The Cliff Bay Hotel, Madeira - A Review

No lengthy review required as our thoughts were summed up as we chatted to our waiter, Tony, on our last evening. He asked if we would return to the Cliff Bay, and when we said that we would he simply said "...Mission accomplished!". That's what there service is like, not seemingly done with a view to increasing the size of their tip, but with a view to you enjoying your stay so that you return!

This standard of service is best shown by Tania, who assists poolside. As you first approach the pool she is already looking to find you a free sun lounger in your chosen area, she then runs to bring you mattresses and umbrellas to place you in the amount of shade that you require, before running off to help somebody else - she is also multilingual ("...would you like another brolly?") a first aider, lifeguard etc etc, and has been at the hotel for seven years.

This is what the hotel provide, good, polite, friendly service.

Whilst the hotel is at the more expensive end of the market, it doesn't take extra advantage of its guests by charging for extras, such as the Spa, Gym etc and provides cocktails/cocktail party, free Madeiran wine-tasting etc etc which make the overall experience even more pleasant.

Could the hotel improve - if one was being harshly critical perhaps. Comfier beds, more restrictions on smoking, and slighly quieter evening entertainment at night (although it does always end by 11.30pm) and...and...well nothing else actually.

A little more Claudier...but no Schiffer

Tuesday - a cloudier day than we've been used to, although still lovely and warm. We decided to take a boat trip in the afternoon on the "Sea-Born" catamaran. A 3-hour trip, which guaranteed the "...sighting of sea-life". Well, as we waited on the side of the Marina, beofre boarding the boat, someone threw a small piece of bread into the sea, and a small feeding frenzy ensued as a small shoal of small fish tried to devour the food. Given that even these fish would be classified as "sea-life", I guess we couldn't now claim under the guarantee whether or not we saw anything else on out trip! (Damn clever these Madeirans!! - See also "When is a drain not a drain...? - When it's a "levada"!")

However, we were not to be disappointed as we saw three separate sightings of dolphins, one sea turtle and some (although not us) claim to have seen a Beluga whale. We then anchored off Cabo Girao - the 2nd/3rd highest (there is some dispute between Madeira and Norway as to whose is highest in Europe) sea cliff in the world, where we stopped for 20 minutes to have a swim in the sea, before returning to our hotel and another (and last) meal in our favourite restaurant...

A balloon ride over Funchal....

Not wanting you to think that all we have done on this holiday is sit in the sun, read, drink, swim, drink, etc - today we ventured into Funchal and did a "walking tour of Architectural sites" and then had a romantic balloon ride over the city!!

It would have been slightly more romantic, had the balloon not been tethered to the ground at all times, but it did rise to 500 feet above the ground, giving great opportunities for some fantastic photos of the scenery below....great opportunities that is for those who had recharged their camera battery the night before, and not so great opportunities for those that didn't. Guess which camp I fell into? Nevertheless, it was a great little trip, and wonderful views....which we have memorized, but alas cannot show you. Unless you click on the following link -

http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/balloon-rides.html

STOP PRESS!! - The batteries actually lasted enough for one shot from the balloon as shown by the ropes in the following shot (which were NOT drawn in using Photoshop for those of you who think that I might be that devious!).

The walking tour was courtesy of the AA guide book that we brought with us, that also led us to a small pavement cafe, where we had an even cheaper lager than at Monte - this time only 2 Euros 50 for two!

I had thought that the AA stood for Automobile Association, but given the fact that it always seems to lead us to some bar or other, maybe it is produced by the other AA?

This evening we have once again booked into the Blue Lagoon restaurant, close to where we go snorkelling and where we have seen varying kinds of exotic fish....which we can now hopefully eat!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!!