Hotel Girassol

We had a junior suite with a pool view, although we could just about see the sea from the balcony. The room was spacious, with a living area with a comfortable sofa, TV, storage space, small fridge & air con. The air con was very efficient & kept the room cool even though it got the afternoon sun. The bedroom had two single beds pushed together but they had separate bedclothes so didn't really even give the impression of a double bed. The bedroom didn't have air con, just a ceiling fan, but the air con in the living room was sufficient to keep the bedroom cool enough. The bathroom had a narrow bath with a shower over. Soap was replenished as we used it. Shampoo & shower gel came in sachets & were also replenished as used. The wardrobe is in the "hall" by the bathroom, not in the bedroom. It was fine for a week but might not be sufficient for a longer stay. The safe was in the wardrobe & was a reasonable size. It had a manual key & strangely the whole barrel came out when the safe was unlocked. The cleaning staff did an excellent job & kept the room spotless. We had booked half board. Both meals were buffets & the food was generally good quality but the choice was a bit limited. This was our third stay in Madeira & we've found this at other hotels so perhaps it's just how they do things. All the staff we came in contact with were very helpful & friendly. The staff in the restaurant were particularly efficient & very quick to sort out tables (see Covid19 comments). We didn't use the pool but we did visit the pool bar the first day as we had to stay in the hotel until we got our Covid19 test result. Service was a bit slow considering it wasn't busy but the prices were reasonable. Covid19 - they are doing the best they can to help keep everyone safe. Masks are mandatory when moving about inside the hotel & there is hand sanitiser everywhere. In the restaurant they provide disposable gloves to wear when using serving utensils & masks are required except when actually sat at your table. They don't pre-lay the tables - you choose your table & then someone comes to disinfect it before laying it. The place mats are only used once. At breakfast the cutlery is in paper bags for you to help yourself & at dinner they bring the cutlery once the table has been cleaned. There are limits on the number of people who can use the lift at one time. We mainly used the stairs & saw very few people. Overall we enjoyed our stay here & we are hoping to go back before long (Covid allowing). I've given 4 stars rather than 5 because of the limited choice at mealtimes. I would definitely recommend this hotel - of the three we've stayed at in Madeira this is the first that I would go back to.

Booked last minute after flights to Spain had been cancelled. We knew nothing about Madeira, other than we would have to take Covid tests at Funchal airport when we got there. After that unpleasantness was over, we were whisked away to Girassol Suite, and our fabulous trip really began! The staff were amazing, so friendly, respectful and mindful of all the Covid-safe things they had put in place. They gently reminded us if we forgot our masks and never once made us feel that we were anything other than honoured guests. Nothing was too much trouble for them. We thoroughly enjoyed the food - we were there for a fortnight and the selection of dishes on offer were different every night! Our suite was beautiful, clean and comfortable - the beds especially so! The front desk hired us a car with consummate ease and everything went like clockwork - even down to having private parking available at no extra change for the hire car. The public areas, especially the two gorgeous pools and lush gardens, were kept spotless and were always extremely inviting. Lying beside the fantastic pool on the comfortable sun loungers, with a cold glass of something, being waited on hand and foot by the wonderful staff, we felt that we were in paradise!