Quinta da Penha de França — Hotel in Funchal

I apologise if this is long. Pick out the sections that might be relevant for you! ||Two hotels : there is much confusion over there being two hotels. Let me try to help. The older (original?) hotel is Quinta da Penha de Franca (pronounced with a soft c). It is slightly inland and a 'garden' hotel with some views of the sea. Downhill, effectively on the sea shore, is Penha de Franca Mar. This is more modern and faces the sea directly. Just the swimming pool separates the hotel from the sea. I stayed in the PF Mar section so most of my comments relate to that. Clearly they are under the same ownership. I have posted almost the same review under the Quinta PF as clearly most people review both hotels in that Trip Advisor entry.||Locality : bang on the sea front and just at the one end - the very start of the hotel district - of the main Funchal promenade so an excellent position for the town. Walking to town is flat and straightforward. Souvenir shops at the nearby CR7 complex seemed as good as any.||Rooms : I found them a decent size and very comfortable and well equipped, bright and airy; decent lights after dark. I had a small issue with my kettle but this was sorted out, without even asking, by the person who serviced my room. Storage space is very good, I would say. Balconies on the upper floors are a decent size, sheltered from the wind and have an unobstructed view of the sea. They have a slightly heath robinson manner of opening and locking.||Bathrooms : I was very happy with mine. The shower is an 'over bath' one which I don't really like but it worked well, pressure good and water hot. ||Facilities : maybe not as much as some but the swimming pool area seemed very good to me. Some may be unhappy it is only open in "working hours" when the pool attendant is on duty, but it is understandable. There is not a beach as such but access to the sea is possible, should you prefer. The hotel pool is salt water.||Activities : the hotel partners with Discover Madeira for tours and activities. Tours were all very good but you will have to pay cash if you book with the hotel. A card can only be used at the tour office.||Noise : when in my room I barely heard a person or car or anything other than the waves of the sea, which can be surprisingly loud when nothing else intrudes!||WiFi : limited in the sense that it was available in the bedroom but not the bathroom but generally strong where available, including the pool deck and reception.||Food and dining : I thought the breakfast was excellent, notably the omelette cooked to order. The restaurant is open in the later part of the week. I did not try it. Being on half board, it was necessary to go up to the Quinta PF, which might be an issue if it is cold or wet, but the set menu for half board was varied and tasty and I have no complaints there. Indoor or outdoor seating is possible in both places. |Service was very quick and efficient though a little slower on the very busy Saturday evening. If you are not on half board, there are lots of restaurants close to Quinta PF. I signed up for a long walk and the hotel happily (for a small charge) provided me with a picnic.||Service : the staff were all friendly and helpful and there were no language problems, though I did find some better than others. They successfully organised booking several trips and excursions. The room was well attended to, cleaned and tidied daily.||Negatives : my mum in the next door room had a problem with the toilet flush. This was reported but never satisfactorily resolved.||Would I go again? Unreservedly, yes.||Room recommendation : rooms 301-307 or 204-211 have best view of the sea. 200s are on the first floor, 300s one floor up. 100s are partly below ground level and won't have...

A bit of a mixed bag really, the hotel is in 2 parts and its separated by a bridge above a main road. We stayed in the bottom hotel and that was on the beach front (pebbles and concrete walls no sand). We looked and saw that there was fantastic restaurants all over Madeira, so we went half board…..The breakfast was served at the restaurant a couple of doors down from our room (that was nice) good selection and served all fresh. The restaurant was a highly rated one so we were looking forward to the evening meal. We came in at night and it was full but the staff said give your room number and we will book in for tomorrow, so we went in the following day and we were told “oh you are half board” you are eating at the other restaurant. So we walked to the other side of the hotel and across the bridge and into the other hotel. This restaurant is NOT highly recommended, the food was meh, the positive was there was a choice between 2 things for starter/main/desert but my veg was mush one night and it was just ok but we only ate twice there it felt like you were a second class citizen, they had HB on our table like we were poor. So a positive we got a phone call from the hotel because it was my partners birthday and they had a cake and fizzy wine (remember drinking cheep cider on a park). We thought that was lovely, so we went to the restaurant to pick it up…..to be told “oh no you cant eat it in here or the terrace” !! We had to take it back to our room, now its not a dress code thing as there were people dressed the same in shorts and tee shirts. So again feeling like a second class guest. Look don’t be put off, the hotel is nice enough and you can actually have scuba diving lessons (for a cost), the pool is very shallow so kids can’t jump in and there is no real beach but to use as a base for exploring the island and restaurants, its good. Oh you can smell sewage outside sometimes on the front, an island tour guide said there is sewage...

I cannot offer a review of our stay in this hotel because ... we were unable to stay in it... Instead, I will relate what happened.

My wife and I (traveling with a small dog) booked a villa in the hotel for 8 nights, starting on January 6, 2024. The hotel advertises this space as having 1076 ft² of living space with one living room, one bedroom and two bathrooms.

To quote from the description:

"Traditional house with access through the Penha França Mar building. Offers ample outdoor spaces with flower gardens and has an outdoor terrace with a solarium. There guests can relax and enjoy panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean."

Upon arrival before noon from a red-eye flight from Lisbon we were told that we have to "wait until 2:00 pm when the room will be ready for you to check into."

After killing over 2 hours and very eager to check in and rest, we were informed by the same receptionist that "unfortunately the villa is occupied until March 6th". This had been a mistake on their part, and they could not offer us the villa.

We were offered to "save about $340" by taking 2 (non-adjacent) rooms, each about 170 ft² with tiny windows and narrow beds (US readers - think Motel 6), overlooking a wall ("garden view" in this hotel's parlance).

We refused and left, after I made a last-moment reservation for a hotel in Funchal which actually offers what it advertises.

Throughout our communication, the receptionist had a slight I-am-doing-my-best-to-look-sorry-but-in-fact-I-am-laughing-at-you-suckers attitude.

It is impossible for me to say if this was a bait-and-switch situation or just sloppy clerical work, but in either case: it was equally disappointing.

Future guests making reservations at Quinta da Penha de França: proceed...