Advantages: Good rooms, helpful staff, free bus into town Disadvantages: Its a bus ride from town.
...in others. They are called espetada and are well worth a go. The main specialtiy of Madeira is of course the wine. There is no shortage of tasting opportunities but unfortunately we both hate the stuff so can't give you much more detail about it.
The hotel welcome presentation sets out all of the activities and trips available and I believe tries to sell you a timeshare. The levada walks are popular and well worth doing one or two. Take a waterproof jacket, some decent trainers or walking boots and a jersey as it can get cold, wet and misty at altitude. We hired a car and did our own thing for the week. Hiring the car gave us access to a couple of sandy beaches although one was man-made and a bit grotty.
Pestana have a number of hotels around Funchal. The first Pestana hotel that we stopped at in the airport coach looked like...
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Advantages: Informal, clean, decent food, right near the beach Disadvantages: Hideously expensive bar and wines
...We stayed at the Pestana Bay "Aparthotel" four-star hotel in Funchal (the capital of Madeira) in August 2005 and I'm happy to recommend it to anyone reading this. It was clean, conveniently placed (i.e right near the beach and with a nearby bus stop for trips into town), not too formal or "stiff upper lip" and the breakfasts were pretty good.
COSTS:
We paid just over £500 each including flights, for a 2-week stay in August, which we thought was pretty good value given that it's not the cheapest of locations. This included buffet breakfast each morning.
The bar is expensive and probably best avoided if you need to watch the euros- we paid something like 10 euros for a Southern Comfort and coke, and a small bottle of beer. There are plenty of bars in Funchal where you can get the same drinks for under four euros, so I would advise...
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Advantages: Stunning Hotel, Brand New, Clinically Clean, Excellent Professional Service. Disadvantages: Getting to the pools becomes a bit tiresome after a while!
...Without doubt I can say this is the best hotel I have stayed in. I can also recommend a portugal based online holiday company who you get amazing deals with for it. www.strawberryworld.com is there website. We payed 500GBP per person including flights, and if you booked it through a tour operator you would be talking aroung 1000GBP per person. You get a PRIVATE taxi transfer in either a brand new minibus or we even had a Mercedes S-Class once! We have been 3 times to this hotel and I would have no problems going again.
The Crowne Plaza Resort Hotel is based in Funchal (the capital of Madeira) right on the sea front with EVERY room having a full sea view, so no need to worry about being stuck in front of a noisy road. It has 9 floors and as round 1000 rooms but although this may sound huge, the hotel is actually built as two identical...
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We had an enjoyable stay at this hotel.
What sold the hotel to us was its look. It has a traditional colonial appearance; a Madeira building that guests must have stayed at a 100 years ago. It has its own unique character and is such a contrast to all... more
The Savoy Resort is pretty much amazing and we found it offers the most outstanding customer service ever! The Atlantic views are incredible and it is only located about 10 mins pleasant walk along the harbour from the centre of Funchal, Madeira's... more
Madeira is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, sometimes called the Pearl of the Atlantic or the floating garden, the flowers are magnificent here and it is a very green island, because of the careful usage of water and the mild climate.
This was our... more
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23.11.2007
16.06.2006
