I wasn't so sure when we arrived at the Pestana Carlton hotel. The reception area looked a little tired and the hotel looked too large. I could not have been more wrong. We had arrived early and our room wasn't ready so the reception team looked after our bags and showed us to the Garden bar where we were given complimentary drinks. Our room was bright and comfortable and we had great views across the garden and to sea. There are pools on two levels. The higher one giving great views whilst the lower one is at sea level and accessed by lift. It was great being able to swim in the ocean. Breakfast is a buffet with plenty to choose from. Traditional continental breakfast, a variety of fruits and bread as well as cooked options. This is great value. The evening meals were run on a different theme each evening. Again, a great selection of salads, hot courses as well as sweet and cheese. There is also a Taverna option which is much more laid back and requires booking. The hotel staff were excellent and friendly. We had a great week and although this was our first visit to Madeira I am sure we will be back

We stayed here for a week, we had a pool view to begin, we were on the 4th floor, rooms 401 to 409 are directly beneath the breakfast terrace, we found this to be extremely noisy from 7am, trolleys being moved about and chairs, if you're a light sleeper avoid these rooms. We were moved to a side sea view with a very small balcony, pool view rooms have a much bigger balcony. We were moved because there was insects in our room, crawling from under the skirting boards, they moved us quickly and helped with our luggage as it was midnight when we moved. The rooms are definitely not 5 star, we came back one afternoon to find new mattresses stacked against the wall, we had to go and ask for the beds to be made. The towels are so thin and need replacing, carpets are old. We went for lunch at the pool bar and waited 20 minutes so we left because nobody came to take an order. Also the pub at the side of the hotel, the tables were not being cleared of food and the pigeons were having a great feed, not enough staff. The breakfast terrace is lovely but staff not clearing tables quickly enough, breakfast was lovely, a great variety of food. This is a big hotel and will take a lot of money to maintain, in my opinion its a 4 star, staff seemed to be under a lot of pressure. Location great, just needs some TLC to bring it back up to 5 star

Not the first time I write a good review about the Pestana Carlton and I am sure won't be the last! Spent three weeks back in June and another three weeks now and always have a wonderful time. Staff are all very eager to please and work very hard. Sofia was the lady cleaning our room and always left it spotless! The atmosphere is so special that always feels like home to me. A couple of times we had treats left in our room (a bottle of red wine with a large cheese board and Madeira wine/ Madeira cake ). They do know how to make us feel special, a true sample of excellent hospitality! And...the other huge plus is...the wonderful access to the sea and the hotel is within walking distance to Funchal!

Terrible experience at this hotel Firstly they say there is parking on the website , but good luck actually getting a park they have about 40 parks for a ginormous resort so it’s very hard to get a park, it’s also charged at $1.20 euro PER HOUR which adds up fast over night. They have a ‘free’ car park down a very steep hill that is an absolute shambles, cars parked all over the place impossible to get into, very difficult if you’re in a bigger car. It’s also full most of the time and very hard to get a park in there. When we complained about the car parking situation they said their car park was damaged in the big storm years ago so this is all they can do for now- which is fine but this should be communicated on their website, so that you can choose not to hire a car if it’s going to be so difficult. Ordered a restaurant meal at the garden pool. Took over an hour to receive the meal, only to be told they ran out of vegetables and offered French fries instead. The wait time was frustrating enough, let alone to wait that long then be told they didn’t even have what we ordered. We had to change rooms on our final night due to some flooding in an adjacent room. They upgraded us to a bigger and better room as a result. However this room was on the bay facing side and it was so loud, music blaring til 10pm and hard to sleep. Don’t recommend a bay view room if you like to go to bed early. I’m not usually one to write a negative review, but I feel like guests should be aware of these things. The actual staff were nice and we did get free parking in the end as an apology for having to move our room so they did try and make up for our not so good experience. Positives: It’s a good location, the bed were comfy, the air con worked well. Breakfast buffet selection was good.

