Pestana Madeira Beach Club

We enjoyed our time here after a rough arrival. In 2020, our usual hotel was closed because of COVID-19, so we had to stay at the Madeira Beach Club. The room hadn’t been refurbished and had awful bright red furniture. Its window looked straight onto a mouldy wall at the abandoned hotel next door. The bathtub didn’t work either, and I found a slipper in a drawer. Thankfully, Owner Relations at the Carlton were able to move us into two newly refurbished, interconnected studio rooms.

We’ve been coming here for years and love the place. The apartments are superb, housekeeping is wonderful, and the whole site is very clean and well managed. It’s in a beautiful coastal spot with breathtaking views. There’s an indoor pool, two large outdoor pools, access to the sea, a dive center, restaurants, a tourism office, an indoor spa, and helpful reception staff. The staff are always wonderful, but service has disappointed us this summer, and the hotel food wasn’t as good this time. We suspect coronavirus has a lot to answer for.

The facilities are great, but our stay in August 2022 left us feeling the Pestana Group had put profit ahead of guests. They seemed to be squeezing as many people as possible into rooms while keeping some other resort hotels closed. We got what I can only guess was the last room available, and it was below standard, with awkward access along corridors and up flights of stairs. It may be used for emergency staff accommodation now, but it definitely wasn’t five-star. The room had a damaged sofa bed, noisy fridge, and very loud air conditioning, which made sleeping difficult. We only used the room to sleep, and even that was a problem. I had to move a bed to shut the bedroom door, and our young son had to go through the bedroom to reach the bathroom. We were also charged another 70 Euros at reception without being told beforehand. After checkout, we sent the requested online feedback. Their reply began, "Dear Mr/Mrs undefined," which summed things up. We love Madeira and have stayed at Madeira Beach Club / Pestana Carltion before, but wouldn’t return.

Everything is kept really clean, the facilities are great, and shops are within walking distance. There are plenty of helpful people who can explain tours and events, and there’s even a scuba diving center. Room service food almost always disappoints, though, so I’d skip it.