Quinta Bela Sao Tiago Hotel

"We absolutely loved our stay at this hotel. It was a lovely traditional building which had plenty of character set in an fanastic location in the old town just minutes away from the cable car, although bit of an uphill walk from the centre which wasn’t a problem for us. Every single member of staff we encountered were really friendly and helpful. Our room was a decent size and we had a balcony with a beautiful view over the pool, gardens and sea (we did book a garden view to ensure we had a balcony based on previous reviews!). Lots of choice at breakfast and we had dinner in the restaurant one evening which was superb, although plenty of other options close by in the old town. Don’t forget to visit the bird cages at the bottom of the garden! I’d definitely recommend and hope to return to this hotel again in the future."

"Lovely hotel in a great location just minutes walk from the old town with its restaurants and bars. We booked a Garden View room and got almost a suite with 3 sitting areas plus a balcony. Absolutely huge. Breakfast was fine with plenty of choice although the cooked food could have been better We only dined in the restaurant once ( on a wet evening ) and it was OK but nothing special so we preferred to eat in the old town. It is a short steep slope back to the hotel but wherever you stay in Madeira is up a hill"

"An attractive hotel with lovely antiques dotted around the public areas. The staff are lovely and always ready to help. From ocean view rooms and the hotels terrace there’s a brilliant view of the ocean and the cruise ships. The restaurant we initially found very good and indeed if you’re just there for a week it is, however we stayed for several weeks and the menu became repetitive and we began eating out. It’s very close, about 10 minutes walk to all the eateries in the old town, however this entails walking down a very steep incline, easy down but not on return. Anyone with a disability should beware. My partner has breathing difficulties so we started using taxis back, but several overcharged so we found that the number 40 bus stops outside the hotel and we used that with success. We had a lot of problems with the air conditioner, being winter the nights are chilly, the maintenance were unable to fix it as it just recurred and we were given a heater which took up the sparse power points. We asked for and got a kettle which came with coffee, tea and two mugs well presented on a tray which was nice. All in all we enjoyed our stay in this pretty hotel, however we don’t believe it is deserving of a fourth star."