Hotel berhampiran Lagoa das 25 Fontes, Calheta

I was looking at my reviews on TripAdvisor when I saw my previous review of this hotel where I gave it 4 stars. Still not bad of course, but I wanted to write another review as me and my husband have been back to Saccharum twice(!) after my first review. So I thought about writing a new review. This is now our favorite hotel on Madeira, as it’s not as crowded like a lot of hotels in Funchal. Calheta is beautiful and not crowded at all. We really appreciate privacy and a calm environment when we go on holiday, and Saccharum is great for this! Sometimes restaurants are packed with other tourists and you’re seated a couple centimeters away from other guests but here at Saccharum you can eat all relaxed in whatever restaurant of the hotel you please. We really like the bar next to the sea, Calhau. They have nice vegetarian options for me. Also everything is clean and hygiene is great. That’s so important to me. So after our new experiences at this hotel I’ve wanted to change my 4-star review into a 5-star review. We are now planning to take my parents to Madeira in October of this year to show them this beautiful island, and we will be staying at Saccharum!

Hotel agradável que correspondeu às expectativas. Excelente localização na calheta, mesmo em cima de uma praia de areia dourada, com acesso direto do hotel. Ideal ter carro pois fica a 30min do Funchal. Vale a pena pagar extra para ter quarto com vista de mar A qualidade e quantidade da comida cumpre com o tudo incluído, assim como as bebidas. Animação diária e variada. Bom spa com piscina aquecida, turco, sauna e duches frios. Zona da piscina exterior muito agradável, com bastantes espreguiçadeiras e bem conseguida. Ping Pong gratuito, bilhar pago (€3/hora). Muito boa relação preço/qualidade.

the hotel area is very neat. The pool is clean. The staff at the reception are polite and friendly. The rooms are neat, small. We got a garden room, but it didn't feel like a garden. It was just a lawn and a view of a green fence. The bathroom is tidy, towels are changed upon request. The hotel is very quiet, beautiful views of the sea and mountains can be seen from the windows. There was no microwave or kettle in the room. The breakfast is delicious, a small but filling selection. VERY SMALL SELECTION OF FOOD IN THE HOTEL RESTAURANT. JUST PASTA AND SALAD. So those who want to have dinner will have to travel closer to the sea to cafes.

Bel emplacement entre mer et montagne, l'hôtel est vraiment bien situé. Pour autant, malgré un rafraîchissement visible, humidité ressentie (exemple: odeur des oreillers, odeur de canalisation dans la SDB). Literie correcte (matelas bien ferme) malgré des draps jaunes, loin du blanc, une salle de bain pas assez ventilée et bruyante, un lavabo très bas, pas de prises de courant dans la SDB, support produits inexistants dans la douche, pas de supports pour étendre ses serviettes après un passage à la piscine, enfin la climatisation est faible. Coffre fort payant. Personnel triste, pas ou peu souriant (c'est peut être la dureté quotidienne). Piscine intérieure peu engageante, les peintures et vitres extérieures demandent un bon rafraîchissement. Les évacuations des balcons sont à nettoyer. Des excroissances verdoyantes sortent des tuyaux et donnent une image dégoûtante (au rythme de l'écoulement d'un goutte à goutte). Réveillé tous les matins à 08h30 par les chariots des femmes de ménages, dommage. Bref, c'est décevant car le site est magnifique. Après ouverture de la porte de chambre donnant sur la piscine extérieure, réveil matinal aux bruits des vagues, cest magique. Côté repas, ceux-ci sont très très simples et pourraient être comparés à ceux servit dans une cantine de faible niveau. La salle de restauration est surchauffée, bruyante et ne peut pas être vraiment aérée (seul deux fenêtres s'ouvrent sur l'extérieur, ainsi que deux portes). Les chaises sont trop basses et peu confortables. Les nappes sur les tables sont souvent tachées. Si vous souhaitez manger en extérieur, c'est possible, mais sur des supports tres vieillissants (certaines tables sont bancales et rendent le repas désagréable). Trois parasols se battent en duel. Leur supports sont eux aussi tres fatigués. Petits déjeuners complets pour ceux qui aiment le salé (œufs, saucisses, charcuterie), nous n'avons pour autant pas testés. Les pains, vienoiseries, beurres sont de faibles niveaux (sans saveurs). Pas de chocolat (type nutella), thés fades (seul deux choix proposés), café et jus d'orange industriels. Dîner: très soft, avec un poisson (souvent odorant), des entrées constituées des restes de la veille, une viande souvent très dure, légumes souvent peu cuits, riz, pâtes, sans sauces...desserts: malheureusement peu rassurants (gelées colorées, flanc, une seule saveur de glace, une salade de fruits, )...Cet ensemble vous sera proposé chaque soir. Bref, après deux jours, vous n'êtes déjà plus surpris. Au delà du fait que vous n'avez pas ou peu de choix, parfois vous testez un nouveau gâteau, malheureusement pas encore décongelé. Alors cela est bien entendu comestible mais pardon, très souvent décevant, fade, voir pas bon du tout. pour un trois étoiles, nous sommes déçus. En résumé, à part le point de vue incroyable, passer votre chemin.

