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

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

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)

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

Riu Palace Hotel, Madeira

Advantages: A fantastic holiday experience
Disadvantages: Location, in particular for those with mobility problems although the hotel is disability friendly.

...INTRODUCTION The Riu Palace in Madeira sits like a white-washed fairytale castle with terracotta turrets, corner towers and grand archways looking out over the sapphire-blue sea. The grounds house brightly coloured flowers and palm trees making you believe you are on a Caribbean island far away. The Riu Palace is located right on the seafront at Canico de Baixo, only 10 minutes drive from Funchal Airport and 20 minutes drive to the city of Funchal. On arrival at the airport everything ran smoothly and quickly apart from me not recognising my own suitcase!!! We were driven to the hotel in a small mini bus with 5 other people and half an hour later we were sunbathing by the pool. Now that's what I call service. CHECK IN From the moment you check in at the impressive, grand reception area with its polished marble flooring, elegant...

Helenofellon 01.04.2008 (02.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Riu Palace Madeira, Madeira

Buzzard_cad visits the garden of Madeira

Advantages: Beautiful picturesque island, not too hot in summer
Disadvantages: Hilly, poor restaurants, no sandy beaches

...This review has been languishing in my draft box since October last year so it is a little overdue in getting finished. This is my final inane writings on Madeira so sit back and enjoy the read! ~Introduction~ Madeira is an island located in the Atlantic Ocean off the West coast of Africa, it was a Portuguese colony from the 15th Century onwards and is still run by the Portuguese government. Today the island of Madeira relies heavily on the tourist trade and in selling it's aptly named 'Madeira Cake'. Numerous cruises around the world use Madeira as a stopping off point and it has a good climate all year round. It's capital is Funchal (pronounced 'Foon-shall' by the locals)and is located in a bay on the southern part of the island. As Madeira is a granite mass of rocks, it is hilly and has no sandy beaches. ~Getting there~ By...

buzzard_cad 17.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

Frankly, Madeira, I Don't Give A Damn

Advantages: amazing scenery, not very family or children oriented
Disadvantages: no beaches, not very family or children oriented!

...I have always got Madeira, Majorca and Menorca confused, so when I got the opportunity to go on holiday to Madeira in January I had no idea where it was, let alone what it was like. BACKGROUND Madeira is an island (I just about guessed that), lying 380 miles west of Morocco and 260 miles north of the Canaries. The island is quite small and measures roughly 35 by 12 miles. Madeira is part of Portugal so Portugese is the predominant language. LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE Madeira is volcanic in origin and a range of mountains up to 6,000 feet high run east to west across the island. Virtually the whole island is hilly which makes agriculture difficult and car journeys extremely ear-popping! Because Madeira has a very stable climate, with temperatures rarely moving from the 16-24C band all year round, the island is lush...

jonathancowley 08.03.2001 (17.10.2001) · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

Poison Sweet Madeira - A Must Own Album

Advantages: Lots of styles, really contemporary on some, more traditional on others.
Disadvantages: If you enjoy only house music then I wouldn't really say you'll like this.

.... Poison Sweet Madeira is an album of suprises. Each track differs in style but collectively they fit together perfectly. If you enjoy klezmer, jazz, classical or just something a little different then this ablum is perfect for you. If you don't strictly fit into any of these categories I'd recommend it to you as each of the people I've played it to have found something that appeals to them. It's such a mixed album that it trancends a rigid definition, which makes it harder to talk about in a review but brilliant to listen to on CD! Sophie is an amazingly accomplished musician. She's played the violin, which is an instrument that she really commands, since she was two years old and played by ear until she was 7. She learnt the traditional classical pieces, until she discovered Russian, Eastern European and Gypsy styles whilst...

Ottavia 22.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Poison Sweet Madeira - Sophie Solomon

MADEIRA WEST IS BEST

Advantages: Good value tour.
Disadvantages: The weather can block the views.

...We the Quatro Fontanas (or four Fountains) were on a trip to Madeira, we decided that an organised Tour would be better than hiring a car, as the Driver would not be able to have a Drink. I fell upon STRAWBERRYWORLD.COM on the net. The offer seemed very good they had three tours on offer, BEST OF THE WEST, BEST OF THE EAST or a Central tour of Nuns Valley. After consulting my better half (Jane) the Gardner amongst us, she said WEST IS BEST. Cost for Full Day Tour was 29 Euros per person (About £20) this included pickup at our Hotel, about 20 kilometers from Funchal, where the official Bus Started. So Pick up at 08:00 on the dot, good job Breakfast started at 07:30. Taken to the Hotel District in Funchal where the Tours Office was where we paid for our tickets. We had booked online, but did not have to pay...

poshtroika 21.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Strawberry World Tours, Madeira

Levada Walk Madeira

Advantages: Beautiful Scenery, Numerous Tour operators
Disadvantages: Best not tackled alone unless experienced walker.

...The levada in madeira, are an intregal function in the islands crop production, diverting mountain water all over the island through a series of channels ( levadas). Pretty cool huh? Well along all the levadas are small walk ways as the locals used to use it for transporting goods around the island too... I have been on a couple of these walks and did both extremes, the first walk was one that is widely used by tourists, and is pretty easy going. The views across the volcanic mountains are amazing and the constant smell of eucalyptus was a welcome surprise, it also make a kind of bluey haze, well its did when i was there, but it was mid summer. The walk led to a view point, I cant for the life of me remember the name of it ( shame you cant add pics on here) but...wow, even better there was a random local in the middle of nowhere...

CHAOS1979 22.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Levada, Funchal, Madeira