Hotel Cais da Oliveira — Hotel in Santa Cruz

Please be aware that the following is my subjective criticism and I'm really trying to be constructive. You might have different tastes and needs. It was indeed very clean and I can't complain about the staff. It was not the hotel's fault that I was there during Storm Oscar. Located in a cluster of hotels in the municipality in Santa Cruz, and I suppose the architecture works around the natural topography. I don't mind taking stairs but it wasn't one singular stairwell but the stairs are located in a different part on each floor, which took time to get oriented for me. It had an elevator that went from its 5th floor to 3rd but then one has to walk below that. The reception is currently in the Royal Orchid Hotel, so it was a 5 minute walk to the reception following signage through a maze of corridors and stairs. I would not recommend if one has mobility issues, but maybe I could say that about many places in Madeira. On arrival I was given a "hospital" bracelet to wear during my entire stay. I understand they need to identify and security but I hate it and it makes me feel like a patient. Maybe it's standard in some places but this is my first experience with such an identifier. My room was clean but there was really bad wear on some details. My room had a kitchenette, which is great, but wear on the stove's dials' label (just hanging off), rust, fridge was not flush under the counter, and I wasn't very confident with the wiggly latch on my deck door. I had a deck that looked onto the pool. That was nice. I know every house has issues with bugs etc. but I had two successive cockroaches visit on day one and two. I accept this to an extent but you may want to know this. I was there during Storm Oscar. I had heard 900 mm in the few days. The wall outside my door and some entrances showed seepage issues.

The food and restaurants I tried were okay. Again, beautiful awesome views though. The breakfast & lunch buffets felt like an institutional cafeteria, not like a warm restaurant.

I tried a massage at the spa. That is the one experience I would give 5 stars to. And Lima, the man who helped me in, was a great help showing me around.

The views and environment are absolutely gorgeous from shore to the town. Who can complain about the Atlantic ocean? But in my experience, sometimes places like these trade on the natural beauty but don't try as hard for the hotel. People who keep it as a base and spend most the days doing other activities away might appreciate it more.

But after this experience, for me, I have decided that next time I would rather pay more, stay in a major center as a homebase, and visit lovely places like Santa...

A great hotel to stay at, this is one of a group of three, all amenities are on hand no matter what hotel you stay in. The rooms were a standard size, ensuite and were cleaned every day. We did get ants one day but a quick visit to reception and we got some ant killer spray. One application and we never saw ants again for the whole holiday. We were in room 106 which was level with the swimming pool. The pool ( not very large or deep) was very cold (November) the sea was actually warmer. There was stairs leading down to the sea with sunbathing terraces off to the side of these stairs. However, you could not get to the sea as it was roped off as the concrete peirs were damaged and the beach was covered in large rocks. You could however use the stairs leading down from the next hotel to get to the sea. Word of warning it's very deep here and can get rough, so if you are not a great swimmer use floats. The hotel is on a shear cliff so if you have children or are frightened of heights beware of the edge. It is fenced off and quite safe but do watch. The hotel has quite a lot of stairs internally but there are lifts and the hotel is at the bottom of a steep slope ( you can't go anywhere in Madeira without having a hill to climb at some point). We had full usage of the Roco De Mars indoor pool, jacuzzi and saunas. Our hotel has an indoor pool which was slightly warmer than outside the jacuzzi however didn't work. There is a restaurant in the hotel but we never ate here so can't comment. The bar area is really nice, but again the seating area outside is on a vertical cliff (with safety glass to stop you falling over). The servers in the bar were polite, prompt and well presented they did a great job, always said hello, goodbye and were very helpful, their English was better than my Madeirian/Portuguese they are a credit to the Hotel. A very nice hotel to stay in but if you are infirm, suffer from vertigo or use a wheelchair it might prove to be difficult. The cost of a taxi into Funchal is €20, the bus which is uphill 2 Streets away is €2.20 (prices correct as of Nov 2022). The hotel does run a shuttle but usually only runs during the busy season. There are 2 supermarkets close by and a few bars and...

We stayed here in February/March 2022. This is a 3 hotel set up, with Royal Orchid (currently under complete renovation) and Roca Mar. We checked in at Roca Mar, but our room was in Oliveira just up the road.||The restaurant & bar were at the Roca Mar, accessed either by street, or along the back of the hotel by the sea view cliff walk. The staff there were very friendly and helpful, especially in the bar mixing a mean Mojita. There were plenty of outdoor tables and chairs, where you could spill out from the restaurant and enjoy al fresco dining. ||We didn't realise at the time of booking that the hotel was primarily used by German guests, and we missed chatting to fellow British holiday makers.||We stayed here for two weeks, and the menu was the same each week. The usual salads, fish, pasta, meat & vegetarian options, not much choice on the desserts; so a little disappointing. Breakfast choices were good, with lovely bread rolls, but no toaster available. Good coffee machines, serve yourself.||There was an indoor, but unheated pool - chilly in Feb, but would be lovely in summer, and an outdoor pool too, with plenty of sun loungers - if only it had been warm enough to lay on one!||Our room had a balcony with sea view, a little dated, but a comfortable bed with plenty of pillows, comfy armchairs with table & chairs both inside and on the balcony. It was serviced daily, bedding changed several times during our two week stay, and kept very clean.||We are fairly fit in our late 60's, but found that the hotel, built into the cliffs, had lots of stairs whichever way you went, and was a little daunting at times. Unfortunately this is not a hotel for older guests and definitely not...