Pestana Grand Hotel - Funchal, Madeira.

Advantages: Good rooms, helpful staff, free bus into town
Disadvantages: Its a bus ride from town.

...We booked a last minute holiday in Madeira in september 2007 and on the advice of our agent decided to go for the Pestana Grand hotel. The hotel was rated as a 5 star by our agent although this site rightly has it as a four-star. We booked on a bed & breakfast basis and with flights and transfers It cost us about £650 each for the week . On arrival the reception staff were very helpful and spoke excellent English. We had been booked into a mountain view room and asked if we could upgrade to a sea view. This was no problem for, I think, an extra £20 per night. This was well worth it as we noticed that the mountain view rooms all overlooked the car park. The view was excellent from our room and we could see people fishing from small boats, the hotel gardens and pools and people walking along the promenade which takes you from the hotel...

zoetna 23.11.2007 (24.11.2007) · Read review
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Review of Pestana Grand Hotel, Funchal

The Pestana Porto - my pick of Porto

Advantages: friendly efficient staff, good location
Disadvantages: poorly promoted restaurant

...In September we had a great holiday in North Portugal and I wanted to tell you about my favourite hotel. We booked into the Pestana Porto for 4 nights and it was a very enjoyable stay. My Aunt had recommended Oporto so after a search on Tripadvisor for hotels there, we booked a room with a river view. Location The Pestana Porto is ideally situated for tourists. It looks out onto the river Douro and the riverside cafes. Nearby are old, narrow quaint streets with bars and restaurants. River cruises regularly set off from just below our bedroom window. A walk across the bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia takes you straight into the old part of the town and you can easily walk to many of the famous port houses. The fabulous Palacio da Bolsa is located a short walk away. We walked into town although this is not recommended for all. Parts...

kazbo 27.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Pestana Porto Hotel, Porto

Pestana Bay Hotel in Funchal, Madeira

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...

bagoproverbial 22.12.2006 · Read review
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Review of Pestana Bay Ocean Aparthotel, Funchal

The place to get away from it all

Advantages: Quiet, lots of facilities, good food
Disadvantages: Remote from entertainment ( some might see this as an advantage)

......

boojum 18.12.2006 · Read review
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Review of Pestana Atalaia Ocean Aparthotel, Madeira

Afternoon tea at Reid's Palace Hotel

Advantages: Good service with a feel good ambience
Disadvantages: none - do it.

...Taking afternoon tea on the terrace at the historic Reid's Palace Hotel is a bit of a must do thing while on holiday in Madeira. We stayed at the Pestana Grand in September 2007 and they were happy to book a table for two for us at Reid's Palace hotel. I was a little concerned about going to Reid's Palace because taking afternoon tea isn't really a regular holiday activity for me. I am more likely to be taking an afternoon hair of the dog! We were a bit put off the idea by our guidebook which said that evening dress had to be worn in the dining rooms and that gentlemen had to be appropriately attired in other areas. Not being sure what appropriate attire was I wore the best I had available - a pair of chinos and a short sleeved linen shirt, my wife wore trousers and a neat top but we were far from looking posh. When we were shown...

zoetna 23.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Reid's Palace, Funchal

Mrs J Weight

Advantages: lovely island, complex good, reception staff good
Disadvantages: misleading information re accomodation - no recompense offered by rep

...Pestana Atlantic Gardens Aparthotel, Funchal, Madeira - went with a female friend who booked the holiday. Madeira is very beautiful and well worth the visit - the only problem with the apartment (which is advertised as a luxury one) was the bedroom given to me. There are 2 bedrooms, one is a lovely large airy room with a double bed, nice linen, en suite and patio doors to its own balcony overlooking the sea - so far so good. Sadly the other bedroom is a gloomy, dark storeroom with no window to the outside. The 'window' looks into a dark store/drying room that has a wooden lattice to let in air and a door to the corridor outside the apartment. This 'bedroom' is fitted with 2 single beds and is meant for children (a couple of older ones not tiny tots) and was so creepy and claustrophobic I could not sleep in it. My friend...

tenderfoot 09.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of holiday-rentals.co.uk

  Vintage Character

Advantages: Full of interest, pleasantly unpretentious, reasonably priced
Disadvantages: Perhaps a little downbeat, even dour

...impressively located within the Palácio da Bolsa; it is on the pricey side for dinner, but does a set lunch for 13? (£11.80) or light bites as more economical options. Wine-wise, there?s port of course, though you wouldn?t want to drink it through a meal. Crisp, fresh, almost-effervescent vinhos verdes or robust local reds provide better accompaniment for the majority of dishes. As for beer, it has to be said that this is not a Portuguese speciality. Light, lager-style, locally-brewed Super Bock is widely available on draft and will quench thirst effectively enough if you don?t mind an absence of flavour. * Where to stay * The Pestana is superbly situated right on the quayside and has a good reputation. We toyed with staying there, but it proved to be about twice the tariff of a number of other decent-sounding hotels in...

torr 15.05.2009 (22.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of Porto (Portugal)

Madeira - Paradise

Advantages: Fantastic in every way
Disadvantages: None as far as I'm concerned

...'ve flown with another airline (British Airways also do numerous flights to the island) it's only ?4- so definitely worth getting the bus rather than a taxi- even if you have to wait around for a little while. We stayed at different hotels on our visits- the Pestana Bay the first time (which was great- nice and relaxed and fantastic views of the sunset) and the Regency Palace the second time (a little too austere for my liking). Both were fine, nothing to complain about (always a shame I know)- they will be reviewed separately another time. SCENERY Madeira features the world's second-highest sea cliff apparently, which goes some way towards giving you an idea of the place. Ridiculously steep hills, fantastic views over the Atlantic, great sunsets, imposing mountains, thick lush forest- it's all here. Take a still camera and a video...

bagoproverbial 05.10.2007 (29.09.2007) · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

Who Knows if it's a Spanish Victory..?

Advantages: food glorious food
Disadvantages: hmmmm

...of August 1960, he originally wanted to be a professional footballer, but a broken ankle at the age of 14 put an end to that dream and he decided to take up acting instead. Although he is best known for his roles as El Mariachi, in Desperado, Zorro in The Mask of Zorro and Puss in Boots in Shrek, like anyone he had to start somewhere. And in this case it was the Spanish theatre scene in Madrid with the National Theatre. He was discovered by Pedro Almodovar and his debut film was Laberinto de Pasione, although his first major film credit was Pestanas Postizas. I have decided it would be a waste of time to list every single film he has starred in but I decided to look at a few in a little more detail. Now this I where I started to find out a little more about Spanish film in general. It would seem that Pedro Almodovar is quite a well known...

Amy_Coppock 18.06.2006 (25.06.2006) · Read review
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