Quinta do Monte — Hotel in Funchal

After reading the reviews we almost cancelled our trip however I'm so glad we didn't! The hotel is a hidden gem and the main building is full of character and antique furniture with beautiful rugs. If you're into the glitz and glamour of new prefab hotels this one isnt for you, but if you're a fan of culture and history you will find it charming! The extended hotel part is adequate and clean, the hotel rooms are huge and have amazing views over the gorgeous exterior which is very well maintained and basically an extension of the tropical gardens. The room has a smart tv, wifi and a fridge although we only discovered this on the last day as its not obvious its in the tv stand! The bar is in part of the old house so it's gorgeous, the restaurant in the new part which is rather uninspiring however breakfast is fairly good with a selection of options to suit everyone. We found the staff to be very friendly with only one lady working the restaurant to let down the team, both encounters with her she was rude and edgy. The reception staff were great and Therese who seated us for breakfast most days was exceptional and so warm and friendly! I was particularly impressed with housekeeping as the ladies were so friendly, they made up a cot for us with bedding and sheets which was so lovely, kept the room clean and replenished and more than few times they placed lost items that had made their way under the bed somewhere we could easily see them which was so thoughtful! We used the bus or the cable cars to get into Funchal both of which were handy. It would be great if the hotel guests could buy a week pass for the cable cars or something similar. I also thought due to the location it would be really handy if there was a vending machine or if the reception sold big bottles of water etc as its not that easy to find commodities nearby. The baby high chair didn't have its straps, so was quite unsafe for a small child but easily fixed. A little information pack in the rooms with bus information, nearby shops and restaurants, how to request facilities and a summary of available facilities at the hotel would be a great addition to...

The good: The hotel looks exactly like in the photos. The garden is very big and very beautiful, the view from the garden and from the rooms is very nice. The breakfast was good, not many options but enough for any taste. The room was spacious and clean. The cleaning staff did a great job. The furniture is old but I guess it kinda adds to the charm.

They have an exist near the cable car and the entrance to Monte Palace Tropical Garden and a lot of roads and alleys inside the garden, so it's easy to get around.

The bad: The moment we arrived we were told the pool wasn't heated and we booked the hotel mainly for the heated pool and the gardens. When we got to the room we saw the heating wasn't working. The receptionist wasn't helpful at all, she expected us to stay in the room as it was. After a lot of discussions we received a small electric heater, kept together with duct tape and too small for the entire room, not to mention the bathroom. We wanted another room or our money back, in order to go to another hotel. No additional help was provided, they refused to change our room and refused to give us our money back. It was like I was talking to a wall. I had to call Booking to help us out. I never had to ask Booking for help, at any other accommodation, that's how inflexible the receptionist was. Only when Booking intervened did we receive a second electric heater, that we had to put in place with a hanger, because it would fall down. All this took 3 hours.

I slept with 3 blankets and both electric heaters on max. The bathroom was cold and the vent wasn't working. The next day we found out the heating wasn't working in the entire hotel. We stayed for the entire booking - 7 nights and nothing was resolved

Wifi never worked.

Oh, and to top it all off, they sent me a cake to my room for my birthday. We didn't ask for it, but I thought it was a nice gesture, considering we started on the wrong foot. Well, at check-out, they asked us to PAY FOR IT. What a nice parting gift :).

Keep in mind they present themselves as a...

Ignore some of the negative reviews, I swear some people just love to moan. I stayed for a week in October. The rooms are generously sized and very clean. They are cleaned every day and towels are replaced, we found, if you left the damp/dirty towels in the bath. The mattresses on the beds look new. The rooms are dated and could do with refurbishment, the odd cracked tile in the bathroom and odd marks on the walls. However it didnt detract from overall stay. The room comes with a refrigerator in one of cabinets, wifi and decent smart tv. Its in a very quiet location in the evenings however it is busier in the day outside the hotel as the cable car and gardens are located nearby. We didnt bother hiring a car as an Uber is into Funchal is around €8 and the bus stop next to hotel provides regular transport to the city costing only €2. The streets nearby are very narrow and difficult to pass however this is the same for any of the monte residences and just the way the island is set out. The staff were excellent and provided milk and tea to room on request. Everybody was very friendly and bent over backwards to give us information or help. The breakfast is okay, not top tier but theres definitely enough variety to cover most peoples needs including fresh fruits, bacon, eggs, bread, cold meats and cheeses and variety of juices and tea and coffee. The pool house is a little run down. The jacuzzi is out of service when we stayed however the pool was set at 25°C, the waters clean and not over chlorinated. There is not a lot of eateries around the hotel however we ate at Barbosas, a ten minute walk, most nights and food is top teir. We would happily stay at Quinta do Monte again should we...