Looking at other reviews I assume we were unlucky in visiting this hotel in low season but our experience is that this is a four star not a five star hotel; most of the extras that make the difference are missing. We have just visited at a time of year when the place was almost empty. Visitors were missing and so were the staff. At no time were there more than three other couples at dinner or breakfast. The bar didn't open before dinner, unless you went in search of somebody or waited; we waited 20 minutes after arriving in the bar at 6.30 one evening. The quality of service in the restaurant was highly dependent on who served you. We had good service for two nights of our stay on poor service on the other. Food was similarly patchy; one good meal, one average and one poor. We were offered a beverage tray in our room; thats great, except that the milk wasn't changed over three days and by the time we left it had completely separated. The pool was closed during our stay too. On the other hand the single receptionist/concierge was impressive. The setting is wonderful and the transfer bus down to Funchal, fifteen minutes away, was reliable. The alternative of the cable car is very expensive.

32 years ago we thought Madeira sounded the place for our honeymoon but our finances would not allow, now with family grown up and financially self sufficient the time came to treat ourselves. We were not disappointed.
Preferring countryside to city we opted to stay up the hill in Monte at the Quinta do Monte. This is a truly lovely hotel set in gardens with views over the city to the sea. The staff are charming and welcoming, the accommodation clean, tidy and comfortable, breakfast is a veritable feast of a continental buffet and hot food, although we did not partake of the restaurant meal in the evening, we had very enjoyable meals in the bar (although eating off our knees was a little tricky). The pool is quiet and in a pleasant area of the grounds.
The hotel is accessible to the cable cars, and local bus services and therefore the rest of Madeira is in reach - even on Sundays. We enjoyed walks from the hotel both up the pilgrim route to Our Lady of Monte and along the Levada de Touros to Camacha, however these would not be suitable for anyone with compromised mobility.

After one night at the sister hotel at Funchal (Perestrella) with quite some traffic noise, we asked for at transfer til Quinta do Monto in the mountain village "Monte".
Very wonderfull place, Wonderfull garden, great wiew. Quite nights. Very friendly personnel at the hotel.
Will definitely come back again.

We stayed here as the final hotel on a walking holiday with Inntravel. It is quite an imposing entrance and the receptionist was impersonally professional, although others were much friendlier. Our room was a welcome sight - 2 big beds (our only gripe were the pillows which were thin and lumpy and not what I would have expected), good bathroom, plenty of storage space, good balcony and a lovely view over the gardens and down to Funchal through the trees. We were staying half board and dinner was a little uncomfortable as there were only 3 couples eating in the huge dining room and the 2 staff waiting tables were very attentive. The cost of drinks on the menu were ridiculously expensive. Monte is flagged as being an elegant and upmarket area but it must be said that apart from a couple of basic bars/cafes, there is nowhere decent to eat, and nowhere at all in the evening apart from the hotel - strange! The hotel is a couple of minutes from the Cable Car station. The courtesy bus is excellent - and free.