Pestana Royal Premium All Inclusive Ocean and Spa Resort

Location -About 20 mins by car from airport (we privately booked a meet and greet taxi) -15 mins away from centre using bus. Bus stop is literally right outside. -Hotel also have their complimentary private bus which takes you to and from the cetre but only operates hourly and sometimes longer. -10 mins walk from a mall. -Amazing view and sunset. Has private elevator as an access to and from the beach Service - the staff were welcoming and helpful. -they gave us advice on how to get around the city -they helped us booked our private tour (van) that catered our very short break- just ask the reception area as they are more than happy to help -polite team; great in communicating english language. Facilities -we booked a double bed room located on right side of hotel it has balcony and can view the sea but not entirely sea-facing view. This was OK as we spent most of our time outside. -Room was decent size for couples. -cleaned daily and met our basic needs Food -there were main meals and bar menu selection. - this was all inclusive. First time we tried this. 1)breakfast was OK. Lots of selection of hot and cold choices but always the same everyday. Eat all you can option. So can't complain. 2)Lunch was not great. If we had the option, then we would have eaten out. Mostly acceptable selection but not many. Salads, hot meal etc. Wish they can improve the taste as most dishes were either too salty or bland. 3) Dinner -more promising than the lunch menu. We actually looked forward to this time of the day. They have different theme each night, though it was a hit and miss. It was advertised when we booked in that they we can choose a themed dinner night as part of the hotel's offer to guest. But when we asked about this, turns out that you need to stay for more than 5 days or something to qualify for this. Clearly this was one of those "read the small" print moment- so we were disappointed we did not get this as it was advertised on website as if it was part of our stay 4) Bar snacks -the usual burgers,chips, salads, sandwiches and small bites. -we enjoyed this menu the most to be honest. Burgers can be customized to however you want. -we are not big drinkers but they have decent selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Other Facilities/Ambiance: -sauna- small and always occupied -pool was always cold so we only took a dip once only -quiet and scenic part of Funchal. -targets families and much more mature/older guests -they had different "entertainment" every night, but again more focused for matured/older guests in summary, I cant complain. For its location, scenery, access to and from places, OK facilities, OK all inclusive menu, fairly reasonably priced. Will I stay here again? maybe. Do I recommend this for short breaks, i.3. 3 full days in Madeira, YES.

we booked this hotel as a family holiday to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, with 2 deluxe 2 & requested the rooms to be as close as possible but on arrival we found the rooms were on different sides on the floor, at least 50 to 75m apart, the adults room was lovely, but the children's room was very small & due to the distance apart we went back to reception to request a change but was told no, all we could do was downgrade the adults room to a smaller room nearer the children's room. as we did not want the children being so far away the adults had to split up so we had one adult & one child per room, not what we wanted for a special anniversary. Also due to the second room being so small, we could not even keep the suitcases in that room & had to store them in the larger room Next when we went for our evening meal at approx 19:30 we were told our sitting was at 18:00 !! a surprise for us, we had not been informed about this detail & there is no way we would want to eat so early. The big issue is the lack of general dining space, in a 4* hotel having to have timed sittings is not a good holiday experience. the other cuisines are very good, but having to book so far ahead is again not a good experience, who wants to have to plans next weeks eating when on holiday? the final gripe was the all inclusive & the queues around this, especially the pool area, & only be able to get a small beer was annoying. we really liked Madeira & would return, just not to this hotel.