The Best of 2017

Toboggans have apparently been sliding down the streets between Monte and Funchal since the 1850s. The two-seater, wicker, sledges slide on wooden runners, pushed and steered by two men traditionally dressed in white trousers, blue jacket and a straw hat – they wear rubber-soled boots to use as brakes.

The easiest way to reach the toboggan is to take the cable car up from Funchal – the cable ride is spectacular by itself. Then, you should visit the amazing Monte Palace Tropical Garden. You could also take a second cable car to the Botanical Gardens – but these aren’t that impressive and not really worth the visit. I think you can buy a combined one-way cable car and Tropical Garden ticket in Funchal.

Or, you can take a bus to Monte. The buses aren’t expensive and you can buy daily, multi-day and weekly passes.

The Monte toboggans are at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Nossa Senhora do Monte Church – this isn’t far from the entrance to the Tropical Gardens.

Here’s the view from the church:

There are loads of toboggan guys; some waiting for customers, some on a break just hanging about chatting and smoking. There wasn’t much of queue. Ride for two people is EUR30.

We jumped in – there’s no fussy seatbelts, helmets nor a safety demonstration, the ride just starts, with two guys steering from the back of the sled. The ride lasts about 10 minutes and covers 2km – I managed to video the first stage before my phone memory was full:

The video ran out at what I thought was the end of the ride. But this was just a flat part where they pull you along until the second downhill stage.

The ride ended and I tipped something like EUR 4. I’d heard that they ask for tips, but I was happy to tip, considering the effort they put in, despite all being heavy smokers!

At least the toboggans are taken back up by a van – not sure what they did back in 1850.

At this point, we were halfway to Funchal. There are plenty of taxis waiting. We took a bus that stopped nearby – still using our EUR 20 weekly pass.

If you are visiting Madeira then you really should take the toboggan ride.

VidaMar Resort Hotel, Funchal, Madeira

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by bugadvisor in Hotels

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Funchal, hotel, Madeira, Resort, VidaMar

We stayed 7 nights (arr. Saturday 25th February 2017 dep. Saturday 4th March). This was part of a package that included flights with Norwegian, half board in a superior sea-view room and private transfers to and from the airport. The package was purchased almost a year ago in a sale for around £550 per person.

The private transfer was about 20 minutes and we arrived before 7pm.

We checked in and were allocated a ninth-floor, tower two room 931. There are two towers, each with ten floors. Reception is on the 4th Floor of tower one – which is really the ground floor entrance, although as the hotel steps down in tiers to the sea, each floor opens at ground level. I’d say that our room was almost the best location – probably only beaten by 1031.

The room was large, modern décor, clean, with a king-sized bed.

The bathroom was modern, clean, with toilet, bidet, double washbasin and bath with shower.

I would have preferred a separate shower cubicle rather than a bidet.

A welcome bottle of wine and bathrobes and slippers were provided.

The view from the terrace, which had two chairs and a table, was lovely:

We found the buffet restaurant on the 2nd Floor. It’s a large space with an outdoor terrace. At this time of the year it was warm enough to have breakfast, but not dinner outside. You wait at the entrance and are taken to a table – we never had to queue.

The waitress took our order; a bottle of red house wine and a large bottle of water – total EUR15.50. The house wine was pretty good and we stuck with that throughout the week. The buffet was pretty good, with plenty of choices. The omelette station was great for breakfast and the chefs were always friendly. The evening pasta station was friendly, but pasta arrived in a sauce soup, rather lightly coated – we later realised that this training probably came from the chef at Mamma Mia.

Here’s how it looked the next morning.

Here are daytime views from our room terrace:

And here are some views from just outside our room on the 9th floor:

Here’s how Tower 2 looks from the pool terrace level:

The outdoor terrace and infinity pools looked great. Unfortunately the pools weren’t heated and were too cold to go in. The half-indoor/half-outdoor pool was slightly warmer, but was so small that it felt crowded with just a few people.

