 25°C and not over-chlorinated. There aren’t many places to eat near the hotel. We went to Barbosas, a ten-minute walk away, most nights, and the food was top tier. We’d happily stay at Quinta do Monte again if we return to Madeira.

The views are excellent, and it’s very quiet at night. But this is absolutely not a 5-star hotel. It’s outdated, charmless and needs significant investment. The staff were generally polite, though rather cold, and nobody seemed to enjoy working there. I can’t understand the Google rating above 4. There are loads of amazing hotels on the island, and this isn’t one of them.

Lovely gardens and views, and some nice sofas, Christmas decorations and a pool table. A few staff were lovely too. But it’s a real trek up steep, narrow roads, though that seems true of anywhere a bit inland. One entrance gate shuts at 6, which makes the walk to the only local restaurant twice as far. That restaurant is great quality, luckily, because the hotel restaurant’s menu is limited and quite expensive. Going elsewhere means driving down and back up the hills on the one-way system. The hotel is nice enough, but definitely not a 5-star place. The heating and air-conditioning seem permanently broken, though they gave us portable radiators. The indoor pool is cold, and the jacuzzi doesn’t work. The restaurant photos are misleading since the conservatory area usually isn’t set up with tables, perhaps only in peak season. There are no bathrobes or room service. Lifts are noisy if your room is nearby, and we heard other humming noises overnight and early in the morning. The walls are thin.