O Colmo

“Great Base for Hiking in Santana”

I chose Santana as my base for a few days of hiking. Since I was traveling solo and without a car, the hotel turned out to be a great choice. I took taxis to reach the trails, which were a bit expensive (around €20 per ride), but worth it because you can start in one spot and finish in another. Th… more

I chose Santana as my base for a few days of hiking. Since I was traveling solo and without a car, the hotel turned out to be a great choice. I took taxis to reach the trails, which were a bit expensive (around €20 per ride), but worth it because you can start in one spot and finish in another. The hotel has the vibe of an old, slightly faded place, yet it carries a sense of tradition. My room was very clean and comfortable, and the location is right in the center. The restaurant is also excellent. Santana itself gets quite crowded with tourists during the day, but becomes very peaceful in the evening.

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“Nice for a night or two”

Really good breakfast selection, fresh pastries. Really well located in the village of Santana - staff at reception were also very helpful. The room we had was a generous size with a lovely view of the mountains. Slightly dated decor however

“Big hotel with restaurant open to the public.”

This is a big hotel, with a pool, and a good size restaurant which is open to the public. The rooms are big and I had a balcony which was nice. There is a swimming pool. There was lots of wardrobe space. Nice size bathroom with bath, shower over. There was no safe, no Tea and Coffee making faciliti… more

This is a big hotel, with a pool, and a good size restaurant which is open to the public. The rooms are big and I had a balcony which was nice. There is a swimming pool. There was lots of wardrobe space. Nice size bathroom with bath, shower over. There was no safe, no Tea and Coffee making facilities, no Fridge. No Air Con, no Shower Cap, No toiletries as such. There was only one socket in my room! The restaurant was good, the food was good quality and reasonably priced. The breakfast room opened at 08.00 and it was so crowded, it was quite overwhelming. They get lots of group travel there, so why not open the restaurant a bit earlier and maybe some people would come early and alleviate the crowds that arrive at 08:00. I was due to leave the hotel at 09:00, so I had to go at 08:00 and the crowds were overwhelming. There was a good selection of food, both hot and cold, some fruit and pastries. The coffee however was not good, its bitter and tastes like it’s burnt!

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“Great breakfast buffet, but super hard beds”

I stayed at this convenient hotel during April 19-21 while on a guided hiking trip around Madeira. This hotel caters to hiking groups, and it has a cute boot washing station outside. A colorful A-frame house sits in front of the hotel, while two side-by-side bird enclosures are home to several parr… more

I stayed at this convenient hotel during April 19-21 while on a guided hiking trip around Madeira. This hotel caters to hiking groups, and it has a cute boot washing station outside. A colorful A-frame house sits in front of the hotel, while two side-by-side bird enclosures are home to several parrots and parakeets located to the front side of the hotel. These are charming features of this well-used hotel. Other positive features of this hotel include extremely helpful front desk staff who go the extra mile to help their guests, an onsite restaurant that provides great service and delicious food (their wood-fired pizza hit the spot), an amazing breakfast buffet (the assortment of homemade breads was my favorite), large hotel rooms, and a spacious lobby for different hiking groups to meet at before their days adventure. On the other hand, this hotel is showing its age with some quirky heating issues, squeaky floors, floor entry doors that slam shut, and worn-out bathroom vanities. I was in room #603 on the third floor. The heat is turned on every night around 6-7 pm until about 7 am the next morning. However, they use a radiator system that did not work in my room or the adjacent rooms. The front desk guy located a portable electric heater for me, which I needed the first night. The hiking group members in the floor below me complained that their rooms were too hot. The hallways and rooms have hardwood floors, except for a little strip of carpet around the beds. While I love the hardwood floors in my own home, the floors in this hotel are noisy and squeak when walking across them. One also needs to enter a side door to enter the hallway before reaching your room, and that door oftentimes slammed shut. Someone tried to rig up a cushioning system for it that was short-lived. The hotel rooms do not have a fan or other source of “white noise,” so ear plugs need to be worn all night. The rooms do not have a room safe (an envelope of items can be left with the front desk to be put in the hotel safe) or mini fridge (which would have been nice to have to store leftover pizza from dinner that was instead disposed of). The bathroom is dated with the wooden front of the vanity showing a lot of wear and tear. The placement of the toilet was odd as anyone with long legs would hit their left knee on the vanity. The bathroom floor was not clean, and there were some small ants that made the bathtub home. The hotel skimped on bathroom towels, and I had to ask the front desk for a bathmat towel to step on when exiting the deep tub. The aforementioned items were all manageable. However, I have never tried to sleep on a bed as hard as the one in my room. I woke up at 2:30 am with my entire right-side hurting, including my ribs, hip, knee, and ankle. I’ve never had sore ribs from trying to sleep on a bed! We hadn’t even done a hike yet! I couldn’t fall back asleep. The next night, upon a suggestion from another hiker, I folded a blanket lengthwise and put it under the bottom sheet of my bed. This provided enough cushioning to take the edge off. I would encourage management to purchase some pillow top mattress covers for use by some guests (such as those like me who have some arthritis in their hips). If I had an inkling that the mattresses at this hotel were the consistency of a board, I would have brought a Thermorest sleep mat to put on the bed. I hope I never encounter a bed that hard again!

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