We stayed here for a week in early September and were very pleased with hotel. Our room looked over quite a bit of the city towards the mountains, arguably not as good as the sea view but ever changing, especialy as the clouds rolled over the mountain tops. The room was large and the bathroom excellent. Only problem was the a/c which had to be on 24hrs to keep the room cool and hence could be a little noisy. We booked half board and the food was excellent. Food was a buffet from 7 until 10:30 and they kept the food fresh throughout. We managed to eat on the terrace each night so had a great view while we ate. Breakfast was OK, forget the idea of a full English but omelette were great as were the breads and little cakes. We never tried the sparkling wine at breakfast but many did Service was what you would expect for buffet, very unobtrusive. The location is quite good but it quite a walk to the old town, and although quite pleasent it will be so much better when the harbour improvements are completed. The walk back from town is a little harder as there is quite a hill. Overall I would prefer to be closer to the town but that would mean no access to the sea which this hotel has and most others do not.

My wife and I stayed here for the beginning leg of our honeymoon. Once we arrived at the hotel and checked in, it was an amazing experience to grab drink on the front Garden Restaurant that overlooks the ocean with a great view. The pool was clean and great to spend the later half of our days at when we were back from adventuring in the town and around the island. There are restaurants and cafes very close to the resort so the location was great. The staff were super friendly and some did not hesitate to strike up a conversation with us during our half board dinners and breakfasts. Khan was amazing at not only making us feel at home, but sharing his experience there as well from around the world. I would highly recommend staying here.

I stayed here in Sept 2021 for 1 week and enjoyed it so much that I returned for 3 weeks in November. The staff work tirelessly to make my stay enjoyable. One member of staff was outstanding and I made an effort to obtain his name. I think it is Manuel Viveiros!!! His manner and welcoming skills are excellent and his management in the dining area was perfectly balanced and well executed. Without embarrassing him I sincerely hope he gets the recognition he deserves...... Room 1004.

Nice hotel in a great location. Good breakfast and really good dinner at the pub. Our room was big and had the best view on the pool and ocean. It was cleaned daily. The employees were friendly and helpful. Every night there was live music and there was a mascot for the kids. The two pools were always clean and there was just about enough sun longers. The location of the hotel is really good, so you can walk almost anywhere in the town in about 15 min. We really liked our stay and this hotel will definitely be our choice when visiting Madeira again.

We have stayed at this hotel many times over several years. The location is ideal, midway between Funchal and the Lido area. We have lunch regularly at the pool bar - staff are friendly and efficient and the food is tasty - we have open cheese toastie with chips. We haven’t had full meals at the hotel for a few years - we are vegetarian and the choice was poor to say the least. The rooms are good with beautiful sea views and views to the harbour but this is a 5-star hotel with 2-star towels ( more like sandpaper) and lovely showers spoiled by ever fluctuating water temperature. Staff are invariably helpful.

Extremely friendly staff and service. They baked a cake for my birthday and charged nothing extra. Breakfast is amazing, the two indoor pools and the two outdoor pools and the jacuzzi were great as well. I'll definitely come back.

Good hotel very well staffed, only complaint was had to report twice about non working lights in the bedroom. Breakfast was great can be busy but staff manage well. Poolside food and drink area well stocked and staff very attentive. We would like to return some time

Stayed for a couple of weeks after last staying 5 years ago and glad to be back. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable about the island and local area. Amazing salt water pools. If you have kids there is a shallow pool perfect for them and then a deeper pool for able swimmers. If you take the lift down to sea level, there is access to the sea via a little man made cove. From here there is also the oppertunity to learn to scuba dive via the hotel. A couple of shops in the hotel if you are after basic bits which saves a trip to the supermarket. The hotel is within walking distance to the town centre and local resteraunts and amenitys. Overall its a great hotel with excellent staff, amazing views what more can you want.

We've had a great stay here this week. The hotel has everything you need. Our room, 305, was a standard pool view room, and is well situated between the restaurants on floor 5 and the pool on 1. The food is good with large portions at the poolside bar. The staff were lovely. A 25 min downhill walk into Funchal. Recommended.

