Pestana Ocean Bay All Inclusive Resort

Great location if you would like to stay a bit outside of main city but not to far away. Friendly and attentive staff. Had only breakfast at the hotel as we prefer to enjoy the food and service from other valuable restaurants at Lido and in the old town.

My wife and I spent a week there in November along with our little daughter. It ismnot a great hotel. It is just a decent hotel and as some other reviewers wrote should really be 3* max. That was ok for us but if you're looking for something remotely luxurious, look elsewhere. We requested a top floor suite and got one on the 7th floor. The views are by far far the best part about this place - uninterrupted ocean views from both the bedroom and living room / balcony. On top of that you get the sound of the waves there constantly so sleep is great. The hotel itself is ok, just ok. It's dated and in dire need of a refurbishment. It's an all-inclusive hotel. Here however you are limited to a breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner at very specific time. Plus the usual free drinks which were really bad. Wine was awful (white wine just passable), beer was bad and so were the pre-mixed drinks. Even madeira wine which madeira is famous for, was bad here (cheapest out there) so we ended buying a bottle ourselves from a shop and drinking it in our room. Food is decent (most of it italian for some reason) and when you're hungry after a long day exploring the island you always find something. But nothing special and forget about any Madeiran/Portuguese dishes. Even though the hotel is located in Funchal it is very far on foot - over 1h. There is a free shuttle to the town centre. We rented a car so it was not a problem for us, but would be otherwise. No shops or restaurants around either. The beach is rock beach (not pebbles - huge rocks). Not a problem for us but worth mentioning. Not sure if this was because of the time of year or it's always like that but the place was chock full of old people - mostly retired Germans and English. Nothing against old people but they were mostly of the not-so-sophisticated kind. Spent all day occupying certain areas. Since smoking is allowed in parts of the hotel this meant some areas we couldn't even go to because of the stench of cigarettes. Somebody mentioned ants - yes, we had them too, in the kitchen and bathroom... Reported it and they sent someone up to spray anti-ant spray, which meant we had to remove all the food from the kitchen. it only helped for a day or so and then they were back.