My husband and I stayed here in early July 2011. I had read the reviews on Trip Advisor and was quite excited to be going here, especially as I am not a fan of mass tourism and large hotels.
I have to say, I am finding it hard to believe that I was in the same place as the others who have so positively reviewed this B&B. Yes it is a bit remote - that is fine and what we were looking for. We knew that and that is why we chose it and, in fact, the grounds are quite lovely. What I had a major problem with was the intense smell and presence of mildew in our room. The room had mold stains all around the walls near the ceiling, in the closet and mostly in the bathroom where the bathroom walls had so much mold on them, I found it surprising no one has noticed this? I am very aware of the fact we are on a subtropical island which is very humid. I am from the South of the US and know about humidity, but it is unacceptable that no one has done anything about this. In fact, the general state of the bathroom was surprising (very old bathroom fixtures, an old white plastic shower curtain (with mold), rust stains in the tub, a broken clothes rack with the broken pieces on the floor still (how no one noticed this and removed it is beyond me). And of course, as previously mentioned, the quantity of mold on the walls is not acceptable.
Unable to sleep in the room because of the smell, we had to sleep with the sliding glass doors wide open and during the night, found the resident cats in the room and on our bed. I have my own cats and do not necessarily mind this, however when I went in the bathroom to find the cat on the toilet seat, drinking the water out of the toilet bowl, this is where I draw the line.
The following morning, I asked the assistant manager if we could move to another room, but unfortunately there wouldn't be one available until the following day - which meant another night in the moldy room we were currently in. Not knowing if the room in the main house would be any better, my husband and I decided during the course of the day to change hotels. As there was no one in the house to inform, we left during the evening and came back the next day to settle our bill and inform them why were leaving.
We lost what amounted to slightly over 3 nights worth of payment (although technically having been checked in only 2 nights, but this was due to an issue with the outside booking agent), but it was worth leaving to save our vacation. When my husband mentioned the mold to the owner, she said we needed to understand this was not a hotel but a B&B. I believe mold is not acceptable no matter what type of establishment one is in. It is a shame because the property is quite nice, however I believe not maintained properly. When I mentioned the mold to the Assistant Manager, she told me she didn't know as she had never seen the rooms? I find this quite strange as someone should be controlling the upkeep and as this is quite a small property, there is not really an excuse for more rigorous control.
And yes, there are dogs barking. A lot, in fact. I do not believe they are the dogs of this property at all however (who are, by the way, extremely friendly as are all the animals) but neighboring properties, but this seems to be a problem in this area of Madeira in general. This is easily overlooked though as the island is astonishingly beautiful and very underrated. Definitely worth visiting and revisiting.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
23 September 2011
Despite the fact that we were surprised and very sad with this review , we would like to say the Apartment mentioned below was completely renovated the end of July 2011. All the decor and furniture of the Apartment was changed, as per the photos on our website.
It was an unusual very cloudy July in Madeira Island with a lot of humidity, and this can cause some mould problems. The main goal of all our staff members is to try and keep all our guests content, and to improve and meet higher standards.
We have guests that come every year to this Apartment and they love it. As per the other reviews below, most of our guests appreciate our hospitality and facilities and plan on visiting us again. The Casa is situated in a rural setting, even though it is close to the Funchal City Centre. We do, however, realise that some guests are more sensitive to odours than others especially if they are not used to Island humidity.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
