Saccharum

Our stay was, as always (just like the last three times), perfect. From the warm welcome to the excellent service – everything was wonderful once again.||The spa area is beautiful and offers a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere. The massages were outstanding – deeply relaxing and performed by very skilled therapists. We also loved the excellent food and drinks; every meal was a highlight, both in flavor and presentation.||A big thank-you to the entire team for making our stay so special. We truly enjoyed every moment and it’s always a pleasure to see familiar, friendly faces when we return. We’re already looking forward to our next visit!

Beautiful place however these are the points I would like to raise. |* confusion of do’s and dont’s in premium areas. I didn’t realise that you couldn’t use the spa pool, jacuzzi, steam room or sauna without paying the extra €90 per person per day premium rate. I think you can book and have treatments without being premium. You can’t wear spa robes in certain areas but it’s not clear. |* One of the big pulls for me with this hotel was the chefs garden. A beautiful place to see lots of fruit and vegetables growing and steps to a beautiful view point. Also the premium area next to the gardens with a massage bed and jacuzzi with snacks and drinks included. Sadly this premium area was closed to us due to building works. We were not told about these building works and was very disappointed. They did set up another premium area on a lower level but not just premium guests used it. |* The buffet restaurant food was lovely but repetitive. There were times there was no cutlery or dishes replenished. Breakfast was lovely but only some days we were asked if we wanted tea or coffee at our table. Room service food quality was hit and miss. On the first occasion it was lovely but there after bread was stale and items missed. A room service charge of €9 per visit was made. |* On the last two days of our holiday we ended up with food poisoning. My daughter and I were very ill. We had to stay in bed and had severe vomiting and stomach upsets. Room service did bring us bottles of water and later toast and crisps. For which we did have to pay. One occasion the room service man deducted the room service charge and bread as he could see we were so unwell. |We found out also that other people in the hotel also were unwell in the same way. Suspected food poisoning. I had an online consultation with a GP who told me he thought it was food poisoning. |We booked an earlier flight to get home.

Really good experience overall. Very large hotel rooms. Quiet area with low noise. Luxury is feeling hotel. Multiple different areas for lounging. Amazing views really spectacular. Overall, the experience is very strong. Here are the only reasons why I don’t give it a five star. 1. For some reason, during our 5 days stay we had 4 cockroaches in our room. Even one inside the soap dispenser bottle somehow. 2. On the last two nights, there was a strong smell coming out from the shower drain we had to cover it. It smelled like sewer. 3. Hidden cost like extra for the lounging beds should not be a thing you’re paying for access to the hotel.

We had a lovely stay on our honeymoon at Saccharum and it was our favorite stay while at Madeira out of 4 hotels. We had a partial ocean view room and it was spacious and the view was quite nice. The views from the bars, pool, and both restaurants are all incredible and make this place feel very special. We were given a bottle of champagne on arrival and access to the chairs by the infinity pool which was a lovely extra. The brown non premium chairs are fine but are not by the pool (on the grass in other areas). We did not do premium and were perfectly happy but we may have felt differently if we didn’t have the pool loungers. We did the tasting menu at Alambique our last night and liked it, I especially appreciated the vegetarian tasting menu which is rare. We also enjoyed trapiche for multiple meals and had dinner one night at a very yummy restaurant a short walk away at the marina.

We stayed at Saccharum and initially had a good impression. The property is lovely, the rooms are comfortable, and breakfast with the premium experience was excellent (Whitney was our server every morning, and she was a joy to interact with). The staff were attentive while we were onsite, and we especially enjoyed access to the spa’s warm indoor pool (a nice touch, since the outdoor pools were far too cold to enjoy even with the warm weather we experienced). However, the premium experience at €90 extra per person ultimately didn’t feel worth the cost, as the benefits were limited. What truly soured our experience was what happened after checkout. We realized we had accidentally left several shirts hanging in our room and contacted the hotel within 36 hours of departure. Despite multiple emails and at least seven phone calls, we received no meaningful response for several days. When we finally reached someone, we were told nothing had been found, only for Guest Relations to later confirm via email that our shirts were indeed located. By that time, due to the hotel’s delay, it was too late to have the items sent to our next destination in Portugal, which would have been feasible. Instead of taking accountability or assisting with a reasonable solution, we were told we’d need to arrange our own shipment back to the US (a personal cost of roughly $300). Because of the lack of communication and urgency, our belongings are now effectively lost to us. It’s a shame that such a beautiful property with generally good in-person service is undermined by such poor follow-up and customer care. We left feeling disappointed and unlikely to return.

The Saccharum Resort is undeniably beautiful. The lobby and rooms look luxurious, and the overall design gives a great first impression.||However, once we started experiencing the resort itself, the feeling changed. For a place marketed as a SPA & Resort, it’s disappointing that access to the spa isn’t included in the room price. On top of that, guests are charged extra for reserving sunbeds and other small things — it starts to feel less like a relaxing stay and more like they’re trying to squeeze as much money out of guests as possible. The confusing €25 daily credit system doesn’t help either; it just complicates things rather than feeling like a benefit.||The worst part of our stay was at the top-floor restaurant. There was a cat walking freely inside, and since my girlfriend is highly allergic, we politely asked the staff to handle it. Their reaction was surprisingly passive — they seemed to treat it as someone else’s problem. The cat kept coming back to our table despite my attempts to move it away, and eventually it came so close that my girlfriend panicked. We had to leave the restaurant and asked to have our food sent to our room. We paid for it (forgetting to use the €25 voucher) and received it about 15–20 minutes later — the same dishes, but cold.||For a hotel with a no-pets-allowed policy, this situation and the lack of response from staff are simply not acceptable.||Overall, while the resort itself is visually stunning, the constant extra fees and poor handling of our restaurant incident left a bad impression. It feels more like a “cash cow” operation than a genuine luxury experience. I doubt I would stay there again — there are better options in this price range on Madeira.

