Vila Baleira Porto Santo

We liked how quiet the place was, and there weren’t too many people. The nature is amazing, and the service staff were generally very nice. Cocktails and coffee were the best things at the hotel. Meat was usually very good, and so were the potatoes, pineapple, and ice cream. Ferrum was a nice restaurant with good food. The espetada, though, was very tough to chew and barely edible. We also booked a Madeira’s dinner at Dunas once, and it was terrible. My stomach felt quite bad afterwards. Food needs work in general, and dessert choices were very limited and usually not good, except at one dinner. Construction noise made it hard to relax, and I think the work should stop during vacation season. There were cracks on the outside of the hotel that looked dangerous, so we avoided standing under the balconies or by the hotel wall. Our room only had two sockets, which was inconvenient day to day. And charging 25€ for beach umbrellas and sunbeds felt ridiculous when we already had all inclusive.

A lovely family holiday spot with a marvellous beach nearby. It isn’t a luxury resort, but it has what you need and good value. If you want to get away from crowded places, this is a good choice.

The festival meant the hotel was under pressure from high occupancy, but that doesn’t explain the poor service. For a hotel charging 200+€ a night, I’d expect the service to match the price, or for the price to reflect what they can provide. I strongly advise spending your time, money, and vacation elsewhere. My sheets and towels weren’t changed during cleaning, and I had to shut the bathroom door to reduce the ventilation noise, with all the lights off. Staff lied to me and my girlfriend about these issues and were nearly rude. They claimed the hotel was full, but couldn’t explain why rooms were still available on their website and other booking platforms when I showed them on my phone. A friend was also served gluten-free food that was more than 10 years past its expiration date, and complained through the proper channels. This was a mediocre service establishment with poor and bad-intended communication. They shouldn’t charge or present themselves as they do. Please make an effort not to cheat people.

The beach is absolutely amazing, the animation team were lovely, and my kids especially loved the girls from Kids Club. Júlio and Madalena deserve a shout-out. The hotel itself is far from four-star standard and needs renovation urgently. Food was bad, and about 90% of the restaurant workers barely spoke Portuguese and answered requests with a bad attitude. Every morning we had to ask for small spoons so the kids could eat cereal, and once they said they had none. For four days, water from the bath ran into our bedroom. It was only fixed after I mentioned the complaint book. We spent those days worrying about shower time, since towels were on the floor to stop the water and there weren’t enough for everyone. There was no hotel map or schedule of activities. Cockroaches appeared daily in front of our door. The beach bar had no toilet, so using one meant walking more than five minutes to the restaurant by the pool. They advertised ice creams and bola de berlim for sale, not included in all inclusive, but had only two or three kinds, which most kids didn’t like, such as Solero. There was no shade on the beach, so we had to pay 25-35€ a day for a combo.