Royal Savoy

I came to the Royal Savoy in Funchal after three years care for my father, who passed away last year. I came after having shingles, heart palpitations, and a level of exhaustion I hadn't fully reckoned with. I had written ahead with one quiet request; a high floor, away from the lifts, somewhere I could watch the sea. I wasn't expecting it, I just hoped. What I got was extraordinary.

From the moment we arrived early, before our room was ready the reception was warm, proactive, and genuinely engaged. We were told our room would be prioritised, and in the meantime, a manager named Fernando Costa appeared and gave us a full personal tour of the hotel: what was on, where everything was, delivered with wit, warmth, and real charisma. Fernando has an electric presence. He is funny, interesting, entirely professional, and from the moment he meets you, he is completely focused on you. That quality stayed with us long after we said goodbye. He is the kind of person who would be exceptional at whatever he turned his hand to.

Then our room was ready. Sixth floor, end of the building, quiet, light, and the most magnificent long balcony running parallel to the coastline! I stood there and felt three years of grief and exhaustion fall away. Framed by palm trees, the hotel grounds below, the open sea ahead. I am not being dramatic when I say that moment changed something in me. Each evening, we would sit out there and watch the night draw in slowly; waiting, without quite meaning to, for the very last boat to make it back to port before we went to bed. It became our quiet ritual, and I cannot think of a more peaceful way to have spent those evenings.

The care continued throughout the week without a single break in it. The turndown service, small cards with kind thoughts, chocolate, a little bottle of water on the bedside table — these are the details that tell you a hotel genuinely thinks about its guests. The Welcome Evening, where the canapés were dinner-sized and the wine poured with equal generosity. The pool team, always there before you'd finished the thought of needing them. The fruit-infused water through the afternoon. Housekeeping who treated every space as though it mattered.

Everyone member of staff at the Royal Savoy, from the teams you never see to every person you encounter are warm, well-meaning, and entirely focused on making you feel looked after. This hotel does not offer five-star service. It offers something that is harder to name and far more valuable - the feeling of being genuinely seen and cared for.

We are returning at Christmas 2026. I say it because this hotel gave me something I didn't know I still needed, and I can't wait to return.

We had a very relaxing stay at this lovely hotel. The food and service was exceptional. The staff were friendly and helpful. We had a decent size room (a junior suite) which was comfortable but we did not like the pillows. They were very uncomfortable. The pools were excellent with one being slightly heated, My wife liked this as usually takes her an age to get in.

Lovely hotel I have been before so knew what to expect . Staff are wonderful not overcrowded and plenty of sun loungers to choose from , plenty of options for lunch and dinner . The rooms are a little tired and need updating as do the bathrooms but all kept very clean