Pestana Grand

Laura Millroy

Great hotel, close to the town. The rooms are comfortable and well maintained. The decor is a bit dated but overall nice. The food at the buffet is good with quite a few options. The only negative thing to say is that you have to pay for water (4.5€!) at dinner despite it being half board. It seems a bit excessive and even more expensive than the beer. Other than that, it’s a great place to stay with the family and comfortable

Geoff Minhinett

This place is amazing. More than worthy of its 5 star rating. The food, rooms, staff and facilities are absolutely top drawer. We have tried to find fault of anything but we can't. It is a bit of a jaunt to walk in to Funchal but a bus ride for less than 2 Euros each sorts that out, and the buses are on average about every 10 minutes. Come and see for yourselves, you will not be disappointed.

Kat Cole

Our 2nd stay here. We got our room early which was a nice surprise. Always get a nice glass of Madeira on arrival too. Most of the staff are friendly and helpful. Rooms are given a once over every day (except Sunday I think). Everything you could possibly need in the rooms. The room decor is a little dated but clean and functional with amazing views. This year, unfortunately, our bed was extremely uncomfortable. After the first night we received a call from reception asking how everything was and we mentioned the bed and by that night they had fitted a mattress topper. It was improved, not the best, but not dreadful, and we were grateful, however I do think some new mattresses are needed. The pool and pool area is lovely BUT, and this was the only other issue, the sun loungers are old and saggy, so are very uncomfortable. All in all. A lovely place/location and I'm sure we will be back again.

Lee

I booked this hotel through Jet2 as “4-star plus” accommodation on a half-board basis at a cost of £2,000 for seven nights including flights. Although the hotel markets itself as 5-star and was advertised as being in Funchal, it is not—it’s actually located in São Martinho, which is about a one-hour walk from the outskirts of Funchal. The room was adequate and offered a lovely sea view. However, we encountered several issues: the mini fridge was broken, the bed was extremely hard, the pillows were unusually large, and no towels were provided for the pool. On a positive note, the cleanliness of the hotel was exceptional—credit to the housekeeping staff. In contrast, the reception staff we dealt with were unfriendly and rude. For example, when we asked about pool towels, we were made to feel as though we had either taken them or were too foolish to notice them in our room. When we reported the broken fridge, the response was similarly dismissive. At checkout, no one asked whether we had enjoyed our stay or wished us a safe journey. The food is the main reason this review is reduced to one star. It was entirely inadequate for a hotel with this star rating. The buffet lacked variety, the organisation was poor, and the overall quality was very disappointing. The on-site restaurants were acceptable, but if you must stay here, I would strongly recommend eating elsewhere. Finally, the pool was unbearably cold—like taking an ice bath.

Enjoy Trips

Pestana was one of our greatest experiences in Madeira. The staff are remarkable and the restaurants are amazing. The hotel has a perfect location with a walking line beside the cost, a shopping mall on the other side & it’s close to santo Porto ferry dock.