Hotel Baia Azúl

HOTEL BAIA AZÚL

Madeira Travel Series

Ik heb een ding voor hotels. Maarja, anders zou ik ook niet hotelmanagement zijn gaan studeren. Op vakantie komen twee van mijn passies samen: fotografie en hotels (reizen). Tijdens onze vakantie in Madeira, verbleven wij in Hotel Baia Azúl. En wauw, wat is dit een prachtig hotel! Wellicht het mooiste hotel waarin ik ook ben verbleven. In april 2016 heropende het na een grote renovatie. Ik heb besloten om deze post verder enkel in het Engels te schrijven, zodat ik wat uitgebreider kan typen zonder dat dit onoverzichtelijk wordt omdat het in twee talen staat. Lees je toch even mee?

I have this thing for hotels. But well, if I didn't, why would I have chosen to study Hotel Management? On vacation two of my passions come together: photography and hotels (traveling). During our vacation in Madeira, we stayed in Hotel Baia Azúl. And wow, what a gorgeous hotel! It was probably the best hotel I have ever stayed in. It reopened in april this year after a huge renovation. And in this post I am showing you all the aspects that I loved the most!

LOCATION
Hotel Baia Azúl is located in a bay next to Funchal, the capital of Madeira. Most hotels can be found here, yet it never felt like all hotels were crammed together. Close to the hotel you can find a few other beautiful hotels, together with a promenade next to the sea. Here you can find a few cafés and restaurants and is worth an evening walk. We walked our way to Funchal one time, but this takes quite a while (I think we did it in about 45 minutes). However, you can take the bus there for only €1.95.
Because we booked with a travel organization, we had a transfer from the airport to the hotel included. This only took about 20 minutes, which is great after you've been flying for a while.

THE RECEPTION, SWIMMING POOLS, GYM
When the transfer stopped in front of the hotel and I entered the lobby, my jaw just dropped. Even after working in a 5-star hotel in Paris, I don't think I have ever seen a lobby this beautiful. The first thing you notice are the gorgeous marble floors and the sea view. You actually enter the hotel on the 6th floor, so all you see when you look out of the window is sea. The reception was located on our left, where we were helped in a lovely way. On the second floor of the hotel you can find the outdoor swimming pool with lounge beds, indoor swimming pool, a well-equiped gym, a few lounging areas and a spa.
Staff was excellent in this hotel, mainly the restaurant and bar staff.

THE SUNDECK
When you walk outside on the 6th floor, you have a sundeck. Here you can find all different kinds of lounging chairs. At night there was live music in this area.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS
The hotel has 3 different restaurants and two different bars. The breakfast buffet was simply amazing and didn't get boring. Dinner could probably have been better. Food was often lukewarm. However, the offer changed everyday and if you are a sea food lover, the dinner buffet will be like heaven. I am not saying that dinner was bad though, as I had a fantastic meal each night. Each night we ate on the terrace, which of course had a fantastic sea view as well.
Our lunch was often outside the hotel. On a few days we ate a sandwich at the pool bar or the restaurant on the 3rd floor. Both were great, and I am still thinking of the hamburger I had there on day.

THE ROOM
As I visited this hotel with my parents, I had my own hotel room, and this room was probably what I loved most about the hotel. Our rooms were located next to each other on the 8th floor of the hotel. The room was decorated in a modern way, but my favourite colour in all the accents: blue! The beds were fantastic: never in my life have I slept this good. Even after our vacation mom asked me if I could find out where the hotel got their pillows from, haha! One thing: definitely go for a sea view room. This costs more, but really adds up to a fantastic stay. On the other side you have a view of constructions and a main road.
Oh and another good thing, WIFI reached up to my room! The reception staff said that this unfortunately wasn't the case yet in every room, but in mine it was luckily! ;) Home is where the WIFI is, right?