Hotel facilities brilliant but rooms let it down. Not sure with the rooms how it is a 5 star as dated. Pay the extra for sea view as road noise quite loud. Staff great. Pools not heated and sea is warmer than the pools. Dive centre is on site and 10/10. Very enjoyable experience diving.

Location location location.. absolutely fantastic. Service was good as well. We never had to use it but it seems good. Only if they had provided some plates and cutlery and microwave in the room. Food is delicious..we've only used bed and breakfast. Breakfast was good. The weather is fantastic in October. The indoor pool and facilities are top notch. Only wished we were here for more than 6 nights. Overall 4.5*. Thanks Pestana.

We enjoyed our stay here very much. We had a family room which was spacious enough for four. I can only say the furniture is not brand new but it was not bad at all. Our room was cleaned everyday. Wifi was not very strong in the room, but in other parts of the hotel it was very good. The hotel has three pools, one of which is inside. There is direct access to the ocean which we enjoyed very much. The staff was very friendly, nice and helpful. The breakfast was perfect. We would definitely want to stay there again.

This hotel was chosen/booked for us, during a family medical emergency, by our insurance company. The Carlton’s Customer Experience Manager, Lisbeth, was excellent in immediately understanding we were going through a difficult situation, and she flew into action - reallocating us more suitable rooms with disabled access and close proximity, providing a wheelchair, arranging suitable hospital transport, and providing the warmest of welcomes on arrival. She completely turned round a very upsetting family experience and gave us much needed support and care. Indeed all the staff at the hotel were kind, thoughtful and attentive to their roles. More generally, this is a large hotel, catering for mass market tourism. Breakfast is extensive and plentiful, as is the evening buffet, though this was a little inconsistent in quality. Rooms are clean and spacious, some areas are worn and tired looking. Beds are comfortable. Information about the hotel facilities/timings was lacking, as were enough teabags (which were not replenished after the first two were used - apparently as a policy - a small detail but an important one if you’re British!). There are numerous pools, terraces and lounge areas, all comfortable and well maintained. Although I wouldn’t normally choose such a large hotel for a holiday, of its type it does it’s job well and the staff are commendable.

My wife and I stayed here in July after we decided to visit Madeira on a whim. We decided on the Carlton based on the price and location. We chose a mountain view room and were not disappointed with the view especially at night when the homes would light up. If we wanted a sea view we just went out on the the very night terrace or down to one of the pools. The staff was excellent and met our needs and even a request for an extra extension cord. The breakfast and the terrace seating was very very good. It was a quick walk into town from the hotel and the surrounding areas. We ate the pub and were not disappointed. The pool areas are excellent and a nice place to relax. The only complaint we have is the dated look of the hallways and the rooms. It seems the hotel was built in the 70's and is still living there. However the rooms were clean and comfortable. The mini golf and tennis courts are in considerable disrepair and as former owners of a mini golf this was disappointing. However, if we return to Madeira we will most likely return to this property for the value.

Excellent experience so far. Good selections and plentiful breakfast food. Pools and options of 4 of them, as well as hotels' own sea access (unusual for Madeira), and beautifully cared for gardens are making this a really nice trip. We will be staying here again. Some of the hotel is being returned/redecorated in the new year apparently too. Recommended.

Very good hotel. Located very close to the city center. Various restaurants and pubs close by. Right opposite is the Savoy Palace. Good outdoor pool and an indoor one as well. Breakfast was very good, but the service during breakfast was very slow and poor. The room we got was very nice. Apparently families don't get sea view rooms else that would have been very good. Parking is a hassle. The parking at the hotel level is 20 Euros per day but there's a free one where you drive down to a very narrow parking lot which I had some trouble with. The check-in process could definitely be improved. We got there with a tour bus which just landed before us and we had to wait for almost 30-40 mins before someone could help us. The laid back culture probably doesn't help but I think they can definitely look to make it a bit more efficient.

