Belmond Reid's Palace

My husband and I stayed at Reid’s Palace Hotel to celebrate his birthday. We partly chose the hotel because of our positive experience of other Belmond hotels we have previously stayed in and found Reid’s standards to be at the level we had hoped for. We had a wonderful week in this iconic hotel which is situated in a fabulous location. The bedrooms and public areas in the hotel are relaxing, comfortable and maintained to a very high standard. We stayed in the Garden Wing, which was easily accessed from the main part of the hotel via the lifts. Our room was kept exceptionally clean by a very friendly and helpful maid. We chose the hotel’s Villa Cipriani restaurant for my husband’s evening birthday meal and liked it so much that we ate there on another two occasions during our stay. The food was excellent, with fresh ingredients expertly cooked and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. The restaurant manager, Renato, and also our waiter, Capelo, were very professional, friendly and accommodating. We had food (the octopus, potato and black garlic was particularly delicious) and drinks on numerous occasions in the very tastefully decorated 1891 Bar whilst enjoying the incredible views out to Funchal (particularly special at night). We really enjoyed the live music in the bar, too. We also had several relaxed lunches at the Pool Terrace where the service was extremely warm and efficient. The hotel offers a range of tours and activities that take place across the week. We found the (separate) tours of the gardens and hotel really interesting and definitely recommend them – you just need to book your place in advance via reception. The Hotel’s General Manager, Eduardo, was always extremely helpful and a pleasure to talk to. Thank you to Eduardo and all the staff at the hotel, Villa Cipriani restaurant, 1891 Bar and the Pool Terrace for making our stay so relaxing and enjoyable. We plan to return. Mr and Mrs Brantingham

In terms of service, luxury, location, view everywhere, and value, I don't think this property can be topped. Would definitely consider returning to Madeira if only to stay at Reids again.

At over €700 per night for bed and breakfast, we had high expectations. Good location, lovely gardens and excellent breakfast. Our “deluxe” bedroom was quite small, like a standard city hotel room, with a small bathroom and old fashioned furnishings, uncomfortable bed and foam pillows. Just one comfortable chair. Nice balcony with excellent view and two chairs. However a near neighbour smoked on their balcony and the prevailing winds blew the smoke onto our balcony and into the bedroom. We then discovered that the aircon unit was so noisy that we couldn’t sleep with it on. But nor could we have the balcony door open with smoke drifting in. More surprising was our experience with the guest experiences team. At this price point, I thought they’d be helpful. Website says that trips need to be booked at least two days in advance, and we wanted a trip for our first day. I emailed asking for advice. No answer. Two days later I called and eventually got put through to a helpful lady who explained they are too busy to reply to emails. Trouble is she then followed up with an email which required a reply from me, and to which I didn’t get a reply until again I called. This continued over several days until eventually I gave up and agreed to a suggested hike which turned out to be shorter than I’d asked for and very uninteresting. Part of the problem is that Madeira has recently introduced charges to go on a hike, and numbered their various hikes accordingly. The hotel has its list of recommended hikes but they don’t easily match to the official numbered list. For a start they don’t have numbers. You have to book your specific walk with its number and time-slot before the hotel will organise a taxi to take you there.

The location and pool were pleasant, but everything else was bizarrely second rate, and a 5 star hotel that cannot even feed its guests is peculiar. .

I loved my stay at Reids Palace. Service was friendly and accomodating. Extensive facilities and eating options. I especially liked the gardens and pools. The staff went out of their way to accomodate late check-out. Our room was only a bit above average but we had use of a lovely upgraded room after our original check-out time--above and beyond! I only wish the pools were open later and perhaps had a hot tub option for off season/evenings and that the hotel was not quite as pricey!