Golden Tulip São João da Madeira — Hotel in São João da Madeira

Nice looking hotel but lacked convenience and comfort. Air conditioning never worked although promised will be fixed. Every day spent with room window ajar. Had to sleep with window open to let the crisp air in (fortunately the nights were cool) from outside otherwise the room is just too uncomfortable to sleep- and I live in the tropics lol. Not recommended for light sleeper as sleeping with the window open means hearing the occasional rooster crow and dogs barking in the middle of the night and early morning. The afternoon sun literally bakes the hotel room in the day. Interestingly the lobby and lifts are always well air conditioned.

Dinner was a set menu with no alternative options and the food was mediocre- I would recommend to eat outside River Restaurant is just a short 10min walk and serves great Portuguese roast chicken- I’ve written a Google review about it :)

However, I would give three stars. One for the staff who are lovely ( the guys are all very attentive and responsive), and the second for amenities such as reliable fast wifi and rooms although show signs of wear are well maintained and clean. TV channel choices are abundant and room is well stocked- toilettries, bottled water, range of towels, bath robes, luggage stand, mini fridge with drinks, charging points, etc. Bed and pillows are comfortable.

Was here for a business trip with colleagues and noticed quite a few other business guests staying here too.

I would not recommend to stay here if it’s more than one...

We stayed for two nights and we were really disappointed by the cleanliness and the hotel staff. I tried to reach out by email with the following points to the hotel directly as well as to the corporate office of Golden Tulip. But emails remained without answer. Therefore I post my experience here.|Hotel staff is untrained, never greets and has pretty much no idea of hotel business, one guy was working in a t-shirt. The air condition was not working when we arrived (can happen). Two person of our group were trapped in an elevator.|There was a fire alarm at around 10.30pm without any further information. The back of the bed and the bed frame were full of scraches, also in the restaurant (artificial leather wall). There were traces inside the toilet of the previous guests. The toilet brush was an absolut nightmare. Inside the kettle (I used for my baby) were little animals (silverfishes). Why would a 4star hotel use paper cups in in the bathroom and for the coffee in the rooms? The curtains had holes. All chairs and the sofa were full of stains. The shower head holder was broken. Breakfast buffet was just not on the level of a 4 star and presented without any care.||I hope to inform other guets before the...

Sadly this is a hotel which has never hit its potential. In an area that is desperately in need of a decent hotel, this had all the potential. Sadly, one owner after another (it has changed names a few times since it opened about 10 years ago) have conspired to turn something with true potential, into an absolute mess. The last time I stayed here, the sheets were threadbare, and the towels were full of holes. You should not accept that from a 2 start hotel, never mind a 4 star establishment. The staff were equally disinterested. When I complained about the sheets and the towels I received the standard response "we will advise housekeeping", but said in such a way that indicated that this would have been a regular complaint from guests. At one stage, I asked to see the manager, and was advised that there "no-one from Management is available". I suppose that says all you need to know. Will wait for a further change of ownership before stepping inside this...