Hotel Girassol - Suite Hotel

We are staying here as a group of 9, just 1 day left. I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised. I strongly recommend staying B&B as the breakfast is great, but there is so much around to visit (restaurants and bars). The rooms are spacious and clean, the beds are very comfy, showers are powerful and hot. The whole hotel is well kept and jist like Madeira itself, its very clean. The food in the pool bar area is very nice and a good selection of drinks. A massive shout out to Claudia, she's extremely lovely and makes a great pimms. This hotel is a very pleasant surprise.

A wonderful pre Christmas trip to see the lights . This was our 5th visit to the Girassol and we had yet another fabulous time . The rooms are spotlessly clean and spacious with a sitting room and a proper bathroom , with a tub and shower. The hotel was well heated ( it gets very chilly in the evenings in December) the beds are comfortable with good linen, changed twice a week and decent towels , changed whenever you need them changing . Pool towels are provided. The food , served in the restaurant at breakfast and dinner time and by the pool at lunchtime is good quality, well cooked and hot. With a good selection of meat and fish as well as a vegetarian option. The staff are all lovely. In the evening you have a choice of two bars plus an outside terrace . The all inclusive drinks are a good range although I’m not too keen on the white wine ( the rose is much nicer ) . There are three pools outside , a large injected pool and a children’s pool next to it plus a heated adults only pool. The is also a very nice spa but you pay to use that. The hotel is set in well kept and pretty gardens , in a fantastic location near the famous Lido and beautiful promenade . The are plenty of cafes , bars and restaurants within a few minutes walk. It’s about 35 minutes easy amble into the centre of Funchal and we walked there most days and got the local bus back . It’s also a good idea to download the Bolt app as you can use their taxis wherever you are . It cost us €6.50 to go to Churchills Bay so they are much more affordable than the UK. Christmas in Funchal is magical so a visit in December is well worth it to see the Christmas market and stunning lights . The daytime temps are about 19c -22c but you will need a jacket and scarf for the evenings . There is an excellent hairdresser at the hotel too! We are already looking to go back for the 6th time in 2025.

We have not long returned home from our 4 th stay in 17 months .. we love staying here in Funchal .. amazing time as always ( the Christmas lights are wonderful) .. the best thing about this hotel as always has to be the staff .. thank you all , and Merry Christmas 🎄 x

Great location for Monumental and downtown Funchal. Decent food and adequate selection of drinks in the all inclusive package. Dining room perhaps a bit too cold for December so food tends to cool rather quickly on plates, but food quality and choice was excellent considering the price of the all inclusive package. Gets a 5 from us for VFM and service, can’t fault it at all. Thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.

The hotel was ok decor wise a bit tired. The cleanliness was excellent. Rooms a nice size comfortable for two, nice having separate seating area. The dinning room was ultra old fashioned and not very welcoming. Salad bar, deli and sweets were good, hot food was awful, canteen like. Bar upstairs very sparse with really crappy tables what were varnish peeling and nothing on the walls, no pictures, just walls. The pool area was lovely with exceptionally well kept gardens. Unfortunately restaurant staff were not in the least friendly, never spoke and faces like thunder. Not the friendliest of places to be honest.

A lot to like about this hotel. It's a great base in a prime location, maybe a 20 minute walk to Funchal city centre. However the street the hotel is on has a number of decent bars and restaurants even more locally, with a nice promenade and lido area only 5-10 mins walk down the hill the other way. We stayed all inclusive and the food we felt was of a very good standard, if only lacking a little in choice, however; understandable for a hotel of this size and the fact we have two fussy eating children. The pool areas and gardens are pretty clean and the suite was of a good size for our family of four. We didnt use the spa or gym facilties but both looked to be of decent standard for this type of accomodation. The staff were in large very helpful and courteous around the main restaurant, reception and 1st floor bar area. Some of the staff around the pool areas weren't always most pleasant, however I understand some guests can also be very rude. The kids were very happy around the pool areas and with their stay, there is not a lot of water attractions or evening entertainment but we didnt go for that on this break. So the hotel may be of strong 3 star standard based on facilities, however we would give it 4 stars if only for based on our positive experience during our half term stay.