Hotel Girassol, Funchal

My family and I stayed at the Hotel Girassol for 7 nights. Myself and my partner in one room, and as requested at time of booking, my mum, brother and his young daughter in the room next door. The suite was lovely, included bedroom, bathroom, lounge area with fridge and TV, and of course a balcony.

I did not think the hotel was that dated. We overlooked the pool, but as the hotel on the main road a little noisy at night (but not too bad) our rooms were cleaned and tidied every day!

Pool area and snack bar (offering a clean towel each day for use at the pool) set in a lovely garden with two small aviaries with a parrot and budgies.

Selection of food at breakfast and evening meal was fantastic, always an abundance of fruit. I am a fussy eater and always found something to my taste. The hotel offered several lounge areas, internet access, and billiards table.

The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, could not do enough to help. The hotel was within very easy reach of local bus stop and taxis, and few minutes walk to supermarket and other bars and restaurants. Also not too far from the airport so transfer times not too bad.

I would definitely use this hotel again, it was good value for money and in a good location.

On our second winter visit to Madiera we enjoyed better weather with January temperatures between 17c and 21c all week. On a previous visit with First Choice we stayed at the Rui Palace between Funchal and the Airport. It was a fabulous hotel great facilities and great buffet meals but a little cut off and remote in a residential area. This time we chose the Lido area of Funchal and the position of the Girasoll is OK but don't expect a sea view. Some guests complained of rooms at the front of the Hotel being disturbed by traffic noise particularly over noisy manholes.

We had a room around the back with views only of other buildings. It was nice and quiet though and at no extra cost it was really a mini suite with a separate sitting room. The bathroom was perfectly clean with every facility but in need of a face lift. It is only a Thomson 3 Star hotel and good value for money. However we were on Half Board and it was advertised as buffet breakfast and dinner. We found that the dinner was waiter served, when I took this up with the helpful Thomson Rep she said it was because the hotel was quiet so really an economy, not really our problem. The dinners did become boring over just a week and we could not have stood a fortnight.

So the Girasoll is good value and convenient location, even to get out of the city with a hire car. If we went again we would have B and B as there are a host of restaurants nearby.

We've just returned from a fortnight's holiday in Madeira, so I'll compile this review before I forget everything.

The flights were with Thomson's and have no complaints at all. Both outward and inbound flights were on time, check-in efficient and quick and the food ok. And yes, landing at Madeira is a bit hairy! Transfers to and from the hotel were fine, taking about 45 minutes each way.

We stayed at the Girassol, which is rated a 4* but doesn't really warrant it, it is a good 3* at best. Having said that, it did have a lot of plus points. On arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to be allocated a suite rather than a double room on a high floor as we had requested. This had a large living room with fridge, good size bedroom and bathroom. Not a lot of storage space for 2 people for a fortnight, but we got by. We were on the side towards the rear of the building, so had a view up to the mountains in one direction and a view to the sea to the other (even though it was partially obscured by the numerous cranes involved in the building work at the moment). There is no air conditioning but we had a big portable fan, which was adequate for our mid-September stay but suspect it would have been uncomfortable during the warmer months.

As we stayed B&B, we can't comment first-hand on the evening meals in the hotel. The breakfasts were ok, plenty of cereals, fruit, sliced meats and cheese, even hot English if you required (bacon, baked beans, a variety of eggs, and those strange tasting sausages you get in Europe). There were lots of different types of bread, with a toaster that took an age to brown the toast - I'm not exaggerating when I say it took nearly 15 minutes to do. The fruit juice was a disappointment, very bland and artificial when it wouldn't have been much trouble to provide fresh (we bought this regularly from the local supermarket and it was quite cheap, so cost should not be an issue).

The staff were all excellent, particularly the cleaners. Towels and bedding were changed daily and the rooms and communal areas were kept spotless. The restaurant and bar staffs were pleasant and helpful, as were those at the pool area. Plenty of sun beds that didn't suffer from the usual disease of the early-morning towels draped over them.