Two visits to the Thalasso Sea Spa (Thalasso vitality pool, Steam room, sauna, showers, indoor and outdoor relaxation areas with sea view) were included. To get there we took the elevator to the First Floor, walked past the half-indoor/half-outdoor swimming pool, along a corridor, into another elevator and down to the spa. We were given two towels each. We were already wearing swimwear and didn’t need the changing rooms – there were showers between the dry and wet saunas and near the entrance to the pool.

The floor consisted of large marble-effect tiles. Exiting the shower, the tiles were ridiculously slippery, even when wearing the hotel slippers. The pool area had a normal non-slip surface. It was so bad that on our next visit I had a shower in my room and went direct to the pool.

The sea water pool consisted of a series of water jets, a waterfall and a walk-against-the-current curve. It’s certainly not a pool that you can swim in, as beneath the surface are blocks for sitting or holding that you would bang into. There was also a Jacuzzi, which was inexplicably situated up a series of steps. The best aspect was the large windows that looked out toward the sea.

The hotel bar had a good atmosphere, with live music and EUR 5.00 cocktails. We noticed a few guests with what appeared to be ‘all-inclusive’ wristbands. I asked about these and it turned out they were on an all-inclusive deal arranged by the UK Saga Holidays tour operator. This included lunch, plus wine at the table and free drinks in the bar. I enquired about upgrading to this option but was told it was only for Saga – I’ll definitely compare Saga against other deals next time.

There are three dine around restaurants; Mamma Mia (Italian), Casa das Espetadas (Madeira) and Koi (Japanese). Guests can choose the ‘half-board’ set menu or à la carte with a EUR 15 credit.

We looked at Koi and it appeared to be mostly sushi – I love sushi but maybe as a starter, I’d like a Japanese table barbeque or a teppanyaki grill rather than just sushi. It was still on our list until we tried Mamma Mia and decided that if they couldn’t manage Italian, they’d really struggle with Japanese.

I used the laundry service for some shirts – I think it was about EUR 7.00. The hotel has a self-service laundry on the third floor of Tower 2. I should say that I think this a great idea as nobody wants to pay 3 Euros to have a pair of socks laundered. The laundry has a washing machine, tumble dryer and ironing board.

However, there wasn’t any obvious instructions as to what we should do or how we should pay. We met a lady there who was attempting to dry some clothes in the dryer. She explained that they had to buy a token for the dryer from reception and was already on her third token as the clothes weren’t dry. Also after starting the dryer, the door locked until the time was up. The washing machine was free and even had an automatic feed of liquid. We set our washing going, returned after an hour and used the washing line over the bath to dry things.

Included with our room was a daily litre bottle of water. This almost never appeared and so we left a note on the bed each day ‘Por favor, deixe uma garrafa de água’ and that resolved the issue.

It’s quite a long walk from the hotel into Funchal town – coming back would be all uphill (save your legs for lavadas). The hotel runs a shuttle, but I think it only does a morning and afternoon run. There is a public bus stop nearby. The hotel reception sells daily and multi-day bus tickets and you can just swipe these when you board the bus (10 minute ride into Funchal town).

We hired a car for a couple of days and were able to access the hotel car park for free – just swiped our room key at the barrier.

The Wi-Fi in our room and throughout the hotel was very good – much better than I was expecting.

Our return flight was not until 18:00 and the front desk were good enough to extend our checkout time until 14:00.

We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel and would definitely return.

VidaMar Resort Hotel
Estrada Monumental 175-177
Funchal 9000-100
(+351) 291 717 700

info@madeira.vdm.pt

https://www.vidamarresorts.com/resort-madeira/en/

Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant, Funchal, Madeira

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by bugadvisor in Restaurants and Bars

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Funchal, Italian, Madeira, Mamma Mia, Restaurant, VidaMar

Mamma Mia is actually part of the Vidamar Resort Hotel. However, the restaurant is situated on the main street and is open to the public.

Half-board guests at the Vidamar can book as part of the ‘dine around’ option and choose from a set menu or a EUR 15 credit against the à la carte. The set menu was on a board outside and looks like it stays the same for weeks if not months:

We were seated in what is perhaps an outdoor seating area in the summer, but was now a sort of tent with plastic windows. We wondered if the main restaurant was held for those who weren’t on the half-board, dine around option.

