We stayed at the Monumental Lido during the first week in March 2006, travelling on a cheap £250 package. For the price, the hotel was definitely good value.

It's very clean throughout, if a little functional and lacking in personality. Our room was very clean, although quite small and the beds were rather hard. The room came equipped with a small fridge, and a ceiling fan (the holiday company try and make you pay for a fan when you book). We were at the back of the hotel, so the room was fairly dark, and we were looking pretty much straight into someone's garden! What was great was the shower - very powerful with constant hot water.

We really didn't think very much of the food. We ate at the hotel on the first two nights (and only went the second night because it was a 'festival' night) and I was really under-whelmed. The food was at best average - and very British / German. There was no sense of local produce or recipes in the menus. On the festival night, we had this imported salmon that was one of the worst things I have ever eaten - but I never saw any local fish on the menu. There was a good amount of choice, but you are packed into the dining hall like sardines, and you're told "That's your table for the week". After two nights of poor food and being unable to eat more than one mouthful in a row without having to move to let other people out, we decided to sod the expense and eat elsewhere. A great decision as we ate like kings for the rest of the week!

On the plus side, the hotel's location is pretty good. Of the 4-star hotels we saw, this is one of the ones that is closest to the centre. It's a longer walk than the brochure suggests, but it is reasonably flat on the way into town. A taxi back from the town centre was never more than 3 Euros. There's also a good choice of restaurants around it (a nice pizzeria just down the hill / an Italian at the bottom of the hill / Moby Dick for some heavenly swordfish). There's also a small shopping centre, with a little supermarket and a newsagent that sells UK papers. There's a taxi rank outside so you can always get a cab - and there's a tour company, Strawberry Tours, based right next to the entrance of the hotel. These tours were less than half the price of the Thompson tours - and we went on three of them and had a great time.

One other good point about the hotel was the pool area. This was pretty nice, always spotlessly clean, and with good views over the ocean. It was a shame that the pool bar had really restrictive opening hours (perhaps just the time of year) as the main bar in the hotel was dark and a bit unappealing.

Would we go back? Yes, it was a really good base - but I would go self-catering next time. There's so much great food to be eaten in Madeira (we really recommend Zarco's) - just unfortunately not at this hotel!