Definitely book this hotel, you will NOT be disappointed! I arrived very late so there was no one to take my luggage to my room but I was given a welcome drink and checked in efficiently as the clerk could see I was tired. The breakfast was delicious and full of variety. The VIEWS of the ocean are breathtaking. Love that my room had pretty much every amenity- balcony with seating, bidet, robe/slippers. There is also a separate elevator to reach the spa and sauna which makes the area quiet and peaceful. Tons of restaurants in walking distance if you don't want to eat onsite, but it was cool that they had a themed dinner during my stay. Upon checkout, they held my bags while I finished an day trip around the island and then called a cab for me with a preset fare which was nice. Don't miss a chance to stay here! Just note, it's pretty far from the airport so get ready to fork out some serious cash (up to $45!) to get to the hotel.

Stayed in a junior suite and it was spacious, reasonably well equipped (could always do with more power sockets), great balconies with terrific views. The hotel is 5 star and you can see where the rating comes from but it is starting to show its age, wear and tear etc. I would still highly recommend this hotel though. The breakfast was plentiful in choice and quantities and the staff were very friendly.

We arrived at the hotel yesterday and waited a few hours until our room was ready. After being taken to our room we discovered that it was situated on the back of the hotel overlooking some bins/ wasteland and twin beds. Also my partner had paid for half board double room and sea views when the holiday was booked and we were told that it only included bed and breakfast My partner went down to reception and explained that he had booked a double room with sea views etc The booking had been cancelled a couple of times back home in the Uk due to Covid however my partner had paid a lot of money for this holiday . The staff were extremely unhelpful and very rude especially the duty manager and general manager and showed no compassion whatsoever. Finally after over three hours we decided it was pointless and we decided to just go to the room. We had been given another room at this point. It has completely ruined our stay here and we will never come back . We found out also today that if we want tea bags replacing in our room there is a charge of 4 euros each time. This is unbelievable. Very very disappointed to say the least considering this hotel claims to be 5 star

Excellent value for money. Perfect location (15 min to downtown by walk). Good service. Helpful and attentive reception (goes extra-mile to support or advice a client). Has a comfortable entrance to the ocean (for whom who loves to swim in the ocean). If to expect quite time, strong recommendation to choose sea-view or pool-view rooms. Breakfast is served from 7 to 11 a.m. After 8 a.m. available at the terrace with a nice view to the ocean side. Staying at Pestana Carlton, I had real holidays.

Good hotel on a good location. Around the clock reception and breakfast from 7 to 11 everyday. Hotel is old and unfortunately it shows in that some of the surface material are little worn down. Other that that we have had no issues during our stay and staff has been quick to react on our wishes or complaints, for example our misbehaving door lock was repaired within two hours of us reporting it. Breakfast is loaded with options. Pool area is very enjoyable and large enough to find your own space easily.

Lovely hotel, one of my favourite. The service is outstanding and the view, you can't complain at all, the seaview is lovely and on top floor the poolbar has amazing view. 5/5 to this hotel.

Not really a five star experience, but great value nevertheless. Minus for weak AC and no refill of coffee bags in the room. Plus for super nice staff and good breakfast.

Nice hotel with convenient location. Really pleased with our stay. Things to improve - Avoid so called free car park. Guest should not be allowed to go there. You might damage your car trying to park there. Quality control of your fruits being server during breakfast need to be better. (rotten fruits) -no teaspoons readily available during breakfast

Nice hotel, friendly staff, amazing pool. The location is very good and you can find different restaurants nearby. The view from 18th floor is great! The indoor pool was colder than expected, but outdoor pools are great and big. We had amazing experience here and will return for sure.

An awesome hotel! When I arrived I was treated with a welcome drink which was so nice and unexpected 😍 All the receptionists are very friendly and everyone speaks English. The rooms are also nice, I stayed in a Pool view room. Breakfast, pools, facilities, everything is really great! I’d like to come back later ☺️

Lovely hotel. Staff extremely helpful and accommodating. Hotel food very good. Ideally located for everything. Very spacious room with good air con and all facilities needed. Magnificent views. Great food. Thank you for a lovely break.

