1. 4 stars is too much for this hotel.
2. Far from cafe/bar/restaurants,30 min walk to decent eating places.
3. If walking, far from the beach, 30 min walk?!
4. They don't have frying pan in the kitchen.
5. For me internet was very important, poor quality!
6. No privacy on the balcony.

7. It's hard to see Mdeira without car, so consider renting one. There are free parking spots around the hotel. So don't accept offer 5 euro per day for underground parking lot.

Good luck!

I had high hopes for Golden Residence as a result of the excellent reviews but I must say that in some things the hotel is great but in many aspects it is lacking.

Starting off with the room. We had a suite in block B and due to the furniture and fittings It felt soulless, like we were in a conference room. I had requested a bath but ended up with a walk in shower which makes the bathroom look cheap but the hotel provided a baby bath without me asking which was a great touch so in the end I didn’t need a bath tub. When I had a shower the shower fixture would not flex so I could move the head to a different angle so I had to crouch under the water to wash. Also the hairdryer didn’t work.

During the day the temperatures had been 21 degrees and this meant the suite felt like a sauna (top floor). During the night on the baby monitor it registered 24 degrees in the room and opening windows did not change this. I called reception to find out how to use the air conditioning but was informed that during winter the air conditioning was deactivated! This is hardly Iceland! So we had a very uncomfortable night when the whole point of staying at the hotel was for relaxation. The only option given was to bring us a fan but we didn’t think it would help as the fan would just blow hot air around the room.

In the room there is one bottle of water sitting on a desk. In this day and age hotels that have water out like that do so for complimentary purposes. We drank the water and then I saw a small laminated card which said that if we wanted to have more water it could be purchased at the reception for €2.50. At reception I asked if the bottle in the room was chargeable and they said yes. I informed them that the card made out that the first bottle was free and any subsequent bottles would be charged where I was met with a statement of ‘I am only an intermediary’.

In terms of dining, the restaurant was also incredibly hot and had buffet and a la carte options and it felt like the service was more comprehensive for those having the buffet, which is incredible bearing in mind there shouldn’t be much to do when serving people who have the buffet. The food was ok. My husband had tuna with biriyani rice but the rice was not biriyani but instead risotto. And we ordered a dark chocolate brownie which sounded luxurious but didn’t taste like dark chocolate and was more like a sponge. Breakfast was disappointing. Things like the location of the cold milk weren’t very obvious. It is all set in a small space so it’s very hectic.

We had a few pre dinner drinks outside and at one point someone unrelated to the bar (potentially the hotel manager) stopped and asked why the bill was sitting there and had not been signed for. I felt it was rude to have made that comment. We were intending on having some more drinks so didn’t want to keep signing numerous bills. The lady behind the bar was lovely and couldn’t do enough for us.

I have now asked to speak to the manager (request made at 8am) and by 11am still no one has contacted me. I am a regular at hotels in the Lido area and would say go to Pestana Grand next door instead which is far superior.

The girlfriend has difficulty walking. There are 3 blocks. We were in block A, room 601, with a walk in shower. The room is next to the sun deck and the lift. The girlfriend happily spent 3 days, no more then 10 feet from our room. One floor down, and there is a walk way to the main road. The Forum shopping mail is a few minutes walk. Cinema, food court, supermarket on the bottom level, loads of shops. It is a very hilly island. From our room, reception was is at -2. The restaurant, and outside pool are across the road, and down an other floor, and the inside pool in down one more floor. The gym is on floor "0". This may sound complicated, but once you figure it out, it is quite simple. Full fitter kitchen. Microwave, double hob, fridge, sink. We went b&b, because we wanted to try local places, and not be tied down to meal times. But, they do do a different theme for the evening meal, each night, and we were told that the food is great. There is also a singer on some nights. I did not see much for children to do. The out door pool did not to seem to get much sun, but it is possible to move your sun bed away from the pool and into the sun. On the top road, (level 5), you are next to a bus stop to The capital Funchal. It cost E2:30 each way on the bus. There is a taxi rank at the next hotel, opposite the shopping mail. A taxi is around E10. It is about an hours walk should you wish to take a stroll on a sunny day. Funchal has shops, resturants. We did the cable car, which was E16 for a return. We just went up, sat in a bar, then came back down, being as the girlfriend cannot walk far. That was an expensive beer. They also had a Christmas Market, so we had loads to do. This holiday really suited us. I di not see any night clubs. That is not to say that there were not any. Hotel staff were great. Room was spotless. Lots of English channels on the tv. Wi Fi through out. Non-slip gravel walk way around the pool, so were your shoes up to the swimming pool.