Funchal, Raga Hotel

Excellent value for money. Friendly staff, attractive pool area and gym. Bed and breakfast is best option as the evening buffet dinner is of limited choice. There is a pleasant cafe/bar at poolside for light lunches. Large selection of excellent restaurants very close by. Hiring a taxi from nearby rank is a cheaper option for four people than going on coach tours of the island.

One of our party needed medical attention and the staff promptly arranged a doctor to visit. They dealt helpfully and sympathetically with the situation.

This was our second stay in the Raga we found it had improved tremendously since last year (2007) and the room we had eighth floor sea facing, was excellent and clean and kept so by the staff. There was air conditioning that worked, fridge, and safe (at 10 euros a week) and a very well equipped bathroom/shower including a hair dryer. We will definitely use the Raga again.

We really liked the Raga hotel it has been refurbished to a high standard and worth a 4 star. The position of this hotel makes it a good place to be based.

The Raga is in a excellent position only a short walk to the marina where all the cruise ships dock. Strawberry world was almost next door, where I reccomend you book your trips there is plenty of places to eat if you are on a bed/breakfast basis.

My only comment about the Raga Hotel was if you are on a Half Board basis, there was not much selection it is a choice of two starters, two main courses fish/meat dish and dessert which consisted of fresh fruit salad or a choice of to cakes which were fab. Just watch out for the sales people who con you into visiting an hotel through saying you have won a prize, then end up spending more than 90 minutes on a presentation which in the end they try and sell you a timeshare or membership to a holiday club.

The hotel we were allocated on arrival in Madeira needs complete updating. There was no heating or air conditioning at the Raga Hotel. The food was poor, and the portions were very small. The staff weren't trained to serve at tables properly. Plates were just thrown down, and wine was poured in a sloppy manner. There was traffic noise all night along with the barking of local dogs. A party of 6 German youths decided to have a slanging match 2 nights running in the early hours, so no sleep was had, and the hotel did nothing about it.

One night, for a main meal, I was served up 4 very small slices of cold meat, one lettuce leaf, half a tomato and some kind of beans. There were no potatoes of any kind, and the desert was the same for 7 nights. Take your pick from fruit salad or caramel.

The sea green tiles in the bathroom were horrendous, and there was a constant musty smell in the room.

The staff weren't trained in customer relations as no one spoke to us. We own our own business and deal with many customers each day, and if we treated them like this we would not have a business left.

My husband and I were celebrating our wedding anniversary and it was spoilt by this hotel. In the First Choice brochure the Raga is advertised as a comfortable and friendly hotel with a 4 star rating, and we will be contacting First Choice to recommend they remove it, as they are giving a false impression.

Overall, it was a disaster of a holiday!

Not all hotels in Madeira have this problem, and Madeira is a beautiful place for a holiday!

The Raga Hotel is fairly dated but kept very clean. We found our room on the 6th floor to be very very noisy from traffic on the MAIN road, which is situated between the hotel and the sea. The traffic was constant except for a quiet period between 0300 -0600 hrs, so we did not get much good quality sleep. We recommend you only use this hotel if traffic noise does not bother you. Seemed to be quieter on the lower floors.

Booked as a Thomson Price Breaker so did not know which hotel we'd be in.

The information about the Raga hotel was inaccurate stating that it is "modern", with buffet meals, which it is not.

Relatively cheap for Madeira and now we know why.

Would not use this hotel again.

Upon arrival me and my new wife received a lovely bottle of champagne, then shown to our room!

While the Raga Hotel is slightly dated it fits in perfectly with the rustic atmosphere of Madeira.

The staff are polite, friendly and very helpful, the rooms are extremely well cleaned every day.....I dont know what the lady who says the hotel smells musty is talking about.....it smells like hotel, the smell I've loved since I was a kid :)

The breakfast buffet was excellent, with of vast array of many kinds of foods!

I love the place and hope to return very soon

Breakfast was well catered for either full or English or continental at the Raga Hotel, Funchal.

Found a brilliant local restaurant called Solo to eat our evening meal.

One of our party received a lovely bouquet for her birthday.

Hotel definitely 3 star rating

I give the Raga marking out of 10 an 8.

I would say that the Hotel Raga was built in the 1960's. I base this on the sea green tiles in the bathrooms. I am sure that the cleaners did their best but there was a constant musty smell that would not go away. The cleaners would leave the patio doors open when they had finished cleaning but as soon as they were closed , the smell came back.

We were on the top floor, the 11th, facing a hill and north. There was a constant grinding noise all night which came from some type of generator on the roof above us. We complained but nothing was done about it. The wind whistled through the badly fitting patio doors and in turn made the door at the other end of the room rattle even when double locked. This also meant that there was no sound proofing from the local dogs that barked constantly all night.

The break fastsnever varied and were of the lowest quality. We made the mistake one night of taking dinner at the hotel and we couldn't believe how small the main course was. It was the size of an average starter. We had two slices of potato each - not even a whole one between us!

The upholstery in the bar area was very worn. One night the leg came off the chair my husband was sitting on. He is 13 stone and tea total so there was no question of any wrong doing on his part. The bar man just laughed. There was no apology and no attempt to obtain another chair for my husband.

We paid First Choice £1072 for a seven night stay on a bed and breakfast basis for two people and we certainly did not receive value for money. I put all these complaints in writing to First Choice. They took 2 weeks to even acknowledge my letter and a month to give me a reply. Their letter did nothing to restore my faith in using First Choice again.