ABBA were played throughout and I guess every night. It’s sort of a confused theme as ABBA are Swedish and even the Mamma Mia movie location is in Greece.

None of the set menu appealed and so we went à la carte. This was our order:
Antipasto for two EUR 15
Fresh spinach and mushroom, ricotta and pumpkin ravioli EUR 15 per person
Red house wine and water EUR 15.50

The antipasto plate was chilled, as was the bread, which at some point had been grilled with oil. It was clear that everything had come straight from the fridge. We had to ask for olive oil as none was on our table.

The ravioli arrived swimming in a pesto soup – not a light-coating of sauce as you would expect. The ravioli itself was average and certainly not worth 15 Euros.

Our waiter didn’t ask how our food was, so we volunteered that this wasn’t how to cook pasta and was there actually anyone Italian in the kitchen. He said there was but that was the end of the conversation.

We decided not to waste any more money on the place, paid the bill EUR 27.50 which included 2 x 15 half-board credit and some unknown discount of EUR 4, which I think was probably a mistake.

We cancelled our subsequent booking via the hotel desk and decided we would never return! It’s pity that this restaurant brings down the Vidamar, which is otherwise a great hotel.

Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant
Estrada Monumental 175, Funchal, Madeira 9000-100, Portugal
+351 291 717 758

Casa das Espetadas, Funchal, Madeira

20 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by bugadvisor in Restaurants and Bars

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Casa das Espetadas, Funchal, Madeira, VidaMar

Casa das Espetadas is actually part of the Vidamar Resort Hotel. However, the restaurant is situated on the main street and is open to the public.

Half-board guests at the Vidamar can book as part of the ‘dine around’ option and choose from a set menu or a EUR 15 credit against the à la carte.

The restaurant clearly used to be an Irish pub; large satellite dish on the roof, Guinness harp etched into the windows. I don’t know if the wooden tables are new, but they’ve definitely added holders for metal skewers (Espetadas).

We went for one steak and one monkfish espetada and they hang this above your table.

My only previous experience of eating from meat skewers this size has been in Brazilian restaurant where they walk around tables and offer you various choices of meat. Here you have to get the meat from the skewer yourself and that’s a little more tricky.

The EUR 12 house red wine arrived in a carafe, but was actually better than the bottles we’d had in the Vidamar buffet and Mamma Mia restaurant.

Included was the traditional garlic bread and some vegetable choices. The steak was okay but not amazing. The monkfish was dry – and thinking about this, cooking small pieces of fish on a large skewer probably isn’t the best way to cook fish.

The pudding was queijadas (cup cakes) and ice cream and that was pretty good.

The cost was EUR 19.00 which included 2 x EUR 15.00 Vidamar half-board discount.

This wasn’t a bad place, but probably only worth one visit during your stay at the Vidamar and not really worth a visit if you don’t have the half-board discount.

Casa das Espetadas
Estrada Monumental 175, Funchal, Madeira 9000-100, Portugal
+351 291 717 700 Call: +351 291 717 700

Norwegian Air Shuttle, London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira return, Boeing 737-800

10 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by bugadvisor in Air Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Air Shuttle, Boeing 737-800, Funchal, Gatwick, London, Madeira, Norwegian

We flew Norwegian to Funchal, Madeira on Saturday 25th February 2017 and returned Saturday 4th March.
LGW dep. 14:10 FNC arr. 17:45 Duration: 3h 35m
FNC dep. 18:30 LGW arr. 22:05 Duration: 3h 35m

This was part of a package that included half board in a superior sea-view room at the Vidamar Resort Hotel in Funchal and private transfers to and from the airport. The package was purchased almost a year ago in a sale for around £500 per person.

Seat selection was chargeable and by the time I looked, the front row seats had already been chosen. I went for row 25 D and F – an old trick where you hope that the airline won’t put someone in the middle seat – only works if the flight isn’t completely full. Charge was £7 per seat, per flight.

I registered for the Norwegian Reward program – this doesn’t offer status levels, just rewards, like free fast track or lounge access in exchange for points that you earn each time you fly. But as with any loyalty program, it doesn’t hurt to register.