Hotel au milieu de la montagne, jolies vues, très bons repas, personnel très gentil Un peu vieux en terme de deco, nous avons eu froid dans la pièce commune et en dormant (manque de couverture), lit très inconfortable…

Painted different colours on the outside, this is one long hotel on the inside. We were upgraded to a room with a balcony which was fabulous. Very large room, handy fridge. Huge TV. It’s very relaxing to sit and watch the world go by here. We never even made it to the official roof terrace or other hotel amenities. We did pop out for an easy stroll to see the old bridge. (I wished I’d dressed for the possibility that water might drip while walking through the tunnel to get there). Then more lounging on the balcony, watching the sunset. They had the largest selection of breakfast choices that we saw in Madeira. I especially liked the made-to-order fluffy pancakes, which I had with baked apple from the buffet and squirty Nutella. Mmmm! The cook was also made omelettes on request. Coffee is from an automatic machine but it grinds the beans for each cup. As self service machines go, it was the fanciest we saw on our trip. We noticed many people eating in the touristy joints overlooking the sea. Why pay “saw you coming” prices for questionable quality when you could just stay at this hotel and enjoy the view from the balcony without hassle? We had the best dinner of our stay in the town, at Sol Doce. The underground parking is a sharp angle to get into. The receptionist recommended turning around at the end of the road, and approaching from that direction. I think this is good advice, based on what we saw from the balcony. Cars come around the corner very quickly. Lots of cars turn around in front of the tunnel.

Our experience of the hotel was enhanced by our meal in the restaurant, which I have reviewed separately. My favourite thing about the room was the enclosed balcony. It was like having a private yoga studio in the sky. (Fellow yogis note, the floor was slippery.) I also enjoyed the spectacular view from the Sauna, which at the time was free because it was not working optimally. (So do ask!) It was good enough for me, but it took over an hour to heat up. The Pool looked too small and shallow to actually swim in, but mostly it was unusable as it was colder than the sea. I don’t know if this was usual. Breakfast was fairly similar to ones we had at other Madeira hotels, but this place had the tastiest selection of fresh bread rolls and very good garlicky mushrooms. The room was clean. We liked the 3-section recycling bin in the room. Others mentioned lack of plugs for phones. Erm... we knew about that but were surprised to find that there were not enough plugs for the room items. The Kettle and TV had to share a wall outlet. They really should consider supplying an extension lead, which could be given out and collected at check-in, just as they (bizarrely) do with the TV remote control. We did start off on a rather bad note. At check in, we were downright ignored. One receptionist was settling a dispute with another guest, but both members of staff deliberately avoided any sort of eye contact with us. I don't normally notice this sort of thing, but it was rude and infuriating and lasted some time. A simple nod would have sufficed. I’ll put this down to a bad day for the first member of staff, who later was helpful. After a long wait for no discernible reason, the other receptionist demanded payment before we had even seen the room, for which we had paid in advance. We've stayed at many places who use multiple booking sites. Sometimes you pay on arrival, sometimes beforehand, and we understand that the hotel needs to know. However, there are ways of asking that don't come across as offensive and like one is trying to get away with something. Not everyone is out to steal the remote control. Make sure you bring proof of payment if you’ve paid in advance, as we had. The hotel is lucky that they have out of this world views.

I cannot say enough about what a wonderful time my husband and I had staying here. The staff at the hotel was warm and welcoming and could not do enough to make our stay exceptional. The room we had allowed us both a sea and garden view and I recommend that you book one of those. The view of the sea is breathtaking. We also took advantage of a couple of the classes they offered and made our own bread which we took to our dinner later. Dinner at the restaurant was really good. We ate the a la carte options and enjoyed all three dinners we had there. The service of Shafayet was exceptional and he deserves a mention here. The pizza from the pizza place was also a great choice for a more relaxed bite. Overall this hotel was a beautiful relaxed place to spend a few days.