First of all, let me debunk something that comes up in a lot of the reviews here: the unfriendliness of the staff. I don't know what happened (maybe the owner hired new people), but the persons at the reception were very friendly and helpful.

Da Sé is situated right behind the central cathedral of Funchal (Da Sé, hence the name of the hotel). A perfect location, lots of restaurants within walking distance and a lot more attractive than the hotel area that lies west of the city center.

The rooms are not very big, but adequate. The rooms don't have a (great) view, but that can be expected in the middle of town.

Our only real complaint is the cleanliness. Our room was cleaned daily, but not very thorough. Also we are used to get fresh linen on the beds at least once a week in a hotel, in our ten night stay here this didn't happen once.

We had a small problem with the towels: they were completely new. Sounds nice, but it isn't: it would have been nice if they'd been washed once before given to guests. A new towel doesn't dry very well, which is what it is supposed to do after all.

The rooms feature a small kitchenette, which we didn't use (apart from making some tea). Why would you, with so many nice restaurants around?

Breakfast in the hotel is far from excellent. It wasn't bad, but if you go out and walk a couple of meters you can have something far better at a local bakery (for less than half the price). Every restaurant/bakery/snackbar servers great fresh orange juice, but at the hotel the only thing available is some sort of sour lemonade.

For net-a-holics like me, there is free wifi available, albeit only in the hotel lobby. It would be nice to have this in the rooms.

All in all we enjoyed our stay here. For us location is the most important factor of an hotel. If you are looking for something luxurious, this isn't the place for you. If you are looking for an affordable, friendly hotel in an excellent location, Da Sé might just be it.

Dusty and with beds that will give you an aching back.

This hotel (once we found it's very discreet front door) fitted our purpose exactly - somewhere central to stay for a couple of nights whilst getting our land legs back after 10 days' sailing. Our room, an exterior self-catering studio, was clean and apart from a minor patch of damaged plasterwork, was in good decorative order. The bathroom was spacious with a very powerful shower. It was an excellent base from which to explore Funchal and I would particularly like to mention the helpful receptionist Paula. If you do intend to self-cater you would need to bring a sink plug and washing-up liquid with you as neither were provided. However, there are many restaurants within a few minutes' walk. There was a PC provided in reception with free internet access which was very useful.

The garden, historic sites, the peaks, the gastronomy. These are some of the points highlighted in a visit to Madeira. Good place to holiday. Great place to stroll, visit and enjoy.