Pestana Palms
When it comes to service you don’t get much better than this. The staff at this combination timeshare and hotel was top notch. From the first arrival they were more than helpful and nearly all the staff spoke at least four languages some as many as 6 or 7. My husband is Danish and they had multiple people that spoke Danish to us. I must admit that I was a bit taken aback when they called on the first evening to make sure everything was in order and they spoke Danish to me. Quite impressive!
Other wonderful things that they did to make our experience just that much better was, for example, with our car rental. We decided to rent a car for one day and they took care of absolutely everything. They called around to get the best price, had the car delivered to the hotel for us with the keys ready to go, and then we just returned the keys to the reception when we were done. Couldn’t have been easier!
Other small things that made this hotel/condo a step above the others was also the location. It is located at the start of the Lido promenade and reasonable walking distance to the center of Funchal. Bring your walking shoes one way or another, as Madeira is a walking island. For those less us for walking you can take a free hotel shuttle into the center of Funchal.
The pool and ocean access make the Pestana Palms unique. There is ocean access and a scuba center in connection with the hotel, which is a rarity on Madeira. The hotel is located on a cliff, and at the base there is an old lava bed from when the islands was still an active volcano. Consequently, there is the beautiful contrast of the blue waters and the black craggy rock. I believe the scuba center is the only one of the island, or just the most accessible.
The rooms themselves looked as though they had had a complete renovation. Everything was in tip top shape. The very best thing was simply the view. From our room all you could see was ocean and a couple of palm trees to one side. You can prepare your own breakfast and then just enjoy the view from your own porch. Additionally, there is a grocery store right across the street that has nearly everything you would need.
From journal A week in Madeira
Pestana Palms
- October 28, 2004
- Rated 3 of 5 by
brlabu from Kirriemuir, United Kingdom
We were timeshare, but the Pestana Palms is also a hotel. The accommodations were clean, although in need of a refurbishment, which they tell us they are doing over the next one to two years. Unsure of price.
From journal Week in Madeira