a dishonest hotel, lacking in integrity, speech and morals. definitely avoid staying here .... I booked the hotel and unfortunately I gave the covid positive in the afternoon ... I communicated and asked to change the stay, from one week, to a period until low season. initially they said they would like to see the reservation department ... now, given the state of the pandemic, they were totally vague for the date that I suggested .... they became entangled, and were making unusual and unreasonable excuses to say they couldn't ... he expects this from the owner of a pension or residential and never from a hotel that charges exorbitant. There was a lack of honesty, and it was unacceptable insensitivity (I had covid ...... and sent a copy of the test)

We stayed here for 12 nights from 26 October to 7 November 2020

IMPORTANT - You need to fill in your details online at madeirasafe.com before you leave the UK and either print off or save on your phone the QR code they send you. We did both. You show this QR code at the Funchal Covid test zone, after collecting your bags - hence they have all your details in advance, which speeds things up a lot.

Flight 5/5. It’s a 4 hour flight from Manchester to Funchal with Jet2. Masks were required to be worn at all times unless you were eating or drinking. The crew requested that you walk around the cabin as little as possible and you could not queue for the loos. I was read wearing a mask for a few hours but it was fine. The landing into the coastal airstrip of Funchal is fun. At least we were travelling again. Yahoo.

Arrival at Funchal Airport 5/5. It is essential that you pre-register before you leave the uk. The testing was very slick indeed. Fast through Passport control. Bags arrived swiftly. You are then directed to have a Covid test. Just show them your QR code. The testing was very fast and efficient. From stepping off the plane to getting into a cab was 30 min. We arrived in our room at approx 15:00. You then have to isolate in your hotel room until you get your result by email. By the time we had settled into our room, unpacked and showered it was time for dinner and we had a lovely room service meal and then went to bed. In the morning we saw that the results had arrived just after midnight (both of us negative). So we were good to go for breakfast and let the holiday begin.

We were allocated Garden Suite 47. For security, access to all areas of Les Suites is via your suite key.

Lounge area 5/5. A nice bottle of Portuguese Fizz and a small bottle of Madeira wine welcomes you. The ground floor suites each have a small garden with a sofa, 2 chairs and 2 sun loungers. All suites have fab sea views. The suites are huge. Large lounge area with patio doors. Large tv with numerous channels. Lovely quality fitments throughout. Lots of storage space. Fridge with water and soft drinks restocked daily. Kettle for tea etc. Espresso machine. Small sink. Digital safe. Fresh fruits topped up daily. The rooms face east so you have fine sunrises but no sunset unfortunately.

Bedroom 5/5. 2 huge beds. High quality mattresses and sheets. Plenty of storage and wardrobe space. USB ports by bedside. Large tv. Fine quality fitments again everywhere. Large dressing room with massive storage. Turndown service each evening. The only downside was quite a lot of noise from the suite above, particularly when they flushed their toilet.

Bathroom 5/5. Huge. Large shower with 2 shower heads. Large toilet room with bidet. Large bath. Twin sinks. Bulgari toiletries. Hairdryer. Make-up mirror with light. Lots of towels. There’s even a gently warmed radiator to dry your damp towels or any cloths you wash.

Pool area 4/5. Secure access via lift and key card. Nice quality and comfy sun loungers and helpful staff always ready to assist. The infinity pool is a nice temperature and the views are superb. All very modern. There are pool toilets under the reception house. There is a small bar/snack area. The walls of the pool do feel a bit slimy - not sure they have the pool chemistry quite right.

Breakfast 5/5. In Avista restaurant. You can sit inside or out. Fine views wherever you sit. There is a small buffet area with lots of choice and there’s an a la carte menu too. We particularly enjoyed the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. Excellent service at all times.

Dinner 5/5. We had booked half board, so we ate at the hotel every night. Mostly at Avista but also twice at the Rose Garden at Cliff Bay. Both were lovely, but we particularly enjoyed Avista. The ambiance in Avista was wonderful, especially when we ate outside, which we did most evenings. We only ate indoors once, when the weather was inclement. The menu is wide ranging but the same every night in Avista with quite a few specials each night, which were generally superb. We really enjoyed the oysters on 2 occasions and the “fish of the day” was superb every time. The island is renown for its seafood, as the surrounding waters are very fruitful. The daily Funchal fish market is the source for chef’s specials. We loved the seafood here. The dessert chef’s specials were also wonderful every evening. On Friday and Saturday evening Avista opens up an upper floor for an Asian restaurant, mostly sushi - really lovely. The wine list is good and not too expensive. We mostly chose Portuguese wine from the Douro or Lisbon area each night.

The Rose Garden Restaurant has a different theme each night of the week.

Wifi 4/5. Generally good, but on a few occasions it just died for hours. Often variable around the pool.

Other - It's about a 10 minute stroll into the centre of town from where you can get local buses all over the island. We found reception very helpful in this respect and advised us on bus routes, times and printed off the relevant timetables as required.

Overall 5/5 - We can always pick a few faults in anywhere we stay, but overall here we have found it difficult to find anything but perfection. This is a lovely hotel and we will hopefully return soon. Sure it's not cheap, but you get what you pay for.

We took the plunge on Wednesday 28th October and decided to book a flight on Friday at the last minute - flight wasn't busy, forecast ok, and importantly we felt healthy enough to risk the covid test at Funchal airport. The testing at Funchal was very well organised, and after arriving mid afternoon we self isolated in our room at Les Suites enjoying room service for dinner. Our negative result was emailed through at 05.00 the next morning.
We have stayed at the Cliff Bay many times so knew what to expect, friendly attentive service, good food and very comfortable surroundings. Apart from minor grumbles with a poor Wi-Fi connection, everything lived up to expectation. We stayed in a Suite for one week and enjoyed every minute. All credit to Porto Bay and their architect for creating this boutique addition out of what previously seemed to be two tumbledown houses and an impossibly small bit of land. In my humble opinion it is a visionary development, and they have created a piece of magic out of what seemed nothing, and now fits in as if it has always been there.
The infinity pool works very well with beautiful views over the bay, The Avista restaurant was excellent, and all in all they have worked hard to create a safe feeling environment in these covid times.
A huge thanks to the whole team, we will look forward to our next visit in hopefully less restrictive times. Stay safe!