We had been warned about the building work going on across from the hotel but that didn't really bother us, as we were up and about when they started (08.00) and they finished by 19.00, so that was not a problem. What we did get, even situated towards the rear of the hotel, and was a lot of traffic noise early morning (06.00) and evening (from 16.00 until 23.00). Watch out for this if you like a quiet location - this isn't!

We ate al fresco at a different restaurant every night until the last couple of nights when we picked our favourites to revisit. All were within a very short walk from the hotel and with one exception, all were good quality and reasonably priced. We found that we could get a good meal for 2, usually main course, dessert, drinks and coffee for 40 to 45 Euros. The fish dishes were excellent, with the ubiquitous Scabbard fish being both the cheapest and tastiest. These are the places we visited and could recommend:- La Paella, just past Monumental Lido. Very good fish. La Bamba, around the corner from Mon. Lido. Reasonable Italian dishes. Terrace D'Adjuda / Lareira Portugesa, both up the road just opposite The Cliff Bay Hotel. Both very good quality food. Moby Dick's, was ok, but not as good as previous reports would have us believe. Casa Italia, down by the side of the Eden Mar Hotel, a very cheap, very popular decent quality Italian. O Drageiro / The White House, both up the road at the side of Mon. Lido. Very good. Casa Madeirense, slightly more expensive than the others, but don't be put off by the prices, the portions are half as much again as everywhere else and the quality is first rate. Don't order a starter; you'll never finish your meal. Paradise, right opposite The Girassol, the only place to actually advertise Cataplana (how can you go to a Portuguese country and not have Cataplana?) And the best? Best for quality was probably Casa Madeirense, best value for money was probably The White House but the best location and probably our favourite was Paradise. One tip; if you want a decent table at a specific restaurant then make a reservation - we got caught out a couple of times with places being full, and some places do shut on Sundays. Oh, and the best place for lunch is either The Yacht Bar opposite Mon. Lido or the little Patisserie just down the road where you can get a very reasonable lunch for 2 for less than 10 Euros.

Whatever you do, don't book any trips with your tour rep! The prices are ridiculous. We booked both the West and East side of the island tours with Strawberry World and they were excellent. We paid 29 Euros each when Airtours were trying to charge us 48 Euros for exactly the same tour. You could buy them even cheaper than that in some of the agent's shops. I must mention Joe's up by the side of Mon. Lido, where you can exchange traveller's cheques at a much better rate than the local banks (who charge a fortune) and get all your spirits for the return home.

Overall A wonderful holiday. The hotel was good value for money, a bit noisy, superb staff and decent location. Restaurants are great; Funchal is nice as is all of the island. The Portuguese people are very kind and friendly and I would recommend Madeira for couples of all ages, but definitely not a place for young children.

The Hotel Girassol is comfortable, with good food and largely friendly staff.

Accommodation is in an 11 storey block, quite ugly outside. This wasn't shown on the picture in Thomas Cook's brochure. The hotel is pleasant inside, but some areas need updating. There is a nice heated pool set in an attractive garden.

My main complaint is that Madeira is rapidly being spoilt by insensitive development. The ugly little airport is now linked to the capital, Funchal, by a horrible motorway, which makes no concessions to the scenery. Funchal itself has an attractive and well cared for historic centre, but the hotel zone (huge) on the west side is dominated by an uncoordinated jumble of awful tower blocks, which wouldn't be out of place in England! In this area some lovely old houses had been left to decay. Even remote villages on the sparsely populated north coast have been spoilt by hard-edged modern building. The residents of Madeira should be thoroughly ashamed at how they are ruining large areas of their island in the name of financial profit.

By contrast, the high mountainous and forested centre of the island is splendid, with soaring cloud-shrouded peaks and a wealth of unique plant life - a UNESCO ecological reserve. A walk along one of the famous Levadas - drainage channels - up in the mountains was unforgettable. There are also several wonderful botanical gardens, especially around Funchal, which itself abounds in trees and flowers.

However, as beautiful as much of the island still is, the relentless tide of development will deter us from visiting it again. Sad indeed.