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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.

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.

The bus stops nearby, but the staff take a walk if needed. The rooms are large, spacious, clean and warm. Breakfast is excellent, in our case we were only in 5 in the hotel so for each extra you could ask. Ex-cracked eggs, pancakes, etc. You can order a packed lunch, be careful with the bread. They write SANDWICH and it is with our bagleaf bread. Say you want the bread in a case made at home. That's great. Excellent dinner with various choices. Excellent prices. There is a small bar with Madeira's handicraft beers for the aperitif. I strongly advise this hotel!

This place was amazing. The location of Camara de Lobos was perfect. A lovely fishing village bay. The hotel was split into 2 buildings, the reception building and the main room stay and restaurant building. The reception building has a bar and various relaxing areas and a few stay room above. The other building, the main stay, has 2 floors for rooms and the 3rd floor has the restaurant, pool and sun beds area. The 2nd floor is the best because of the views down into the bay. When we first saw this place on Jet2 we thought it would be higher up the hillside, but this wasn’t the case, it is at street level. Food in the restaurant was good and they couldn’t do enough to satisfy your needs, from requesting ice and drinks to take to your room but going the whole 9 yards. Carolina was our waitress of our stay, whether she served us in the restaurant or at the dock bar by reception. Always smiling and couldn’t do enough for you. We was celebrating our 50 anniversary and the hotel left us a gift, drink and cakes etc, after the first week and wine and cakes on our actual anniversary. Thee receptionist gave good information regarding places to visit from either local buses to taxes etc. They organised a trip by mini bus for a tour of the east of the island.

The Orca Praia is a great hotel, in a brilliant location for relaxation. The rooms are good, and having such a brilliant outlook a quiet half hour on the balcony is an ideal way to wind down before an evening meal or evening out. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. It is far enough outside Funchal to enjoy peace and quiet, but close enough to make all the atractions of Funchal accessible. We took the half board option, and felt we had made a very good choice. The hotel has a good offering of facilities over its various floors. The pool deck is brilliant as is the access to the amazing promenade, the promenade walk to Camara de Lobos is well worthwhile. The poolside bar/cafe does a very good quality and good value lunch and the staff were very attentive. A good range of short evening programmes provided entertainment, the Sunset bar though didn't always provide quite enough space for some of the excellent quality acts, especially the dancers! A couple of downsides. The number of steps down to the pooldeck means this hotel isn't ideal for the faint hearted or those with mobility issues, it is a pity the lift service doesn't go down further! And the bedrooms could benefit from some drawers in the bedside cabinets. The free hotel shuttle service is a bonus, and the public bus service to and from Funchal stops at the front door. Overall, this is a really good hotel and provides a very good value for money holiday.

Excellent staff make for a very pleasant stay in a hotel that is quiet and perhaps ideal for the older traveller. Food is good and the rooms are spacious and comfortable. Help is always available at the desk including good advice about using public transport - important as the hotel is located away from the centre of town.