Zarco B&B - Bed and breakfast

What happened during our stay at Zarco B&B Bed & Breakfast has left us very sad and disappointed. We’re a couple, and on the second day, while we were out hiking, €100 disappeared from my crossbody bag in the wardrobe. When I reported it right away, the staff member said she would ask the cleaner, then told me she knew the cleaner and that the cleaner said she hadn’t touched anything. She did express regret, but the only advice I got was to put money in the safe instead of my bag. I didn’t feel that anyone made a real effort to sort it out. The breakfast, location, and general condition of the hotel were fine, and otherwise we would have been satisfied. But losing money so early in the stay and feeling unprotected completely ruined the experience. I’m not angry, just very sad and disappointed. This has never happened to me at a hotel before, and I’d fallen in love with Madeira. Please be very careful with your belongings here. I hope the management of Zarco B&B Bed & Breakfast takes serious steps to prevent this happening again and protect tourists.

The staff were friendly and helpful, and the breakfast was fabulous. Lovely room, too, in a great location.

You can hear people walking around and going up and down the stairs because the walls are thin. Still, it was clean, the continental breakfast was great, and the staff were really nice about carrying our luggage up the stairs. The breakfast had fruit, cereal, yogurt, pastries, fresh bread, and a neat automatic espresso and milk machine. For the price and location, I thought it was worth putting up with a little extra noise. I’m from a city, and it didn’t seem any worse than staying downtown elsewhere.

The rooms are small, so I’d look elsewhere if you expect to spend much time indoors. For a few days in town when you’re mostly out and just need a place to sleep, they work well. The location is right in the city center, around 100 meters from the sea and only a few minutes from the main square. There are lots of restaurants and a bar nearby. We had double windows, so the noise wasn’t too bothersome, though light sleepers might want earplugs. Breakfast was good and better than what I’d had at other hotels: several kinds of bread and rolls, ham, cheese, eggs, some vegetables, cereals, fresh fruit, a few juices, and coffee. It was fine for me.