Golden Residence

My fiancé and I have just returned from staying at Golden Residence for 7 days, would absolutely stay here again! We stayed in building C, the room was lovely and clean, maybe slightly outdated but not terrible. The balcony was nice looking out to the sea. The reception team were always lovely and helpful, check-in was easy and the team even sent a bottle up to our room for my birthday! They also give you tokens for towels to use which is a great idea. We did B&B, the breakfast was buffet style and not bad at all, lots of choice although it does get busy. We never had trouble getting a sunbed which was fantastic, never any issues with people reserving beds either. There is only 1 outdoor pool and 2 indoor so may be busier during peak times. Overall we would definitely stay here again, it’s close to some lovely restaurants and beach bars and only a €8-10 Bolt into the centre of Funchal. I think it would be a good idea to give guests a little map of the buildings/area on arrival as it can take a day or two to familiarise yourself.

Hotel has 3 buildings, A,B,C. A is the closest to the main road Estran Monumental, across the street there's a building under construction what might cause (more) noise. B is in the middle and holds the reception. You can get a towel for the pool and exchange it ones a day, so you don't have to bring your own. From B you can walk indoor and take the elevator to Estran Monumental street above, what saves you a walk up, and ofcourse down, very nice! C is the closest to the sea and you can hardly hear any noise coming from the street above. C is also where the restaurant and pool is and has a great view over the sea. I recommend building C and have sea side view on level 1. Than you can see the sea very well. Or one of the 2 rooms which have front sea view. The lower level does not have much view, for what i saw, and the ones on the poolside are just right across the pool, I think not much privacy on your balcony. Between B and C is a road, and a busstop next to the entre of the hotel, left and right. From here it's about 25 minutes to Funchal. The price now is €2,05, single ride, pay in cash! Check Google maps for the right bus to take and the time. I found the directions at the busstop a bit unclear. With Google maps I found it very easy to check which I had to take. The hotel is very close to shopping center Forum Madeira, 5 minute walk, which has a lot of nice stores and cafes/diners and a big supermarket. The pool has a nice watertempertur and enough sunbeds and parasols around. There's no "handdoekje leggen", like people dropping towels on the sunbeds and don't stay there. Breakfast is good and plenty to choose from. The restaurant serves buffet and a la carte for dinner. I had a la carte and there was enough choice and the food was good. All the staff I've met, was really friendly and helpful😄 The room in level 1 i had was nice and comfortable and had a shared balcony with the room next door. Ofcourse diveded with a, non see trough, glassscreen between them. But when you sit outside on the balcony, you're neighbors are quite close 😉 I found the bed very nice, but ofcourse that is, like all, a personal thing. The direct surrounding of the hotel is really nice and when you go down to the promenade there are 3 restaurants. A Mexican steak, Seafood and a Italian. I visited the Mexican, great T-Bone steak, and the Seafood restaurant. Food was great and service very friendly and good. Lot's of people of Madeira come here too, so that means it's good 😋. I recommend Golden Residence because I found it to be a very nice, comfortable and easy/relaxed hotel at a good location where you can shop, eat, walk around and travel from.

The Golden Residence was really a great choice for our days in Funchal. The location is great, on the edge of a cliff near the waterfront with some great sea views up and down the coast. There are plenty of good restaurants and shops within 5 minutes’ walk of the hotel, and about 15 minutes’ drive to the old city. Our room was huge, bright and airy – plenty of space to spread out. We even had a small and very basic kitchenette which was a nice bonus. We had a nice balcony with great views over the pool area and with views out to the sea and beach. The room was not modern by any means, definitely in need of an upgrade, but clean and comfortable nonetheless. The breakfast buffet was excellent, especially eating it out by the pool. The gym was not very good, a bit disappointing. Some of the weight lifting gear I had never seen before and I’ve been lifting for more than 40 years!! It was pretty much unusable, and we decided not to have any workouts there. Really in need of an upgrade. Overall – a great stay and we would definitely recommend it to other travelers.