Tui Blue Madeira Gardens

Recent Reviews: 3044

• User:NevenaHrnjak

  Trip type: Couples

  Exceptional staff and food, but outdated rooms and overpriced extras

  30 Mar 2026

  We stayed at TUI BLUE Madeira Gardens for 14 nights, and while there were some wonderful highlights, the hotel overall falls short of the 4-star expectations usually associated with the Savoy Signature brand. Our stay was split into two parts due to a chaotic flight cancellation, which unfortunately allowed us to see a much less pleasant side of the property.The absolute best part of this hotel is the people. The staff at the reception and in the restaurant are exceptionally kind, professional, and genuinely welcoming. We had half-board, and the food was excellent; plentiful, fresh, and high quality every single day. Also, the housekeeping does a fantastic job as the entire hotel is kept spotless. The location is convenient, about a 20-minute walk to central Funchal, and the on-site parking for €15 per day is a great deal considering how difficult parking is on the island.However, there are significant downsides that guests should be aware of. The furniture in the rooms is heavily outdated and the bathrooms, though clean, are stuck in the past. We were disappointed by the lack of basic amenities; for a 4-star hotel, providing only a tiny soap and a basic wall dispenser is not enough, and we had to buy our own toiletries nearby. A major comfort issue was the shower water, which was highly inconsistent throughout our entire stay, constantly shifting between freezing cold and scalding hot.The pricing for drinks also felt like a bit of a "tourist trap." Charging €6.60 for two espressos-which you cannot even get at breakfast unless you wait for the bar to open-and €7 for a single glass of house wine is far above the local average and simply doesn't match the actual luxury level of the hotel.Finally, a warning regarding the rooms: our first 11 nights were in a spacious sea-view room, but after our flight was cancelled, the only room available for our extension was a "hill view" room. In reality, there is no hill view; the window looked directly into a massive, noisy construction pit with heavy machinery operating from 8:00 AM until late afternoon. The hotel provided no prior warning about this project, and to make matters worse, the bathtub faucet in that room was literally falling apart.In summary, the staff and food deserve 5 stars, but the facilities desperately need a renovation. It is a friendly and clean place, but be prepared for outdated interiors, inconsistent water temperatures, and high bar prices.

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• User:Philippa63

  Trip type: Couples

  Much needed winter sunshine !

  11 Mar 2026

  We stayed here for a week in February- we booked with Tui and before we came , the hotel contacted Tui to let us know there was building work behind the hotel( this was nothing to do with the hotel) I do feel sorry for the hotel as it’s out of their hands. So book a sea view! This was very honest of them . We were offered to change but did not as we had a sea view . The building work is to the rear of the hotel. It only impacted us when we went up to the seventh floor. We didn’t notice it when we were in the jacuzzi- only on the sun beds.We were so pleased we still went as we had a lovely week. We were on half board and found the food very good. Breakfast was full of choice and very good coffee! I particularly enjoyed the waffles and French toast. Dinner was delicious with a good variety of fresh food, salads, vegetables. I generally had fish which was very god. The cheese selection was wonderful ( I love cheese!) The vino verde wine was lovely and not too overpriced. We found all the staff to be friendly and efficient from reception to waiting staff. We wouldn’t recommend going to the speciality restaurant- the choice was very limited with most options incurring a surcharge! The hotel is in a good location and only 15-20 minutes into the town( depending on how fast you walk!)We would definitely return!

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• User:Barry w

  Trip type: Couples

  Good hotel

  06 Feb 2026

  TUi Blu Madeira gardens - I’ve stayed here on number of occasions Location 20 minute walk to the city - 10 Estrada monumental and Lido area Reception- staff are some of the friendliest I’ve ever come across - glass of fizzier orange juice on check in - explained to us meal times-bar -€70 euro credit for our room - saw the offers in the lift - Rooms clean and tidy - rooms ocean view best- free safe water in mini fridge tea and coffee - previously had junior suite deluxe room and room 104 - no issues with any - the hotel has some building work currently behind yes noisy during the day but then it can’t be helped if Pool cold - gym pretty well equipped clean tidy - mars weights treadmill and bike - spa not cheapest but very good Food breakfast and dinner plentiful you yes buffet but no complaints Can eat in culinarium on half board which was great Bar ok little pricey but ok Overall a good standard mid range hotel staff friendly Will be going back

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• User:Angela B

  Trip type: Couples

  Maderia 5 star, TUI blue maderia garden's 3 star

  05 Feb 2026

  Our 2nd visit and it will be our last. The hotel feels tired and dated, definitely NOT 4 STAR. The building work directly behind the hotel is very intrusive, the roof top area and outside game area become unusable from 8 am until the builder's stop working in the evening. Our first room was a "mountain view" room. I think that's spin for "building site view" We were unable to hear each speak in our room with the door closed, the earthmoving machine and large pneumatic drill directly behind the hotel made this impossible.We moved rooms three times to finally have an acceptable room. Food, a lot of repetition, particularly at breakfast. Luke warm and bland.No water with your evening meal (unless you paid for it), 1 litre of water, 2 x teabags, 2 x coffee sachets and 2 x milk sachets provided daily per room. So the choice of one hot drink each in the evening or morning but not both and 500ml of water for 24 hours. NOT 4 STARI enjoyed trying the daily cocktail in the bar directly by the dining room and my husband a glass of wine before our evening meal. We tried to enter the dining room with our drinks and were stopped. Presumably they wanted us to order drinks from the restaurant menus ( which came from the same outside bar with an inflated price) We hoped to use the hot tub located on the roof top after the building work had finished in the evening and it was faulty for the 10 days we stayed. Again NOT 4 STAR Maderia itself is lush, picturesque and the locals are friendly. Funchal is about a 20 minute walk away down hill. Lots of bars, restaurants and shops but nothing immediately around the hotel. Everything is at least 15 minutes away.We found a large shopping mall around a 40 minute walk away to while a way and afternoon. Thank you for getting this far!

