Мадейра - остров вечной весны Madeira - the island of eternal spring

We rested in Madeira in January 2013. We chose Pestana Palms because of the location - this is the only Funchal hotel located directly at the surf line, all the rest are on the rocks.
The hotel is very cozy, built in two buildings - a round tower "corn" at the very edge of the water and the usual 4-storey building right behind it. We lived in the corn with amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean. The rooms are all with balconies and sea views, in the central ones the view is complete, the most extreme on each floor - a view of the pool and the rock, to admire the sea only leaning out from the balcony.
The reception staff speak excellent English, they are always ready to help - call a taxi, wake up, carry luggage, advise excursions, etc. You will immediately be given a Pestana loyal customer number, which can be used to receive discounts at the network's enterprises and nearby taverns.

Each room has a kitchenette - a separate corner with a micro-fridge, a kettle and a stove for 2 burners. Few crockery and lots of glasses. Of the dishes for cooking - a 5-liter saucepan (to cook borscht? ) And the absence of a frying pan. Tourists who come with children go to a nearby supermarket for frying pans.
The furnishings are old but very comfortable and clean. In the bathrooms - the SOS signal to call the servants - the vast majority of vacationers are European pensioners, a justified security measure. Decent 4 * set of bath accessories, excellent water pressure in the shower. By the way, the water here is heated by solar heaters and be careful - often there is boiling water. In the room, in addition to a huge closet with countless clothes hangers, there is no less a huge chest of drawers, a wall table with chairs and a mirror, and separately - a seating area - a floor lamp, two easy chairs and a small table. The balconies have metal furniture finished with stone mosaics. Beautiful.
There are safes in the rooms, but no one warns anywhere that there are no locks in these safes. Instead, a round neat hole. To my surprise, the girl from the reception took the lock out of the box and offered to rent it for 2 euros per day. With a room rate of more than a hundred per night, asking for another two euros is ridiculous.
Internet is available at the reception (stationary computer) and weak Wi-Fi in the rooms. It's free, but you need to ask for a password, they won't offer it for anything 
Breakfast is included in the price and is served in a restaurant with access to an open terrace in the same corn. Breakfast with a view of the dawn in the ocean is an additional bonus to the hotel's good location. The food is a standard European buffet. From exotic - champagne on Sundays.
For an additional fee, you can buy a food package on the spot, then you will drink evening tea in the garden at the hotel, drink at the bar at the reception, have dinner and lunch at any of the restaurants of the Pestana chain hotels (and there are 9 of them only in Funchal), but is it worth it yourself limit and tie to a hotel, even to 9 hotels? After all, there are so many restaurants, cafes and taverns around where you can find food for every taste and budget.

The pool is not very big, but sufficient, heated in winter. There is a sauna, jacuzzi, gym - free of charge. For a fee - spa treatments in the form of massages, body wraps and other small pleasures. A Russian girl works in the SPA zone, if there are difficulties with knowing languages, contact the ground floor. There is also a dive center, but diving in Madeira after the Red Sea is a pitiful sight.
Ocean. There are no full-fledged beaches in Funchal itself. There are cliffs with ladders, there are natural, slightly ennobled baths with sea water. There are ladders in Pestan, and municipal baths a stone's throw from the hotel.
Neighborhood. Right across the road there is a large supermarket, several cafes and free parking, which is important if you are with a car. Taxi drivers hang out right there, there are a couple of local travel agencies, if suddenly you don’t want to book excursions at the reception. From here begins the promenade leading to the neighboring fishing town of Camara da Lobos. In the other direction - and after 20 minutes of a leisurely walk you are in the port and the city center. Public transport and tourist buses stop 100 meters from the hotel.
I will not write about the city and the island, this is a topic for a separate story.
And about the hotel I will add only one thing - we are going there again. Soon.