Hotel Quinta Bela S Tiago

This is a very good hotel in a good location, far away from the over-developed 'hotel district' and close to the old town with its narrow, vibrant streets lined with restaurants and bars. Very high-quality finishes and fittings, quiet, relaxed a**osphere, super views from the restaurant, terraces, garden and pool area. Staff are pleasant, generally helpful and formal without being too distant. We loved it, despite a few minor *******, none of which would prevent us from returning. However: Our bathroom: High-quality finishes and fittings, but beginning to show its age, with one or two defects in the bath enamel. Our bedroom: lovely view, nice balcony, good size, good bed, but with a strange, unreliable and totally unnecessary remote lighting control. We just used the switches. Breakfast: perfectly adequate but rather unadventurous with a decent but limited buffet. A few croissants and pastries would liven it up. Also, a hotel of this quality shouldn't really be providing so-so machine-made instant coffee. We stayed b&b, but had two a la carte evening meals, both of which were very good. We also had two bar snack meals, again good quality.

We’d looked into the foyer of this hotel on previous visits to Funchal and chose it for our February 2022 stay. The hotel has a very elegant look. The reception staff, breakfast waiters and the general manager were all very ‘off’ and discourteous. Quite ironic that the hotel is part of the ‘Charming’ group of hotels, as none of the staff have been to charm school! The one smiling team member was the gent who served the hot food at breakfast. Breakfast selection was not up to 4 star standard. Overall a disappointing experience and I will not commend it. A shame as I love to share recommendations. They need to learn the importance of customer service, and the importance of a smile. But the manager - she set the standard very low by her own example. I did not like being asked to pay €1 to borrow a knife to use in our room to make a sandwich !!! We will return to one of the Pestana hotels, with smiling courteous staff.

First impressions were excellent - a lovely old manor house with sympathetic extensions. The view from our balcony was stunning. Staff were polite but not over helpful. Breakfast was standard - a bit disappointing for a 4* rating as cooked food was always luke warm. We were attracted because of its location to the old town, but were in for a shock as access down anywhere was extremely steep or along a busy, dangerous road. This should have been in the description of the hotel as my husband has limited mobility. We overcame it by using a local bus and taxis. Again, this information could have been included in a welcome pack. No welcome pack and no drink making facilities. Bar was small and cosy and not easily accessible.

Having visited Funchal many times since our first visit in January 1999, we were intrigued with the style of this hotel situated in the Zona Velha (Old Town). The location is good, but it can be a bit of a struggle back up the hill after a day’s sightseeing – however a taxi is going to be in the region of 5 euros. We booked a package deal via Jet2 and possibly foolishly did not check out the reviews on TripAdvisor (lots of poor and even dire reviews!!). Thank goodness we did not check the reviews as if we had we would not have booked and would have missed the opportunity to stay in this lovely Quinta. The reviews we read bear no resemblance to our experience. The hotel is very tastefully furnished and has no resemblance to the large concrete and glass hotels in the Lido area. Staff are polite, unobtrusive, and efficient. On check-in we were given a free upgrade to a room on the second floor which gave us an excellent garden and sea view and we also received a voucher for a complimentary drink. We only ate at breakfast, however we wanted for nothing and there was no limit to what you could choose – breads, cheeses, cold meats, salad, fresh fruit, cooked breakfast, and delicious honey cake. Even the local cockerel waited until 5.30am before giving us his morning wakeup call – this actually added to the holiday as it made us feel that we were truly in the heart of Madeira. Definitely worth a visit and we will return.

Well located only a short walk from the old town dining streets and the bus station for those wishing to bus to the Lavadas. Built in 1897 and renovated to preserve that old classic style the hotel is comfortable with a pleasant garden and swimming pool. They claim it is heated but it felt mighty cold when I sampled the water! Wi-Fi is good. You can ask for a kettle in the room. I did not like being asked to pay extra to use the in room safe. Breakfast was OK but the fruit choice was not the best. We are frequent visitors to Madeira and would use this hotel again

Great location for old town. Staff were friendly & helpful & breakfast was very good. Pool was too cold to swim in in February. Our room was clean & one of the digest but was on the corner of 2 roads which could be noisy at times. The remote control required for lights was problematic & AC stuck on 16 degrees but switched it off. We have given 4* because of this & the fact that gym & sauna were closed due to COVID. We would stay here again.