Villa Isabela - Car Rental for Free

The host was great, and the apartment had everything we needed. Beds were comfortable, though firm, and the terrace was wonderful. There’s a great pool for children, with convenience stores and restaurants close by.

Andre could only host me for one day when I arrived, then arranged another hotel for the rest of my stay. That hotel was so old, and the change messed up my holiday in Madeira.

Great poncha and fresh mojitos, with delicious tacos and good snacks too. The service, music, and atmosphere were all lovely. It’s tucked off the beaten path near the Levado trails. Please support the small local villages and their amazing people.

We only got the booking.com case resolved after they stepped in and made sure the property cancelled without charging us. We’d booked nine nights in the “villa with a terrace,” which was meant to include a complimentary automatic car. Both booking.com and the property confirmed it straight away, so we went ahead and booked flights. The next morning, “Andre” called from Portugal, saying he was from the property. He told us the villa and automatic car weren’t available for our dates, just hours after the confirmation. He said there were sewage problems at the villa that couldn’t be fixed quickly, though we couldn’t see how that explained the car being unavailable too. His suggestion was to put us in another guest house for part of the trip, then move us to the villa once the sewage was fixed. The alternative didn’t come close to matching what we’d booked in either feel or price, and moving between places would have been a hassle throughout our holiday. It was also unclear how the included car would be arranged. Andre made vague promises about sorting it out, without giving details about a supplier or insurance. My wife speaks Portuguese fluently, which was a huge help in understanding the call. She insisted that Andre put the proposal in writing through booking.com’s official messaging system instead of trying to sort it out over a private phone call, where we’d have no guarantees or protection. He was reluctant to do that, and she had to keep insisting. Andre said we could cancel if we weren’t happy, but that would have cost us 50% under the cancellation policy. Since the property couldn’t provide what it had confirmed, we insisted that he cancel instead so we wouldn’t lose money. We can’t tell whether we were exceptionally unlucky or whether this is a regular switch to cheaper accommodation after advertising something else. Their attempt to make arrangements outside Booking.com’s messaging system, which Booking.com says protects customers and guarantees things, made me suspicious of the latter. Based on our experience, I’d avoid it. It felt like a huge risk of losing money and being conned.