Pestana Royal All Inclusive Ocean & Spa Resort

Really nice stay with family. Good facilities, pools and outdoors. Food and drinks really good and a lot of variety. Staff excellent, really nice and available. The rooms starts showing need for modernisation.

Brilliant hotel lovely staff great food literally couldn’t fault it even gave us a free upgrade which was amazing. Amazing views of the beach buffet was great and the Italian restaurant even better. One of the best hotels we have stayed in. Perfect for chilling all day and then have entertainment and singers on of a night even in January which was great. Free bus into Funchal was also another great service

I’m sat waiting for the bus to the airport having had the most fabulous week here and on the island of Madeira. We had a beautiful room on the 10th floor with great sea views with enough space to spend time relaxing in there if we wanted, although the pool was too beautiful to spend time indoors. Food is very good, obviously for a very busy hotel with All Inclusive definitely don’t expect a la carte however we had a fantastic Italian in the specialist restaurant, highly recommend. Great staff and free alcohol… what’s not to like. Fantastic holiday!!!

The part of the hotel we stayed in was in need and of some tlc especially the bathroom. The food was every hit and miss and geared up more for the French who there were a lot of. Choices got less as the time me went through b. The best part was the staff who were all very nice.

This was our first time staying in a 5* hotel and to say we were disappointed is putting it mildly. We have had better experiences in 3* hotels. The rooms were lovely a good size and clean. The bathroom was home to a great shower, but impossible to keep the floor dry and I nearly fell a couple of times after all our group had showered. The bar staff work insanely hard and there were a good mix of drinks and cocktails available. The reception and other staff were..polite.. not especially friendly, and didn't do some of the things we were told they would (arranging for additional pillows) The entertainment left a lot to be desired, on one day they set up face painting. But didn't tell anyone and just sat for 10 minutes before packing up. Another they were walking around with a dart board...focusing on a particular demographic they ignored the gentleman who wanted to join in and who literally followed them to get a spot. We tried to do bingo one night but their set up meant we couldn't hear and it was further hindered when the bar started playing music over the numbers being called. For some reason the evening entertainment is held by the pool, instead of the very large entertainment room they have in the hotel. It meant that the area was cramped and led to lots of lines to get drinks. Lining up was a regular feature of this holiday. The restaurant was far too small for the number of guests and there was an incredibly limited amount of food on offer - if you are vegetarian it's limiting and if you have an allergy be careful. It was rare for the allergy signs to truly reflect what was on offer. This led to concern when eating as even the chefs couldn't confidently confirm the ingredients. Having seen my husband hospitalised due to an anaphylaxis reaction in the past this meant that we didn't truly relax in case the epi pens were needed. Not the way we really wanted to spend our break. Others have described the restaurant as a canteen style and I would totally agree, it definitely took me back to my school days You sit so closely to the table next to you, it's as if you are the same party and the queues going out the door for people waiting for a table meant you didn't feel you could take your time. All in all it was a bit of a let down. I'm not sure how they got their 5* but it didn't strike me as any better than a 3* and if I'm being honest the 3* hotels we have been to were definitely a better stay.

There is no way that this is a five star hotel. It’s tired and needs some TLC. Our room was nice and large with a lovely view of the pool area and sea but it was dated. The carpet was worn and stained and the bathroom needed updating - there was black mould around the bath. The pool areas were large and clean but the balcony area near the jacuzzi needed a good power wash and the parasols there were old, tattered and rusty. The sun loungers were really uncomfortable - probably the worst ever - and were commented on by a number of guests. The pool towels were appalling and some were threadbare to the extent of having holes in them. The main dining area was cramped as there were so many tables so close together. The standard of the food was average to good. The fresh fruit and salads were excellent. The restaurant staff were exceptionally polite and helpful. Our stay included 2 a la carte dining experiences. The Campo de Fiori was by far and away the worst Italian meal we have ever had anywhere. Truly awful. Our second experience was Restaurante Botanic which was set in the smoking area. After trying the toughest kebab ever we gave in and went to the main restaurant to dine. There are comments elsewhere re the standard of dress in the main restaurant but what really took me by surprise was the behaviour of a fairly large group of obviously drunk guests who were singing and chanting at dinner on Friday 24th May. It was what I imagine it would be like trying to dine in a rowdy football stadium. I’ve never encountered anything like it. This was bought to the attention of the reception staff but I heard nothing further about it.

We had a wonderful stay in a marvellous hotel. The staff were amazingly helpful and friendly. The food was excellent and the facilities. I would highly recommend staying here and will return.. The car hire was fantastically simple and available within less than 24 hours. I can’t praise Madeiran hospitality enough.

Good hotel, good food and service friendly staff, good location, go for the upgrade rooms, the food although good does tend to favour the French which there’s plenty of, but I am lead to believe all the hotels in this area are frequented by French people who are known for their inability to queue.