There was no queue at check in and we were able to drop our checked bags quickly. I paid for fast track security at London Gatwick South Terminal – £5 per person. So we were quickly in the terminal and went to the No. 1 Lounge.

Boarding by seat row and both front and back. The plan worked and the middle seat was left empty.

What surprised me was the number of Portuguese families on the flight. We had small children and babies all around us. Contrast this with our previous Thomson Airways flight that was a sea of grey-haired English tourists. I guess that with Norwegian scheduled fares so low, many from Madeira are taking the opportunity to visit the UK. If you want to avoid crying babies, I’d choose Thomson!

There was no menu in the seat backs – this was provided a while after take off. Apparently the menu is flight dependent.

Here is the menu for the outbound flight:

The bottles of wine were quite small. The food was okay.

The Pilot announced that there was no Wi-Fi available as this was a brand-new aircraft and it hadn’t been fitted yet. There was free Wi-Fi on the return – it wasn’t that fast but useful for sending messages and checking news.

The overhead monitor showed various cartoons and TV shows, there was no headphone jack in the seat, so they shows had English subtitles.

The flight was about 40 minutes late. We could only disembark from the front and so it took some time. Funchal airport is small and we were quickly outside.

There was a line for check in for the return flight so we had maybe a 15 minute wait. Security was quiet and we were through quickly without fast track.

We could see the aircraft from the gate, but they insisted on using buses. Families were checked through first and put in a room to the left. Then everyone was allowed through on either left or right sides. When the bus arrived, both left and right doors were opened, so families gained no advantage at all.

The bus sat for 15 minutes and then took us to the aircraft. The doors opened and people got off. Then someone ran up to say things weren’t ready and the bus should go around again. Passengers back on. Bus drove around.

Boarding was by the front and rear stairs but without guidance – so some low-numbered row passengers were trying to fight their way all the way from the back to the front.

The flight was full, including the middle seat. We were again surrounded by small children and babies.

The food menu was different, but with some similarities. Drinks menu was the same.

The flight was about 30 minutes late – arriving 13.30pm. Gatwick passport control was quiet.

This wasn’t a bad return flight for the price and I’d certainly consider using Norwegian again on other routes.

Pestana Casino Park Hotel, Funchal, Madeira

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by bugadvisor in Hotels

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Funchal, Madeira, Madeira Casino, Pestana, Pestana Casino Park

We enjoyed our stay here. We used UK-based Atlantic Holidays, which I later discovered is owned by the Pestana group. So if you can secure a deal for £500 per person for a week half board with UK flights (via Thompson charter) then you won’t be disappointed.

Madeira in April has good weather (20s) and although the whole island is like one large botanical garden, I wasn’t bothered by any insects at all. No wasps, flies, cockroaches, mosquitoes – nothing 🙂

The Pestana Casino Park is a large, Oscar Niermeyer designed (hotel overly proud of this), 70s style hotel close to the capital, Funchal. The hotel is on a cliff overlooking the harbour and you can watch large cruise ships arrive and depart each day. It’s quite a steep hill down to the town, but there are regular public transport buses that will take you back up from the town for a couple of Euros.

There was a queue to check in but we were pleased to be given our room key at noon rather than wait until 3pm. We had booked, rather than were upgraded to, a suite. It was quite a long walk to our room – it seems the suites are located at the end points of the hotel. Ours had a view of the gardens, casino and mountains – we couldn’t see the sea and almost asked to change rooms, but as we’d been able to check in at noon we decided to keep what we had.

The suite itself was unremarkable; it seemed as if the hotel didn’t know what to do with the extra space. The lounge area was populated with a variety of furniture that could have come from a second-hand store. There was a flat-screen TV with plenty of channels, including one with hotel information and a telephone. The bedroom didn’t have a TV – not that we really wanted one, but some would expect a suite to contain a TV in both rooms. Neither room had a clock or clock radio alarm. There were no pictures on the walls, adding to the bleak feeling of the place – although we later saw some pictures in regular rooms as we walked past ones with doors open for cleaning. There was a laptop size programmable-code safe in the bedroom.

