Riu Palace hotel on Madeira is the best hotel we've stayed in. Everything you need, and nothing is too much for the staff, who were excellent. Food was freshly cooked, lots of it and every variety. Dinner is served in 2 sittings at either 18:30 or 20:30.

The majority of guests were German, with a large contingent of Brits and a few other nationalities, with most being couples of 40+ in age. If you want to get away from children this is one place to do it.

The island is of course noted for its flora and fauna so if that interests you, there's plenty to keep you occupied.

Evening entertainment was ok with a resident band who obviously enjoy playing Eurovision songs...! There are guest performers of magicians, dancers,etc on alternate nights, but only play for 25-30 minutes.

The hotel has 2 good outdoor pools, an indoor pool plus a kiddies paddling pool.

The rooms are excellent with limited satellite tv (5/6 European channels, Sky and BBC news) and a mini-bar/fridge. There's plenty of room with ample storage and we found the beds excellent.

To summarise, if you're going for a holiday to relax by the pool with a book with peace and quiet you couldn't have a better place to go.

We were looking for a quiet holiday, with no children, and from other reviews this hotel seemed to fit the bill. At the departure gate, we were surprised that we were the youngest there by about 20 years (at 40), but it became clear that this is really the key visitor profile for both the hotel and Madeira in general - the 60+ age group.

The hotel is excellent: the staff speak 3 or 4 languages, the food is very good and quite varied for buffet style, and the rooms are spotless. However, if you find holidaying with German tourists a little trying, this may be a poor choice, as it was about 85% German guests whilst we were there. Breakfast is 'sit where you like', but for dinner you are allocated a table for 4, for the duration. This means that you can find yourself stuck with people that don't speak english, and/or, you just don't hit it off with. This can make a pleasant dinner a bit strained! However, there are some tables that only seat 2, and if you have a word with the maitre d, he will do his best to move you. We moved twice and ended up sitting with a very nice couple from Frankfurt who spoke very good english - putting my bad schoolboy german to shame as usual.

The majority, if not all, of the rooms seem to be 'smoking' rooms and being a reformed smoker this was a bit disappointing. They are cleaned very well though and it's not that noticeable. All the rooms have balconies, but the sun doesn't hit the ones on the right of the pool after 0830, so we asked for a move to the other wing (which was done with no fuss) and were able to enjoy the afternoon sun and shelter from the breeze too. Best to try for one of these at outset in the busy months I would think. Only 2 TV stations in English - BBC World (mostly news) and Sky News, balance in German, Portugease or Flemmish(!), with the occasional subtitled American film late at night.

If there is one thing that does let the hotel down it is the entertainment. The house band are all very competent musicians, but they do play the same 'elevator' jazz and standards every night until the guest act comes on. We christened them 'Los Thewilltoliveos' after 2 days as it is quite sleep inducing after a while. The guest acts are varied in quality too - some good dance troupes, local folk acts and a magician. The easy listening song choices did seem strange given that most of the guests were of the Beatles generation and were up dancing straight away when the band played something more upbeat. I understand that the management are trying to change things after substantial guest feedback of this type.

The hotel also suffers from being a bit out on a limb - 10 km from Funchal, and there isn't much to do in the immediate vicinity. There is a free courtesy bus that runs on the motorway to and from Funchal about 6 times a day. You can catch the local bus from right outside the hotel, but it gets packed and the route is rather like the end of the film 'The Italian Job' - every little village on the mountain roads - not for the faint hearted, but a bit of an adventure.

That said, I would certainly return to Madeira (which is beautiful and very clean and crime free), and also to this hotel and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to friends.

Excellent hotel,can`t fault it.We visited 3 times last year.This hotel can only be booked through tThomson,they seem to have the monopoly,so it can be rather expensive.The location may be a bit out of the way for some,but if you want peace and quiet in a lovely setting,this could be for you.The staff are wonderful,meals really 5*,bedrooms spotless and entertainment at night good.There is a courtesy bus several times a day to and from Funchal,and the local bus service will take you up into the village of Canico,which is certainly worth a visit (or two).Saving up to pay another visit next year.