Madeira Bright Star by Petit Hotels

Last here in March 2023, our sixth visit. It has all the Government requirements for a four star, true it hasn't a 60 foot crystal chandelier in reception but the friendly, helpful smiling staff make up for that. You don't want to go far tonight, no probs, 4 bars, 15 good restaurants within ten minutes. You do want to go a bit further, a twenty minute walk to the centre of Funchal. I've looked at the hotel photographs, all true. Not so sure about the critical ones, seems a peculiar way to spend your holiday. It's not mentioned anywhere but all bedrooms were completely refurbished on January 2023. I can't beat it for value.

We stayed at Madeira Bright Star for 3 nights during our roundtrip. It's a simple hotel, located near the port and centre of Funchal. Though the immediate surroundings (an empty lot, a car park and a busy street) do not seem very attractive, the location is great for a city trip to Funchal. The hotel staff is friendly and helpful. Our room was spacious enough and offered a balcony overlooking the small swimmingpool of the hotel and the parking lot of the neighbouring hotel. The hotel has laminate in the room, and although it was a bit worn out in some areas, it's much more hygienic than carpet. The quality of the bed was good. Though the room was kept tidy, the sewer air in the bathroom was quite unpleasant. Breakfast buffet is basic, but offers enough variety. If you're coming by car: Though the location is the biggest asset of Madeira Bright Star, since you can walk to both the port as well as the city centre within a few minutes, you might find some challenges finding a place to park your car (there's limited space in the hotel's parking lot and one can't make a reservation), so one might need to pay to park in the street from 8 am to 8 pm, or find some other available parking space in the city. Fortunately the receptionist arranged for us that we could park our (quite large...) car on the parking lot of the neighbouring hotel.