The hall was strange in that there was a fridge, microwave and hob (all working) but no utensils nor cooking equipment. No kettle, tea or coffee making facilities were provided – I’d seen this mentioned on other reviews and the hotel’s reply was that, being a 5-star hotel, they expected guests to order room service. Well times have changed since the 70s and much grander hotels than this now provide tea and coffee making facilities.

The bathroom had a double washbasin, separate toilet and over-bath shower. The shaver socket was at basin level and almost directly in the path of the shower should it be turned on fully. I’m not sure if the shaver supply was protected by a transformer, as is the current UK regulation, but if not it represents an electric-shock hazard.

Air con was primitive (low/high/off) but seemed to work fine.

On a positive note, the rooms were very clean and although dated, were well maintained. Towelling slippers and bathrobes were provided as well as pool towels.

I used the laundry service twice and was pleasantly surprised to have this returned the same day even though the information sheet said 24 hours.

Dinner is served buffet style in a large restaurant with floor to ceiling window views to the pool and sea. Tables for two were very close together and we tried to be directed to larger tables wherever possible.

Staff were friendly and helpful.

The food was mostly good quality and the hotel tried to vary the offering with a nightly theme. Keeping with the 70s concept, the attempts at food from different lands was … quaint: Italian night was missing anti pasti and focussed on lasagne and spaghetti. Mexican night had hard-shell tacos with some fillings, but what appeared to be single cream rather than sour cream and a green soup purporting to be guacamole. Madeira night was a success as they served the excellent local fish with banana plus local dancers – we would have liked to see some of the strange local fruits (you can see these at the large market in Funchal) available, but there wasn’t any.

A bottle of wine was around €15 and a large bottle of water €4.

There was only one night where a selection of after-dinner cheeses were available.

Dinner is very early (7 – 9:30pm). The result is that, if you start at 8 or take your time over the meal and wine, the staff will be laying tables for breakfast around you at 9:30 – we felt a bit uncomfortable at this and it felt like being the last midnight diners in a restaurant that wanted to close and let staff go home. It is possible to exchange one half board dinner in the hotel for a dinner in the casino – we booked this, but later cancelled after we saw the downmarket casino and suspected the dinner there wouldn’t be good.

After-dinner entertainment, mostly a singer or band trio, is provided in the upstairs bar.

Buffet Breakfast is served in the same restaurant as dinner. We avoided the tables near the window as these were directly in the morning sun and too hot. Croissants, pastries, fresh juices, a variety of eggs, including omelettes to order, bacon and continental sausages were all available. There was also sparkling wine.

We hired a car for a few days and discovered that the hotel only has five parking spaces. There is plenty of wasted potential parking area. So we had to park in the casino car park for EUR 6.40 a night. The hotel own the casino and so I think guests should be able to park there for free.

The hotel has an outdoor infinity pool (nice to look at but very cold) and an indoor pool that is part of the spa. The indoor pool is very good (warm) but it’s a pity that Mr. Niermeyer didn’t think to add some windows. The sauna was out of order. I didn’t use the massage treatment rooms.

The Casino

I’m reviewing the casino as part of the hotel review as it is effectively part of the hotel. Note that I did actually win money in this place and so the negative review is not related to any hard feelings about losing.

Probably the worst casino I’ve visited and that includes England where the casinos are pretty bad. It’s more like a penny arcade than a real casino. Anyone can wander in without registration and play the large variety of electronic gaming machines, two roulette or two blackjack tables. I only played the roulette table (only one table open).

I went to the cash desk to take EUR 300 on my card. I asked for chips but they said they could only give cash. They charged EUR 304.50 for EUR 300 which I thought was a bit of a cheek.

The roulette table doesn’t have any chairs around it. I asked for a chair and was told this wasn’t allowed. The first reason given was that players may need to walk around to place chips on various extremities of the table – I said that usually if a player can’t reach, they can ask the croupier to place the chip on their behalf. I was then told that Portuguese law prevents chairs around the table. I didn’t believe that either. Considering the average age of tourists in Madeira, I think they must lose a lot of business. I wonder what happens to wheelchair visitors?

