Riu Madeira

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3485 reviews

• 

  Lovely hotel but with extremely poor customer service

  Absolutely gorgeous hotel, ideal location for sightseeing, with a free hotel shuttle bus which is great. However, there is nothing near the hotel apart from a small supermarket and 2 local cafes and restaurants. So you are at the mercy of the hotel when it comes to food. AC wasn’t brilliant Water wasn’t draining properly in the shower cubicle 5 stars for the spacious and modern room with comfy beds and huge balcony No body lotion, cotton buds or shower caps supplied in the rooms. No slippers either. Towels are absolutely awful, thin tiny and poor quality, however housekeeping were providing us with extra ones which was good The sun beds were nothing like advertised on their websites. Sun beds were extremely uncomfortable and if you have back issues, not recommended to lay on there for too long. No waiter service in the lounge or by the pool area. They do not give more than one pool towel card per guest, these towels once again were thin and small! Extremely poor quality! Towel place was o my open 9-5, staff were once again quite rude and unhelpful. Overall apart from 2-3 members of the staff most of them seemed quite grumpy and were just happy to do their jobs and not interact with guests, this was such a shame! 3 star for the entertainment, very cheesy circus and magic show which the kids would enjoy Acoustics & Sound system was very poor you can hardly hear the singers Coffee machines - if you like disgusting coffee mixed with chocolate it was ok! Snack bar served very very basic snacks such as chips, awful coleslaw sandwiches, sausages etc…not brilliant. cocktails were very limited too, It much of a choice and were very sugary! 1 star for Restaurant and food - I had emailed the hotel well in advance before we arrived regarding our dietary requirements. Informed at check In again, was told to ask for the restaurant manager and he would sort something out. Restaurant manager was extremely rude, abrupt and told us it’s self service and if we don’t like the selection it’s not their problem. Not helpful at all. He was shouting at me in front of the reception staff and other guests! For a manager his attitude and behavior was absolutely appalling!! Tried reaching out to Alexandra the hotel manager twice but she was FAR too busy to make time to speak with guests it seemed! I sent a one star rating via the Rui app and got an email from Andre the assistant manager, who once again reiterated that they do not cater for vegetarians as they have a good selection in the restaurant, stating that it is not general practice for the hotel to cater for client’s personal preferences! Wow what a response, not prepared to be helpful at all! He further stated that they only offer a buffet service and that their chefs DO NOT have time to cater for specific dietary requirements, not true as they were more than happy to cater for gluten free requirements! After lengthy conversations he finally spoke with the chef and they agreed to prepare something for 2 days for us but not after that! Extremely strange! They could do this for two days but not for the duration of our stay?!! Even in the Al Carte the waiter said they have no alternative options apart from what was on the menu! Extremely bizarre as I have stayed in several Rui resorts and never had issues as the chefs have always been more than happy to cater for vegetarians who do not eat eggs, cheese and have allergies. This hotel couldn’t even do a simple dish like penne arrabbiata. If you are a vegetarian with any allergies I would encourage you to either stay at this resort on a Bed & breakfast or find an alternative hotel as this resort In particular are not prepared to accommodate for dietary requirements it seems! Overall, extremely disappointing, not the usual Rui standard and service levels and definitely not of a 4 star but more like 2-3 star! I would definitely go back to Maderia but not to this resort.

  Jul 02, 2025
• 

  Solo travels to Madeira

  The staff are just lovely. Highly recommend for solo travelers. Enough sunbeds for all and so close to the beach and supermarkets, if you forget anything. The TUI rep was brilliant.

  Jun 30, 2025
• 

  Excellent!

  What a fantastic hotel on a beautiful island, this hotel is excellent, the hotel is absolutely spotless, the cleaners in all parts of this hotel work so hard, the food is faultless, the service is second to none. The drinks with waiter service is brilliant but slightly unique, what l mean is when you sit down at a table the drinks menu is upright, the waiter will take your order and then they turn the drinks menu to a horizontal position, when you are ready for another drink you then put the drinks menu to a vertical position, simple but very effective, and so it's a great idea, no trying to catch a waiters eye. We read reviews a bout the decor and how it needs a facelift, no it's a traditionally decorated hotel, the bedrooms are large and the furniture is perfect, you even get a complimentary bottle of Madeira and a lovely fruit basket. The outside pools and furniture are very good and well maintained. The entertainment venue is well designed and the the entertainers are great but the 30 min star spot is not long enough I think they should have two 30 min star spots and then it would be perfect. This hotel is around 15 mins from Funchal which is a lively capital with great restaurants and bars but our high spot was the cable car ride to the top of the mountain and the toboggan ride down, it was hair raising, no Health and Safety here, but you have got to try it, it's bonkers. The island is very hilly but you can have some nice walks , the beaches are rocky and I would say you need walking boots if you want to explore, Riu Palace is one of the best hotels I have been to for a friendly atmosphere, cleanliness and service, I would recommend this hotel to everyone.

  Jun 30, 2025
• 

  What a fabulous hotel and a completely restful holiday

  Well what a beautiful hotel, the food is brilliant and catered really well for my gluten free son at all meal sittings. The staff are amazing and can’t do enough for you, to make your stay perfect. In the restaurant we would like to say a special thank you too Maurice, Monica, Erica, Fernanda and Joao… you are all amazing and made us laugh every day… you also made our stay and my birthday so special… all the restaurant and cleaning staff do a wonderful job. Thank you Bruno on reception for sorting out my birthday cake with my son and my bottle of fizz. Mari in the spa is brilliant at the hot stones, it is definitely worth a visit to the spa as all the staff are friendly. Thanks for everything we will be back soon hopefully. If you get a chance go on the cable car in Funchal and the VIP dolphin boat trip, we were lucky enough to see dolphins.

  Jun 30, 2025
• 

  Riu Maderira

  Spent 10 days at Riu Madeira hotel, great selection of food options at buffet and pool bar but only one visit per stay to special restaurant seems tight, one visit per week would be better. Pool area very good with ample beds in different areas, weather wasn’t great but suited our needs. Access to promenade through gate was good although I expected it to be longer, 500 yards one way and 250 yards the other side, both had decent caffe / bars. Room was great and very clean. Shuttle bus to Funchal was very useful land local bus just across from us. Took two trips organised by TUI, fireworks on Saturday was good but spoilt by being rushed and no organisation for us to sit anywhere to watch. Second trip was to East of the islands, great views, great guide and made better by being a small group.

  Jun 30, 2025