Hotel Orca Praia in Funchal

Lovely hotel, we had a deluxe room , comfy beds , large balcony and lovely sea view. Very clean , good breakfast . The shuttle bus is good , we booked it the night before online. The bus drops you at the port in Funchal. The pool area is lovely and clean and the snack bar food is very good. The only reason we wouldn’t go back is the challenging steps down to the pool /bar and promenade although we did it most days we did struggle coming up again especially in the heat.

Hotel with a magnificent view, super calm, where you can relax listening to the sea! The breakfast is wonderful!

Stayed here for the second time..it was a better experience than the first time we went last year..we gave it a second chance because of it's location and the fact that each room has a full sea view.therefore peaceful and scenic ,a room and balcony to enjoy and relax after a busy day sightseeing. The breakfast was plentyful and varied and fresh.. Didn't eat in the hotel in the evening. Hotel staff very pleasant and helpful Access directly into the promenade from the hotel pool area ,for nice flat walking in either direction. The only negative is that there is no where to pick up some milk for a drink in your upon arrival..which sounds petty but after six hours of travelling a cup of tea/ coffee would have been lovely. Wouldn't hesitate to return .

We had a deluxe suite room on floor -5 – this is one large room, rather than multiple rooms, as the word ‘suite’ often implies. The balcony was vast (although there were only two chairs, despite the room sleeping four) and the views were amazing. We found the wardrobe space to be ample, the beds were reasonably comfortable and the TV, that could turn to face in either direction, was a quirky touch. The minibar was unusable and seemed to get very hot; a small empty fridge would have been much preferred. There were some finishing touches that seemed to have been missed (wires hanging knotted from the ceiling etc). We requested extra pillows via a QR code and these were delivered to the room without a fuss. The air conditioning system seemed to work well and was included in the cost of the room, whereas the safe did not appear to function (there was a hole drilled right through the door!). Staff in the reception area could be hit and miss. Some were friendly and helpful. Others behaved as if it were an inconvenience to have guests at all. At check in, we paid the tourist tax (which we anticipated) but were also asked to put a €100 deposit down on a card. I did this without arguing about it though I wondered why it was necessary. In the restaurant, the staff appeared to be annoyed when I wanted to pay for our drinks with cash, so we ended up agreeing to put things on the room tab. I made sure this was below the €100 taken already. However, at check out, I was informed that I had to pay again to clear the room tab and then wait for the €100 to be refunded back to my card. This took over a week to clear. It was definitely a faffy situation and we observed another family struggling with this as they had not anticipated needing more money available whilst the hotel 'sat on' the original amount. We did not use the bar as the hotel information stated this was for adults only; as a result, we did not get to enjoy any entertainment during our stay. The restaurant was on floor -9. We often walked the four floors between the restaurant and our room as there was only one tiny customer lift available (plus lots of banging and clattering of engineers appearing to be working on a second lift) - the lift was so small that we couldn't fit in as a family with our suitcases, which is far from ideal. A singular lift in a hotel built across ten floors resulted in a lot of waiting around or braving the many, many flights of stairs. In the restaurant, the food was okay; we all found things to eat. For dinner, there were usually two meat choices, two fish choices and some vegetarian options alongside the side dishes. My son has two severe allergies; the staff were helpful and, each day, the chef would come to speak to me to show me what was and wasn't safe. On a number of occasions, there wasn't a "main" item that was suitable and they graciously offered to cook a steak for my son - these steaks were incredible and seemed to be the envy of everyone else who walked pa

We stayed here at the beginning of July for two weeks as a family of three (girl aged 9). The hotel was nice and clean throughout, room was spacious and the views out to the sea were stunning. The hotel was undergoing some renovations which could have been a bit disturbing if you were in your room longer than we were but overall didn't really have an impact on our stay. We stayed on a half board basis and the breakfast was good if nothing spectacular. Dinner was a buffet style and was fine but got a bit samey in the second week. I am not sure I would choose the half board option again. The pool was great and you could always get a sunbed no matter what time you went down the plentiful stairs to get there. If you have mobility issues then I am not sure you would be able to get down to the pool but we enjoyed going up and down the steps for a wee bit of a workout! The staff throughout were all very nice and friendly. Special mention to Putru in the bar who was lovely and always made a fuss over our wee girl which she loved. Also to the head waiter who was so welcoming every time we went down to the restaurant and again took time out to speak to my little girl and make her feel very special. Thank you. The entertainment which we went to in the bar was of some very energetic dancing which my little girl absolutely loved. I would say you need a car if staying in this hotel as it is a bit off the main area and although there are a couple of restaurants nearby there is not a lot without a good walk. The hotel does run shuttle buses throughout the week into Funchal, not on a Saturday or Sunday, which we utilised a few times and we always managed to get a seat on this and they ran on time. Overall it's a very nice hotel and we would stay again although I think they are turning this into an adults only hotel so we wouldn't be going as a family.

Very disappointing parking situation, 10e a day parking or driving up and down the road trying to find public spot.. NO WIFI!!!! What do you mean there’s 0 free WiFi access in any areas of the hotel
Wouldn’t be as big of an issue but there’s also very little mobile network connection, therefore use of Data was ever limited..

Breakfast - is okay, you could tell a lot of items are stored and reused days later (pastries, fresh fruits)

Pool is okay but sunbeds are uncomfortable and you can’t get a towel in morning (10am…)

Hotel management could easily make this in a 5* property with just basic additional amenities and being less greedy with add ons..

Overall for a supposedly 4 star hotel it’s more like 3.


However
Staff are quite nice and helpful
Rooms are crazy spacious (probably double what average same price hotel will get you in Portugal)

Location is good, a little further from city center (about 75min walk) but in front of a nice empty black sand beach