Calheta Hotels

Hotel Calheta Beach: Beautiful, Quiet and Relaxing

The Hotel Calheta Beach is a wonderfully relaxing place. We visited in late July 2007 and it was a busy hotel but the atmosphere was very quiet. Calheta is about half an hour drive from Funchal and if you don't have your own transport you could get stuck - as we did! Our biggest piece of advice is to BOOK THE HOTEL EXCURSIONS AS SOON AS YOU CAN!! The hotel offers trips to many of Madeira's popular tourist attractions, however there are only a dozen places available at best. First thing you do after check in is to go downstairs and book the excursions! We waited 1 day and missed everything! Transport is limited and so we ended up paying 100 EUR (plus tip!) for a taxi to Funchal. There isn't an awful lot to do in Calheta itself - just eat, swim and sunbathe really! The town is on a very steep slope so walking about is hard work!

Ok so that was the bad part... everything else is idyllic! Location takes your breath away - definitely the best on the island. It really is as good as the hotel's website! The sea and sandy beach is on your doorstep. This isn't exclusive though and very popular with the locals. There are beach volleyball and football matches. This isn't disruptive though as the matches are well organised and we were never disturbed - the locals are a good bunch! The hotel is well secured with a security gate preventing outsiders from intruding on the pool area.

The staff are fluent in English and could not do enough to help us, from arranging transport to late check-outs, nothing was too much trouble.

During our stay we were the only English couple! This hotel is very popular with the German tourists.

Due to the remote nature of the resort I recommend this for anyone looking to relax in the sun with a good book!

For the best price we booked direct with the hotel. Book the airport transfer through the government backed tourist service Strawberry World. Good value and other operators will try and sell you time shares etc.

Unique Quality: I recommend the Spa which is run by Susan and Geoff, British ex-pats who offer a wide range of relaxing treatments. They are very friendly and made us feel so at home. I had a massage, reflexology, Hopi ear candle (I think it was called Hopi!!!) and also hypnotherapy (Geoff was great - helped me to stop smoking!) I never do this sort of thing but they made me so welcome.

Next to the small marina are a couple of bars. We visited one of these every day - it is run by Robbie - a local man with excellent English. He serves ham and cheese toasties and Tetley tea! He will make you feel like a good friend from your first visit. His bar/cafe has a TV for football but he would change to the English channels just for us to make us feel at home!

One of the few boat trips leaving Calheta itself was a dolphin/whale spotting trip. This was a wonderful experience for us as we sailed with a pod of dolphins for half an hour. Small boat and sea sickness pills are held on board if you don't sail well. Run by a German captain and Portuguese ex-fisherman who really knows the sea well. Great value as it was 30 EUR for 3 hours.