The minimum inside and outside bet was EUR 2.50, which is a little odd as the outside bet is usually higher and inside lower. Even more strange was the maximum inside bet of EUR 10 – usually the difference between minimum and maximum is much more. I asked about a ‘neighbours’ bet – where you give the croupier five chips and say, for example, “zero neighbours” to cover the numbers close to zero. These bets are usually placed on a separate part of the table, but that area was missing. The croupier didn’t understand the concept and instead showed me the wheel so I could identify the numbers close to zero and bet them myself.

A waiter arrived and I ordered a small beer. It took 20 minutes (while standing) for the beer to arrive and I was presented with a bill for EUR 1.50. I had been betting constantly and asked why drinks weren’t free to players as is common in most casinos. This was met with incredulity.

While I was playing, other customers did walk up and play for a few spins; some were clearly under 21 but weren’t asked for ID.

So avoid the casino and enjoy the hotel.

Rua Imperatriz D. Amelia 55 | Quinta da Vigia, Funchal, Madeira 9004-513, Portugal

Outside Pool – Lovely but chilly

Thomson Airlines – London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by bugadvisor in Air Travel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Funchal, Gatwick, Madeira, Thomson

Thomson operate a one-class 737-800 on this route – flight time is about three and a half hours. It is possible to pre-book seats for a fee, but only the first row offers any value. All 32 rows are arranged as 3-3 so there’s no option for couples wanting to pay for a combined aisle and window configuration.

Outbound (row 28):

We used the ‘night-before’ check in – something that I think Virgin first invented and really useful. So in the morning we already had boarding passes. Gatwick security seems to have improved and we were through quite quickly.

Legroom was acceptable for a charter flight, seat width was a little tight.

All food and drinks were chargeable. Prior to trolley service, the flight attendants walked the aisle and asked if anyone wanted to order a hot panini. We ordered one.

The trolley service commenced but it was another hour before the panini arrived; by that time many passengers who had ordered the same were complaining.

There was a permanent line for the bathroom throughout the flight. The rear section had two bathrooms.

Upon (early) arrival, passengers were disembarked by the front and rear doors onto a bus. Passport control was quite fast as was baggage delivery.

Inbound (row 2):

Check in was a little slow, although there were five desks available. Security and passport control were reasonably fast. Only one cafe and one shop after passport control and no lounge evident.

A bus delivered passengers to the aircraft. Boarding was by the front and rear stairs.

Prior to departure, the crew walked through the cabin spraying insecticide. Passengers were assured that this was harmless. I’ve never seen this happen before, even when returning from Asia. I’m guessing that one spray won’t harm anyone, but I wonder what cumulative effect this has on the crew. Something for their union to consider. Still anything that kills bugs is a plus 🙂

All food and drinks were chargeable. This time there wasn’t a question about hot paninis and we didn’t ask for one after the outbound experience. We’d also purchased some really good quality sandwiches from the cafe just near the departure gate. As this was the return, I could see that many passengers were hoping to use their left-over Euros for on-board purchases. This was possible, but the smallest denomination accepted was a 1 Euro coin. I saw one person’s purchase converted to EUR6.03 and they had to pay 7 Euros. The exchange rate didn’t look to good either. We used sterling for drinks.

There was one bathroom at the front and this wasn’t very busy – not sure why the outbound rear bathrooms were so busy.

On arrival, passengers disembarked via the front door and an air bridge. I’d recommend assistance for elderly passengers as we walked over a kilometre to passport control.

Baggage arrived reasonably quickly.

Overall, not a bad experience – although my expectations weren’t high to begin with.

~ Travel News, Reviews, Bug sightings and bug free zones – by Paul Feagan

Tag Archives: Funchal

The Best of 2017

Toboggan Ride, Monte to Funchal, Madeira

VidaMar Resort Hotel, Funchal, Madeira

Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant, Funchal, Madeira

Casa das Espetadas, Funchal, Madeira

Norwegian Air Shuttle, London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira return, Boeing 737-800

Pestana Casino Park Hotel, Funchal, Madeira

Thomson Airlines – London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira

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