Quinta Splendida Wellness And Botanical Garden Hotel

“ We stayed for a week in November & cannot praise the gardens & staff highly enough.

The hotel is mostly frequented by German guests but all the staff speak excellent English (in fact one confided in me he likes to speak English rather than German).

Our holiday was half board which included a very good breakfast buffet with a very wide range of choices - cold meats, cheese, umpteen types of bread, 3 or 4 hot dishes, fruit, cereals & even cake - more than enough to fuel you for the day.

The evening meal is a cold buffet starter with a 3 main dish hot buffet main course, I must admit at first I was sceptical but we always found something to suit or you could still make a meal out of the starters which were all in our opinion excellent.

The staff were amongst the friendliest I have met anywhere & although respectful could be very very funny.

We had a garden room which is a very large studio with kitchen facilities - some of the guests were room only & prepared there own meals.

The gardens are amongst the prettiest on the island & after a day out we liked nothing better than walking around the gardens before dinner - if you are a keen photographer take at least a table top tripod as the high level gardens are illuminated with wonderful views of the lights on the mountain sides.

The hotel is located some distance from Funchal but there is a bus from just outside the gate -1.75 Euros which takes you into Funchal. The area has a couple of bars & restaurants but don't expect to go clubbing, in fact after the evening meal most people just seemed to return to their rooms - with the exception of the Fado night in the bar - very nice but only open 3 nights. So if you are expecting to dance the night away or club till you drop forget it but if you want a relaxing piece of paradise to use as a base this is it.

I normally hire a car but the lack of parking & the narrow twisting roads in the local area made me decide to have a break from driving & to be honest it was not a problem, buses are frequent & stops are closely spaced (it is so hilly even the locals use the buses for even a 2 stop journey).


So to sum up if you want a peaceful, stunningly beautiful, base but do not want clubs or pubs this is the place for you - we will certainly be returning in springtime.

“ Top Tip: Explore Funchal - if you go to the front & turn left go under the cable cars past the Madeira Story there are some excellent restaurants at the end of this road, we ate at one right on the corner & had a superb meal of Espada with a jug of Sangria at a very reasonable price.

We found the rep for MB travel (the hotels own excursion company) very very helpful & I think unless you had a particular trip in mind I would not book till you arrived.What would I recommend?

a. The open top bus tours of Funchal 12 Euros for a 2 day ticket on the yellow bus (I think this is out of season - in season probably 1 day) - do this first as you need to get your bearings as it is possible to miss whole areas of the city.

b. Take the bus or cable car up to Monte - to see the toboggans going down, visit the Palace gardens, then take the cable car down to the Botanic Gardens return to Funchal by bus - more exciting than a Thorpe Park ride.

c. Do the Eastern island tour from the hotel - the most dramatic scenery & more varieties of plant than I have ever seen.

d. Do at least one Levada walk, they can be a bit strenuous but you do feel quite satisfied afterwards & the views can be wonderful, probably the nearest one is from Monte the Levada Bom Successo which comes down from approx 600 metres above sea level so expect a lot of steps.

If you would like to see more photos please visit

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“ Beautiful grounds. The staff try very hard, but there are probably not quite enough of them - so you can be left waiting during mealtimes etc. We were on half board so used restaurant Galeria - which was OK but got a bit repetitive after a week. We'd never come across anywhere so seemingly reluctant to offer you a wine list - did they not want to make money from us? The bar is only open 3 nights a week and is rather tucked away.The hotel is largely populated by Germans but we didn't feel like outsiders. There aren't any general meeting areas so relax in so if it rains you can only really stay in your room.
The bus to Funchal is only 1.75 Euros and takes about 35 minutes. It leaves approx hourly outside the local bakery.

“ The gardens surrounding the hotel were excellent the variation of plants and the planting scheme was very good. It was a pleasure to wander around.
The room we had overlooked the garden and was very clean and serviced every day. The kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and lounge area were all quite spacious and nicely decorated. We had dinner in the La Perla restaurant and the food was excellent but a bit overpriced. Staff very attentive, especially Sandra and Marcio. On the whole we would recommend this hotel to anyone who wanted a relaxing holiday in beautiful surroundings.

“ Top Tip: Two restaurants only a few minutes walk were The Central and La Larreria. The food in both was very good and quite reasonably priced.
Bakery very close to the hotel with great "cakes" and also a good supermarket.

“ Clean and pleasant hotel. Would like to have information about the hotel placed in the room so I could take advantage of what was offered. No info on spa treatments, restaurant opening times, food available etc.

“ Top Tip: Lovely bakery next door to the hotel sells cakes and buns.