We stayed for a week at the end of January. Hotel rooms on 7 floors all with balconies, end rooms on floor 7 have huge balconies with the two at the east side enjoying panaramic views over Funchal and the harbour. 8th floor is the roof sun terrace with a bar, jacuzzi and sun beds. All sea view rooms overlook the large heated (21 C) swimming pool. Outside games area has shuffle board, putting, chess and a golf practice net. Games room has pool, darts and table tennis.
Evening entertainment was OK.
One internet computer in the library, WiFi is €5 per hour.
Hourly bus service to Funchal from just outside the hotel or a 30-40 min walk DOWN to Funchal and a long hard slog UP back to the hotel.
Overall we would certainly recommend this hotel for excellent value and food, very good rooms and service and although it is not in the best position, you do not need a car.
P.S. Take your own tea, coffee, chocolate for use in your room.

We needed to get away...and in search of Winter sun our options where very limited. We are both in our 30's so when we arrived we were a little bit surprised at the average age of most of the other guests (65+)..however we quickly found out that this was to our advantage! we had the pool, sauna and most of the leisure facilities to ourselves!

Breakfast, buffet and staff (very friendly) all excellent, wine list a little limited but hey it was good enough for us. We ate out twice in 7 days but the food outside the hotel was terrible....too many bad restaurants to choose from..so stick to the hotel. There is an a la carte menu available at an additional charge...if the buffet gets a little too much.

Overall we were delighted with this great find! cant fault it...

Stayed for one week, end of Januay, beginning of February, half board. Food was fab and plentiful and the evening meal was based on a different theme each night e.g. Italian, Chinese, Madeiran, but with a wide range of other basics which were on offer every day. Even the fussiest eater would have found it very, very hard to complain about choice given the wide variety of food available. Gluten free etc. options were available and clearly labelled. Al a carte was also an option in an adjoining part of the restaraunt. Wine was reasonalby priced, with special offers each night on particular labels.

Original artwork lines the walls in all public areas, inlcuding the stairwells, which creates a pleasant and interesting backdrop to all other activities.

The resident band, a duo called Obsession, were exceptionally cheesy (Sorry guys but you were) and people voted with their feet a bit when they played. It was very difficult to work out where they started and where the excessive and overproduced backing track of instrumental and backing vocals ended. It felt a bit like, do we really need you there, why not just put a CD on and we will sing along ourselves?

The other aspects of the entertainment were fine. Gail, one member of the entertainment staff had a really good voice, which you could actually differentiate from the backing track which she used.

The hotel is about 2km from the centre of Funchal, so within easy walking distance and a short distance from the sea. However, you need to know that the hotel, as they almost all are, is built on the side of a hill and so most trips on foot will end with a walk up quite a steep hill back to the hotel. We noticed that a lot of people walked into Funchal or down to the sea and got the bus back (very frequent service) or a taxi. The taxis all seem to be Mercedes and riduculously clean (they must wash them hourly). Anyone who has been, will know what I mean. There are ranks and ranks of the, all identical, and all immaculate.

West Island tour is brilliant and very good value for money, including a three course meal in an idyllic fishing village. One of the best tours we have been on, and we've done squillions over the years. Lavada walking trips are also highly recommended and graded so that you can choose on which suits you. They follow some of the thousands of kilometres of lavadas (water channels, which distribute water from the mountains to all parts of the island. Guides accompany parties and point out things of interest. Not to be missed if you are a walker.

Rooms in the hotel are brilliant, but don't be fooled by the term "Mountain View". Found it very difficult to understand how the air conditioning worked and couldn't find any instructions anywhere. Great to have FM in the bathroom. People everywhere were very, very friendly and helpful.

Had a brilliant time and would recommend.

Overall a fantastic stay full of great views, great trips, great food and excellent customer service. Well done Thomsons .. you really put Thomas Cook etc to shame. The entertainment was OK with Chris and Gayle really pleasant and trying hard to energise some pretty old guests. We got the average age of the guests down to 75 and we are in our 40's!!

My only gripe? The bar prices were high i.e. 14 euros a bottle of wine and the same as you could get for 4 euros down the road tut tut Savoy.

Sort this out and its a cracker of a place .... hills are very very steep so beware if walking is difficult. I could hammer nails with my calfs by the end of the stay.