I was kind of scared b/c of the reviews lol we didn’t stay here, but we did have the fire pit service dinner and omg it was amazing!! The staff was incredible, we loved our waiter he was so fun and nice. And the chef was incredible! The 5 course meal just made sense. Some of the food I wouldn’t like alone, but together it was amazing! Not to mention the view and atmosphere. We had our dinner 10/10/25 and I would absolutely do it again. House wine was good too, just overall incredible. Highlight of our trip!

Advertised as a wellness design resort I realize they want to set themselves apart from other hotels, but the entire hotel is too dark. In an effort to promote peace and tranquility, it feels more like a cave. Suites, foyer and even lifts could use some better light whilst still keeping with the wellness/peaceful theme.||Food was good, no complaints though for those who have all inclusive as we did, lunch options were very limited.||The grounds of the hotel are absolutely lovely, but at least one of the outdoor pools could have been heated |as they were a bit too chilly.||All in all a good resort but I wouldn’t necessarily say it was 5*.

Great rooms, very elaborate breakfast which can be enjoyed on the terrace. Hotel is very much like a cruise ship with multiple restaurants and pools. Nice beach area- bring your water shoes.

For my first international trip post covid, I treated myself to a relaxing stay at Saccharum Resort & Spa in Calheta, a small beach town on the west side of Madeira Island, Portugal. It did cross my mind that I was paying to travel around the world just to gym, spa, and lie at the pool, all things I could do at home...but once I arrived at the resort, I felt a wonderful mix of serenity and invigoration from the terrain that would be hard to replicate. The Saccharum resort is built into the side of a hill, and our side ocean view room came with a balcony that looked at both the ocean and the hill. The stunning contrast of the vibrant blue and green landscape was breathtaking and made for magical sunsets. As the hotel was full of European tourists, English was the primary language spoken. As Americans, we found the staff very pleasant and welcoming to communicate with. With four restaurants, bars, a beach club, gym, spa, and four pools, the resort made it easy to not leave. However the main strip of Calheta is also an easy 5-minute walk away and has cute restaurants and a sizable Pingo Doce grocery store. I was surprised that the hotel restaurants closed fairly early, but their indoor/outdoor rooftop Fly Lounge Bar was a reliable go-to for sunset drinks, live music, and casual bites. Trapiche restaurant serves a larger dinner menu with an equally impressive outdoor setting overlooking their infinity pool. The daily buffet breakfast at Engenho has a large selection, plus a made-to-order hot bar, an impressive parfait station, Nespresso machines, and a pour-your-own mimosa station with fresh-squeezed juices. I definitely wish I made it out to more than just one breakfast, it is worth getting up for! I felt very safe here walking around both alone and with my friend. As this was a sleepy, small town, three nights felt like a suitable amount of time for staying in this part of the island.

This is a lovely property, ocean views, 3 different pools to swim in, plus a private beach area, a gym, spa & 4 different restaurants to chose from. Beds were cozy, they offer an array of pillows for your sleeping comfort. There's a morning buffet, loves the fresh made pancakes, the daily fruit needs improving, i.e. the watermelon was consistently poor, over ripped, while the pineapple was at times brown - this was over a 7 day stay. Their high end restaurant was a bit of a disappointment, they're working on it. Oh and there's nightly music, real bands, in their Fly Lounge. The spa was nice, don't suggest a facial, as all the gal did was put product on then wiped it off, no extractions, steam & a sparingly massage. The full body massages are nice, while their foot massage is solely your foot & not up to your knees. The concierge can assist with day trips & making reservations at restaurants. All in all I would recommend coming, spend at least 5 days & enjoy the sunsets.

We stayed at this hotel in March and I wrote down the name of the staff there to do a review upon returning home and just found that lil scrap of paper! I want to post this because unfortunately receiving above and beyond customer service is very rare thing at times. Our sons is special needs and he experienced an extreme case of airsickness during our flight to Madeira. He was so weak from it he couldn't stand. Upon arrival we were greeted by Diogo. His professionalism and ability to assess guests needs was evident immediately. He secured a wheelchair to help us transfer our son to our room, he helped us get checked-in and Diogo checked on us to make sure our son recovered. Diogo made all the difference to our family and set the tone for our stay at this beautiful property. If you're interested in staying at a luxury hotel where human kindness is equally important as amenities then look no further.

We are so blessed to have chosen this hotel. Everyone is super friendly and helpful, even the maids are adorable. They gave us chocolates, cookies, or candy every night after checking in to see if we needed anything. We relaxed a full day in the spa, and loved walking around in our savoy bathrobes and house shoes. The game room was fun . I was happy with the breakfast buffet... The swimming pools are fab. (In jan outside infinity pool was cold but still fun to sit by) It is 45 mins away from Funchal and costs 20 euros round trip to take their shuttle, but for us it was worth it . We wanted a quiet spa getaway and they successfully provided. Loved walking around, up and down the mountains. The hotel is gorgeous and we slept like babes.