First hotel of Pestana group, built in the 70’s so you notice an old decoration and infrastructure. Is a 5* for its pools and localization but do not expect fancy rooms or decoration. Nothing bad to report apart for a 5* in 2023 I was expecting more quality. Worth to pay the extra value to stay with sea view because de back of the hotel is to a street with a bar open until 6 am.

Rooms were a bit dated but lovely seafront location ( be prepared for steps ). Hotel more or less built into rocks and their are lifts to the beach pool. Bars very nice and breakfast good as well. Great place for a visit

This is a rather tired hotel after 50 years The rating of 5 stars is misleading. It is a 3 star hotel with the guest rooms, in particular, needing a refit. However if included in a package with flight it is undeniably good value.

A comfortable hotel, rooms are starting to look a little tired, but nothing to fret about as all you should be doing is sleeping. Bathrooms are sizable and clean. Reception - very helpful Check-in - Check-in is no earlier than 3pm, not such a bad thing as the hotel will look after your baggage whilst you explore and look for the best G&T. Hotel bar - lifeless as all hotel bars generally are, no surprises. Breakfast - the morning bun fight The good - selection of food The bad - staff dance session at 10am, just wrong!!!! The ugly - nothing to do with the hotel, the clients are just so rude, maybe just me but I thought politeness was a virtue. No orderly queues here. The pool(s) - there are 4, but we only found 3. Clean and not too busy. There is also a harbour area attached to the hotel for swimming. The pool staff are super helpful and really polite. Although not advertised daily aquarobics are available for free. The pool also has an area to purchase food and drinks. General area - Lots of restaurants & around and a couple of nightclubs open to the early hours within the casino if you are so inclined. Bring carabineers and crampons if you visit the old town and intend to climb the hill back to the hotel. Maybe oxygen too :) Overall a comfortable hotel and it doesn't disappoint.

My wife and I have been going to the Pestana Carlton for the last eight years, barring the Covid period and have had such a wonderful time there. Great service, breakfasts and staff. A better location you could not wish for. Thanks to Lisbeth for taking care of us and we look forward to our next visit in August 2023.

Nice hotel. Perhaps not quite living up to the 5 star tag. It has great swimming pools. Four in all. Two salt two indoor. A all spa. Breakfast great. However coffee is terrible. Not sure why they feel the need to save on coffee. Staff are all very attentive and it was a pleasure to stay there

I could go on and on describing all the wonderful features of the hotel Pestana Carlton Madeira Ocean Resort. But this review I want to dedicate to a completely unusual situation that happened with me while my staying there, or to be more precise - shortly after I left the place. After I landed in my home country I realized that I left some documents and a large sum of money in the nightstand drawer inside the room. I was a crushing disappointment, I was mad with myself for being so irresponsible and negligent to my own stuff. At the same time I reckoned that it was completely unrealistic to get my documents and money back, giving the fact that I was in a different country at the moment and didn’t have any direct contacts of the hotel stuff members.So I mentally said “good buy” to them and tried accept the whole situation as a valuable life lesson. You can imagine my surprise and astonishment when I received an email from the hotel a couple days later, saying that they have found all my possessions and they were looking forward for my directions on how to send them back. I never expected anything like that would transpire , as I was absolutely sure that my things were irrevocably gone by then. Long story short, my money and documents were returned to me in about a week, which made me incredibly happy. I want to express my gratitude to the hotel „Pestana Carlton Madeira Ocean Resort Hotel.” And especially to mrs. Lisbeth Albuquerque and other stuff members who were involved. I deeply touched by their care and integrity that they showed while handling my case. Nobody tried to embezzled my money. On the contrary, they reached out to me first days after the check out, and we’re very cooperative and supportive afterwards. I think it’s nothing short of amazing these days. Dear hotel Pestana Carlton Madeira Ocean Resort I really appreciate your help and I never going to forget your kindness and humanity

