Vila Gale Santa Cruz Resort Hotel

“Superb break”

Had a wonderful restful break, we were half board but ate in a different restaurant each evening, all restaurants were great value for money, with the exception of one where the Matre D was so miserable

“Restful and relaxing hotel”

Hotel Vila Gale, is situated in the delightful little village of Santa cruz Madeira. Perfect for plane buffs with the airport nearby it is lovely to sit and relax watching the air traffic. Noise from the planes is unavoidable. It is always welcoming with fantastic staff that work so hard with ne… more

Hotel Vila Gale, is situated in the delightful little village of Santa cruz Madeira. Perfect for plane buffs with the airport nearby it is lovely to sit and relax watching the air traffic. Noise from the planes is unavoidable. It is always welcoming with fantastic staff that work so hard with never ending energy and always a smile. This was my third visit and staff remembered me and hugged me. Edgar, works non stop and runs the restaurant with great efficiency. Michelle (ma belle) was her usual cheerful self along with Monika, Sandra, and my lady on the pool bar and all the others who remembered me. The food was all good for me with a motto of try and if not liked don’t have again. You must remember that you are in a different country with different cuisine. However…. I noticed a few new faces but one in particular stood literally head and shoulders above the rest, for all the wrong reasons. He strutted about as if he was the be all and end all of the hotel with his hands in the pockets of the scruffy suit he wore. It was too small for him with short legs and sleeves, pulled tight to fasten the jacket and creased from here to eternity. He barked orders to ALL staff in the restaurant with a tone of nastiness and the hands still in pockets instead of getting stuck in himself. When i finished eating i retired to the jazz bar and lo and behold he was sat a metre away from the TV watching football. I was so upset to witness all this that i felt compelled to report it in to a higher authority. He was so nasty and loud with his nonsense reprimands in front of guests, that it looked really bad towards the hotel in general. Please do not be put off. It is a fantastic hotel with staff that makes you feel special. My thanks to Carla for her gentile way of listening to my complaint. All being well, i will see you again next year, Christmas and New Year 26/27. Thank you for the great service you give.

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“Friends getaway”

We booked this hotel through Jet2 travelling from the UK. Let me first say this hotel is Portuguese owned and they clearly do not welcome or appreciate British customers. There is no information in the room in English and very little anywhere else. Jet2 should not be sending their British customers… more

We booked this hotel through Jet2 travelling from the UK. Let me first say this hotel is Portuguese owned and they clearly do not welcome or appreciate British customers. There is no information in the room in English and very little anywhere else. Jet2 should not be sending their British customers here. The reception staff were borderline hostile to us in the main, ignorant mostly. Never felt so unwelcome on holiday. We were bed and breakfast so ate in the resort largely. Breakfast was good, lots of choice. The hotel was very clean throughout. I have never stayed at a 4 star hotel before that has no tea and coffee making facilities in the room. Very poor in my opinion. You can hire a kettle from reception? Whether you can also buy tea and coffee making items I don’t know as we didn’t hire a kettle. Seems ridiculous for what you pay that there is nothing to make a drink with. I would never ever return to this or any other hotel in this chain. You are happy to take our money, don’t be so rude and hostile to paying guests.

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“Stay here if you like Big Hotel”

To be fair, I think this hotel would be ranked higher by a different kind of guest. This is really a large all-inclusive charter vacation type of hotel. The English-language website gives false information about the hotel. The website notes that there are two restaurants - even provides menus for t… more

To be fair, I think this hotel would be ranked higher by a different kind of guest. This is really a large all-inclusive charter vacation type of hotel. The English-language website gives false information about the hotel. The website notes that there are two restaurants - even provides menus for the fictional restaurants. In truth, there is one and the only dinner is an all-inclusive buffet. The front desk never mentioned this. There are strange rules - you have to book time to use the indoor pool and get towels from the reception right before your booking - terrible towels too. When you pick up your towels, they don’t tell you need buy swimming hats so you have to go back up from the pool to do so. On top of everything, we checked out of the hotel before breakfast because we had an early cab, went down for a cup of coffee at the breakfast bar. The lobby was dark and no one but the staff member and us around. We then ran up (15 minutes later) and went to our cab and the same reception staff member chased us down the steps yelling that we hadn’t checked out. Seriously. On the plus side, the hotel is pretty and the town cute.

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