- Madeira Holidays
- Calheta
- Savoy Saccharum Resort and Spa
This up-scale and refined hotel enjoys a privileged positioned in the west coast of the island of Madeira, in Calheta. The classy property is set a few steps from the marina and the impressive sandy beach. As the hotel is built where there used to be an old sugar cane mill, the current decoration is based on this concept. Guests will be able to be pampered at the guest rooms and suites that are tastefully appointed in an elegant and modern look. They are generously proportioned and some of them even include a private balcony with panoramic views to the sea. The hotel offers an incredible array of useful and superior services and facilities that feature a complete spa and wellness centre with a fantastic indoor swimming pool to relax while children have fun at the children's Playroom or at the outdoor splash pool.
Pamper yourself with a visit to the spa, which offers massages. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, which include 2 outdoor swimming pools, a health club and bicycles to rent. This Art Deco hotel also features complimentary wireless Internet access, babysitting (surcharge) and an arcade/games room.
A beautiful hotel for relaxing and spending time. Loved eating at Trapiche restaurant; great food and cocktails, and always a friendly welcome from Carmen. I would highly recommend using local taxi driver Nelson Lala; he was always on time and had great knowledge of places to go on the island, making getting around Madeira easier, as he was so reliable and friendly. His son, who also works for him, is equally reliable and a very good driver. Madeira is a beautiful island, and it's definitely worth trying to see as much of it as you can.
Absolutely stunning hotel The attention to detail is exemplary Will definitely return to this hidden gem
My 2nd time on this beautiful hotel, beautiful and well decorated.
My husband and I booked our honeymoon here in 2025, the resort is so incredible, we are back exactly 1 year later celebrating our anniversary. The service is exquisite, the resort is stunning, the food is amazing! 10/10
Saccharum Resort could be the perfect place for a dream holiday, if only it hadn’t sold its soul to Anglo-Saxon-style profit maximisation, opaque pricing and two-tier service.
If you arrive without having booked the Savoy Premium Experience formula (€110 per person per night!), you are instantly made to feel like a second-class guest. Whereas the couple checking in shortly after us were invited to sit down and enjoy a welcome drink while the staff took care of the check-in formalities and parked their car — exactly what you would expect upon arrival at a 5-star hotel — we had to queue at reception for ages. We were offered no welcome drink and, when we finally got our rooms (which weren’t ready upon arrival, which is perfectly understandable), the staff had managed to lose one of our suitcases (and found it back hours later).
The only reason the second suitcase wasn’t lost as well was that, after waiting for it in my room for a long while, I went to look for it myself. I was not allowed to take my friend’s suitcase, however — which they subsequently lost. No compensation was offered at all.
Admittedly, the hotel premises are stunning and the architecture is amazing. The pool deck, the rooms and even the fitness room offer beautiful sea views. The hotel is also immaculately clean and extremely well maintained. It could be just perfect!
But as a non-premium guest, you will quickly discover that you are not welcome in all parts of the hotel, and you will end up feeling uncomfortable while exploring the premises, for fear of accidentally intruding into a space exclusively reserved for premium guests. Likewise, as a non-premium guest, certain loungers on the pool deck will cost you an additional €35 for the day! The same applies to the spa, which is not included in the standard room rate.
You should also be careful when ordering food or drinks at the hotel. We had a club sandwich upon arrival while waiting for our rooms. The price listed on the menu was €18 for two slices of low-quality industrial white bread. If you wanted fries with it, you had to order them separately (at an additional charge, of course). Worst of all, they automatically added a 10% service charge to the final bill without even informing us.
We easily solved the problem by avoiding all the hotel’s bars and restaurants for the rest of our stay and enjoying much better-quality food at far lower prices in the nearby marina.
In short, we thought we had booked a five-star hotel experience, but we only got the low-cost version. This is a typical example of misleading and opaque pricing, combined with a two-tier customer experience — something you should be aware of when booking this hotel.
