Try to dine at least once at Les Faunes, the island's finest hotel dining room, which takes its name from the series of Picasso lithographs decorating the walls. Live piano music... more
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Try to dine at least once at Les Faunes, the island's finest hotel dining room, which takes its name from the series of Picasso lithographs decorating the walls. Live piano music accompanies your meal, and winter guests often dress for dinner, the men in black tie. The chef offers a variety of French specialties and some typical Portuguese dishes. To begin, you can try everything from Portuguese soup to the chef's own smoked fish. Favorite entrees are caldeirada (fish stew) and lobster (grilled or poached). The chef's special pride is swordfish with banana. You can select from the dessert cart or ask for a hot soufflé, preferably made of passion fruit or strawberries.
Advantages: amazing scenery, not very family or children oriented Disadvantages: no beaches, not very family or children oriented!
...I have always got Madeira, Majorca and Menorca confused, so when I got the opportunity to go on holiday to Madeira in January I had no idea where it was, let alone what it was like.
BACKGROUND
Madeira is an island (I just about guessed that), lying 380 miles west of Morocco and 260 miles north of the Canaries. The island is quite small and measures roughly 35 by 12 miles. Madeira is part of Portugal so Portugese is the predominant language.
LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE
Madeira is volcanic in origin and a range of mountains up to 6,000 feet high run east to west across the island. Virtually the whole island is hilly which makes agriculture difficult and car journeys extremely ear-popping!
Because Madeira has a very stable climate, with temperatures rarely moving from the 16-24C band all year round, the island is lush...
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Advantages: Beautiful picturesque island, not too hot in summer Disadvantages: Hilly, poor restaurants, no sandy beaches
...This review has been languishing in my draft box since October last year so it is a little overdue in getting finished. This is my final inane writings on Madeira so sit back and enjoy the read!
~Introduction~
Madeira is an island located in the Atlantic Ocean off the West coast of Africa, it was a Portuguese colony from the 15th Century onwards and is still run by the Portuguese government. Today the island of Madeira relies heavily on the tourist trade and in selling it's aptly named 'Madeira Cake'. Numerous cruises around the world use Madeira as a stopping off point and it has a good climate all year round. It's capital is Funchal (pronounced 'Foon-shall' by the locals)and is located in a bay on the southern part of the island. As Madeira is a granite mass of rocks, it is hilly and has no sandy beaches.
~Getting there...
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Advantages: A fantastic holiday experience Disadvantages: Location, in particular for those with mobility problems although the hotel is disability friendly.
...INTRODUCTION
The Riu Palace in Madeira sits like a white-washed fairytale castle with terracotta turrets, corner towers and grand archways looking out over the sapphire-blue sea. The grounds house brightly coloured flowers and palm trees making you believe you are on a Caribbean island far away.
The Riu Palace is located right on the seafront at Canico de Baixo, only 10 minutes drive from Funchal Airport and 20 minutes drive to the city of Funchal. On arrival at the airport everything ran smoothly and quickly apart from me not recognising my own suitcase!!! We were driven to the hotel in a small mini bus with 5 other people and half an hour later we were sunbathing by the pool. Now that's what I call service.
CHECK IN
From the moment you check in at the impressive, grand reception area with its polished marble flooring, elegant...
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This is a beautiful hotel situated right at the end of the main promanade in Funchal. The views across the ocean, and into the city are perfect, with the sun setting over golden cliffs to the west in the evening towards the harbour. The hotel is situated more
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