Pestana Ocean Bay All Inclusive Resort

Just returned from a week stay in this smaller than I'm used to all inclusive hotel. The hotel is well maintained and very clean. Our room on the 4th floor was spacious and had the added extra of a fridge/kettle and small galley kitchen.There were all the usual things in the room that you would expect,shampoo,showergel,soap and hairdryer. There were also beach towels which I would have liked to been aware of to save on space when packing.There is a note to tell you to fill up water bottles in the restaurant. These are given to you at the bar if you ask. Nice touch and environmentally friendly. Food though not always a great amount of choice and slow to replenish was very tasty and you always managed to get a good meal. Drinks of wine, beer,soft drinks and tea are self service from the pool bar. Spirts and cocktails you need to get from the bar. My advice is to take a travel cup with you, like we did.You get larger drinks and they stay cooler for longer. There is a small shop that sell souvenirs in the lobby. Tips about getting out and about. Don't walk to the shopping centre. Catch the hotel bus and get off at first hotel stop. Walking to the right along the beach front for 30 mins gets you to a lovely fishing village where you can catch the road train to the sky walk. Walking an hour or so left gets you to funchal. If you go on the tabogoons you can catch a bus down or if you wait at the bus stop like we did when there were a few of us we got a mini bus taxi for 3 euros each. Finally if you fancy eating out for the evening. Mozart in Funchal is excellent. When you book a table you can request to be picked up. They do this in an old beetle and give you wine and chocolates to eat on the drive there. The restaurant then offers a 6 course taster menu paired with champagne and wine and this including a ride back to the hotel was only €102 euro per couple. The food is amazing. Lovely hoilday.

This hotel is in need of some TLC but it is well run, with helpful staff. It may be too far from the night life for the youngsters but it does have a few facilities for infants. We loved the location right on a pebbly beach and took our padded beach mats and sun shelter with us. However, most of the time we made use of the loungers in the garden with the shade of the trees. It took about an hour to walk to Funchal but the hotel provides a shuttle bus. The rep tried to put us if using this service for the return trip due to the lack of orderly queuing by other nationalities, but we never had any problems. It’s a slightly shorter walk in the opposite direction to Camera de Lobos, a picturesque fishing village well worth a visit. There are public buses if preferred. The food was good. The hotel is not huge so the choices are more limited than other places we’ve stayed but we found that it was well cooked and we certainly never went hungry. Other reviewers have commented on it being cold but it comes off the hot plates very hot. The issue is that by the time you have selected from the different serving areas and then sat down, especially outside with the steady breeze, the hot food will have cooled down, so make your choices carefully, getting any salad before your hot selection! The pool area is fairly small and tightly packed with sun loungers, which I found unpleasant, one of the reasons we preferred the garden. Charging extra for sun shades on an all inclusive package is ridiculous! All the rooms face the sea, ours did not have air conditioning but we didn’t really feel the need for it. The ceiling fan was fairly quiet and worked well and it was lovely to leave the balcony door open and hear the sound of the waves on the pebbles. It was loud but such a relaxing sound. We found this hotel to be a good base for sight seeing. It was relaxing and reasonably quiet. We don’t tend to make use of evening entertainment and didn’t find what there was of it a nuisance. It was mainly karaoke, a singer, a quiz or a folk night. I would be happy to stay here again.

what a lovely hotel...staff very friendly...location for a relaxed holiday was perfect...ok the beach was a bit of a let down but the pool area certainly made up for that...rooms very clean and spacious...veiws were great all rooms overlook the sea...and the hotel is well within walking distance of the main shops and a free bus service all day everyday to funchal...so go on use as i said its free...overall a great location for the not so young i mean young kids would be bored but its great for young couples ...and the older generation...that just wants to chill out...