Afternoon Tea Time at Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel, Madeira — Restaurant in Funchal

I been looking forward to try the afternoon tea at famous Reids Palace hotel, the service on arrival was very good, I felt being rushed to order the tea but the young waiter was polite but seems inexperienced with the choices of tea when i asked and served me a wrong teapot that was for the next table but that was fine and well happy to wait but i was extremely disappointed after when I asked to take away the remaining cakes, i only ate the scones so all the remaining cakes was left, i asked the waitress if i can take it with me and she immediately said no, i asked why, and she said for safety reasons but cannot elaborate further whats safery.I understood that there is restrictions due to covid19 but the cakes are already in my table uneaten.I touched some of it, the safety option is for me to take it away since i am its already served to me and i am Paying for it or they want to keep it for them to eat it ( if thats the case, its ok but how safe is that- how do they know that i dont carry a virus)or if they will throw it as wastage. It doesn’t make sense!! All the hotels in London are happy for the customers to take away whatever left at the table why not at Reids Palace hotel in Madeira? The lady manager then came saying they dont have boxes cakes?? Hello, Are you supposed to be 5 star?so she gave me 3 napkins to wrap it myself all those 7 cakes in thin napkins!!! What customer service is that for a five star hotel??? The male waiter called “Rui” save the embarrassment by giving me a bag when saw that i was struggling to wrap my cakes. Rui was excellent and efficient but the lady manager needs more customer service training, her service was substandard. And by the way, the male toilet was smelling of old urine. Its clean but it smells, not...

Ridiculous from start to end - this is a great idea but so poorly executed. Until it is not radically improved, it is totally unworthy. I am a tea lover and I could not be more disappointed.

Tea, to begin with. Tea is cold since the start, tea leaves are directly into the water so the first sip tastes like water and the last make you sick for how strong it is. If you ever get to the last, because at that point the whole thing is chilled.

Food. Poor quality anonymous savoury bites, the scone is either too dry or got dry because it's old, the little cakes just taste like sugar and fat. In addition, they serve one thing at the time so you cannot choose in which order to eat, which makes the whole thing way less relaxed than tea time deserves.

Place and ambience. The little terrace is ok, but nothing special for Madeira - the lounge bars just next door have some insane views in comparison. But above all it is cramped with tourists stuffing themselves up and speaking loud. They make a big fuss with reservations weeks in advance, no sport attire, and an unjustifiable price, and then you find your chair touching the one of the table behind you.

Service. On the positive side - the staff was lovely - all of them. They managed very professionally my negative opinion when they asked me about the experience, and were genuinely sad I did not enjoy it.

I hope they will steer it up, to be truly premium quality and special as it could become. Until then, spare your time - there are a million wonderful other things to...

TDisappointing Experience -

We visited Reid’s Palace for afternoon tea, hoping for a luxurious experience, but were sorely disappointed. We ordered afternoon tea for two along with a bottle of bubbles, (total approx £500).

Before we were halfway through our tea and bubbles, the bill was abruptly brought to our table without us asking. It felt as though it was almost thrown at us, with no explanation or courtesy about why the table might be needed. There was no effort to offer us an alternative seating arrangement if they were in a rush to turn over the table. To make matters worse, the bill was incorrect, and the staff’s handling of the situation made it all the more uncomfortable.

As for the setting, the hotel itself feels outdated. The photos are misleading, and what’s advertised as grand and classic is actually tired and reminiscent of the 1990s. The furniture and decor could really use an update.

The food was mediocre at best. The sandwiches were nice, albeit the bread was a bit too thick. The scones were the highlight—perfectly done. Unfortunately, the patisserie items were far from five-star quality. The strawberry cheesecake, for instance, collapsed into a mush when we tried to take it off the plate.

All in all, I’d rate this experience 2 stars. There are much better places to enjoy afternoon tea, and Reid’s Palace has a lot of work to do if they want to live up to their five-star reputation. I wouldn’t...