Hotel berhampiran Lagos da Madeira, 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.

Je suis très partagé par cet établissement. D'un côté, l'emplacement est parfait. A la fois sur l'île car il permet d'accéder à toute l'île très rapidement par les voies rapides, alors que situé à bonne distance de Funchal. Isolé, l'endroit est parfaitement calme. La vue est époustouflante au bord d'un apique vertigineux. Le couchés de soleil sont justes splendides. Côté hostellerie, nous étions dans les appartements sous le bâtiment principal. C'est grand et bien équipé. Mal insonorisés, on entend tout ce qui se passe à côté... Mais c'est propre bien que défraichi, et le ménage quotidien est bien fait. Pas de Wifi en dehors de l'établissement principal. A notre époque c'est quand même dommage. Côté accueil, aucun effort particulier n'est fait. Que cela soit à l'accueil, dans le restaurant. Pas de sourires... êtes-vous content de faire ce boulot ? C'est à se demander. Quel dommage ! Côté restauration. Au secours. Il faut réserver avant 13h pour le diner au restaurant. Enfin, à la cantine plutôt. Vous serez en présence d'un buffet. Les plats sont approximatifs, sans imagination, sans soin ni techniques de base. Tout est insipide. Au petit déjeuner, les pains peuvent dater de la veille. Les croissants : mieux vaut ne pas en proposer lorsque c'est si mauvais, voir rassit. Le soir la terrasse qui offre un décor de rêve, serait certainement pleine, si un service souriant, et avec quelques boissons un peu imaginatives étaient proposées. Mais rien de tout ça... Bref pour y dormir entre deux journées de randonnées, c'est top. Pour le reste...

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.

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.

Excelent choice for our stay in Madeira. The hotel is located in a natural botanical garden - some will count this as a minus, but I disagree. On our arrival, at 2AM - Bolt cost was 25USD (31kms). Excelent service, very clean, lots of activities and friendly staff. Totally recommended.

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.

We booked through Jet2 and I have to admit I hadn't done my homework very good. Our room was a Classic. On arrival found out that this is in the Reception Building. On the ground floor there is Reception, Bar and lounge areas. The bedrooms are located on the 1st floor - there are stairs and a lift. The other rooms with balcony's are located just across the road. On the ground floor and first floor - on the second floor is the pool and breakfast area. Our room was No. 136 which had 3 windows, which open - two windows overlooked the bar - just across the alley and the second window the road. The room is quite spacious - very clean and light from the windows, during the day. If you are a light sleeper, definitely a no. My husband wears hearing aids so once he took them out, he slept like a baby - but the noise goes on until the bars close after midnight. A good sized bed, very comfortable, pillows the same. There was only one chair - although when I asked we were provided with a dining chair. The wardrobe is opposite the door as you enter the room - you need the light on. The bathroom for two older, not so slim people was a bit tricky. The shower is to the left of the door, the sink directly in front and the toilet behind the door. So you have to open the door, lean back against the shower and the sink to squeeze round the door to get to the toilet. There is only one hook in the bathroom and not much shelf space in the room. Breakfast was good, plenty of choices and the staff are really pleasant and helpful. No problem with getting a sun bed in the pool area and the pool is very clean. We had a snack lunch on one occasion - a steak sandwich and it was excellent. The bar in the reception closed around 20.30. Daniel on reception was really helpful. The hotel is situated in a lovely spot, overlooking the harbour. Around the hotel are lots of bars and restaurants to choose from. We tried quite a few and they were all very good, quality and quantity of food. There is a local bus stop and the HOHO bus stops just up the hill from the hotel. Madeira is a beautiful island and is well worth a visit. The people are very welcoming.