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• User:jason g

  Trip type: Couples

  No service means 1 star

  29 Jan 2026

  10 Major Reasons not to stay at Madeira gardens hotel tui blue1. No free drinking water-meaning you couldn’t fill your water bottle unless you did it in the bathroom of your room. There was none in the very poorly designed gym, where only one window opened and no air con worked. So it was too hot in and you couldn’t get water to help you regulate your body temperature. At dinner you couldn’t get a pitcher or even a glass of water unless you paid for it. That is truly dismal. Water-what humans need to live. One occasion I asked at the pool bar and they reluctantly gave me a glass of water, but it was with a frustrating look of “why aren’t you going to spend money and buy a drink.” After that experience I never asked again. Upstairs at the roof top bar, the same existed. No free drinking water. One bottle in your room per day isn’t a concession. It is a way for you to show that as a supposedly 4 star resort (this comment will be expressed later) you are supposed to offer this level of service. 2. The room isn’t actually air conditioned. It is water cooled that doesn’t go below 22.5 degrees Celsius even though on the screen it says 15. This isn’t fair advertising. This is just a lie. Air con should cool a room. This wasn’t the case ever during our 2 week stay. Not once did the room cool beyond 21.5 Celsius and that means the system doesn’t actually cool. It just makes noise. This issue shows up in many reviews and it is just a pure lie on the part of TUI and the hotel. Both companies need to change this in their literature. I, for one, will be sure to add this to the public reviews over and over. 3. No shampoo/conditioner in room. Oh they have a wall mounted push container but it consists of ? It soaps up but is it for your hair or body? Again-is this a 4 star resort? Nope. 4. Dated rooms unless (as others have noted you are in the new wing..how you get those is anybody’s guess). The rooms, albeit cleaned well, are just dated. The bathroom itself smelled strongly of mold. This would get worse as the day went on and the room heated up (see #3). The curtains didn’t quite close off the light. There was always a section that wasn’t long enough to blacken out the window, so each morning it was very light in the room. 5. Don’t allow them to put u in room 102,103,104,105 as they are right over the entrance to the hotel and have minimal sea-view (even though the front check-in staff tell you with out kindness that they are “considered” sea-view rooms. This was where they put us on the first night, when we arrived to an empty hotel at midnight after a transfer from the airport. Having to go find someone to ask how we check in was, again here comes the 4-star comment, not what we expected. The room (105) was right above the front door of the hotel and so hot that at 1 am we had to back down to ask someone to show us how to make the air con work. It don’t work of course because there isn’t any! 6. Don’t expect representation from Tui (even though everyone who works in the hotel wears Tui gear) to help with the actual hotel issues. They said verbatim, “we can ask about things but the hotel isn’t owned by us it is owned by Savoy” and no it isn’t the savoy you are thinking of. This was how our first interaction with the tui rep went after asking to a change of rooms due to where room 105 is and truly thinking that this is exactly why you book through a company. Initially the hotel wasn’t helping at all(/another story!) and so going to the tui rep (a male South African), he was absolutely useless. Other than saying “sorry they might be able to move you after a few days” it was clear TUi wasn’t going to help. Only after repeatedly asking for the actual hotel manager did we end up getting a different room. What a sham. 7. WiFi-it is ify at best. On…off…on…connected…unconnected…that was our experience daily. No chance of trying to watch a show on your laptop, unless you don’t mind the 30 minute show taking over an hour. 8. Gym-see #1,2 and 7 repeat9. Tv-nowadays not as important but not one English Channel with anything but news. Which is why #7 becomes more important.10. Food-part 2 don’t expect fancy. Actually you will be told where to sit should you decide to have a “lie in” and don’t come down to breakfast until 10 (although it is open until 11). You will see a cacophony of movement around the food area of the servers already setting up for dinner and whatever semi hot/hard cooked food is left you’d better rush to, because the staff even start removing the hot food. This repeats itself should you want to have a European dinner time (like sitting at 8) at the food area. You might accidentally get your wine (pay for it) in an orange juice cup if you don’t see where you are sitting. 11. Tui app-this is the only way to get any real information about the hotel or other things (like who are the reps or hotel manager or front desk manager-which by the way has been there for 31 years-a millstone but also makes you feel like you are intruding on her space and not the other way which is to welcome you into her beloved hotel). One thing to be aware of (which of course we weren’t) is that if you put a tab of 150 euros on your room the hotel will add an extra 22.50 euros as a bonus. But you have to do it within 24 hours of checking in or else it disappears. (They won’t tell you this and neither will the tui staff). It is literally tucked away on the app only! And you have to use the whole amount to keep the bonus. 12. Don’t be shocked if you feel like it is ground hog day when you come down for breakfast. The buffet is EXACTLY the same food every day. I tried to find something different but I couldn’t. Same hot offerings, same cold offerings, same bread, same canned fruit. But literally, and I mean literally, not one single item changed in the 14 breakfasts that were served. Even the bread pudding that was on the dinner menu was in the same hot tray the next morning. Ugh….

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