We had a great stay here. The staff were really friendly and helpful, they couldn't do enough for us. Our room had a mountain view, which was pretty impressive. It was clean and well maintained. There was plenty of space - we even had a sofa! Water pressure was good and room service came every day. The location is up a hill from town (but most places are). The walk is really pretty through past some lovely parks, and being that bit higher up makes the views better. We got a package that includes breakfast, and my one top tip would be aim for quite times to eat - at peak times its a bit manic! You do get a glass of prosecco with breakfast though so worth a bit of chaos...

Very good hotel in Madeira for its offers vs price and location. It got almost everything such as spa, sauna, nice outdoor pool, access to the ocean, tennis court, scuba diving center, bar and spacious rooms with bathtub. It’s my second stay here and I recommend it. This time I got upgraded to a suite with the ocean view. I love it! 😍 Thank you 🙏😊 and for sure I will be back again! 🥰☀️

Great location on the seafront with access to the sea for swimming. Lovely pool area with beautiful gardens. Rooms are clean and modern, staff are very helpful. Lisbeth in guest relations was super helpful when we needed to change rooms. Very professional. We will back in a few weeks for our 4th visit.

Great hotel, great staff and very good location. The pub was good, the staff and food and drinks were excellent. The hotel looked average from the outside, but an extremely nice surprise when inside. Pool etc lovely, views great (except the street view). All in all, a great place.

Hotel’s generally really tired out - well past its prime. Feel like the service motto here is do as little as possible. Asked for a wine opener to be sent up to the room - apparently that “service” is chargeable. Stayed in dozens of hotels in Europe, this a first. Therefore, overall, the only value proposition of this place is, book it if all other nearby hotels are full. Else stick to places where at least the service is good, even if the buildings have seen better days.

Everybody here is very pleasant, and the amenities are amazing. I enjoyed every on-site restaurant as well as the breakfast buffet. I loved the views here, as well. I tend to check out new hotels, but when I come back to Funchal, I will likely book this again - hard to top from my perspective.

10/10! LOVED our stay here. Service and friendliness is outstanding, the breakfast is fantastic, the pools are clean and well facilitated. The fact that the hotel has a spot where you can go into the ocean to swim is a big asset! Not every hotel in Funchal has this.

This place is amazing! We have an ocean view, 1 bedroom, living room, 2 full bathrooms. It has 2 beautiful pools. It's very easy to walk to places from here. In the first 5 days the people that cleaned our room were very bad. They don't wipe the tables and we had a build up of dirty glasses and cups. I had to complain 3 times. I never leave my room in a mess so they didn't have to do much clean up. Make the bed, fresh towels if needed, vacuum and replace clean glasses for used ones. Anyway, if we were to come back to Madeira we would definitely stay here again!

I wanted to like this place and have to agree with a lot of the reviews that the facilities could use a revamp. Our room had water stains on the walls and our mini fridge was not able to keep anything at all cool (Luke warm to the touch) which was hard with kids with snacks. The location was amazing but don’t try to ask the staff any questions. Whenever we tried asking about the facilities and what times were kid friendly the staff at the front desk (minus one person ) seemed annoyed and would immediately go back to typing something in the computer. The breakfast was not bad at all but when we wanted to get take away to eat at the pool the lady working snapped at us. The outside pool was great for families but the inside pool was very very cold. I don’t think this should be marketed as a 5 star. The Savoy is next door and if you can pay the extra money I suggest trying there instead if you like the location. All the guests we talked to were amazing though!

Overall we were really happy with our stay here and I would give it five stars except that a few things knocked it down. Our bed was hard, the parking ticket machine seemed to break a lot, and they advertise a fitness center but they really don't have one. The breakfast was wonderful and all the employees were very helpful and nice.

From the moment we arrived, the staff was the most welcoming and kind bunch ever! The service is genuinely impeccable, from the front desk, to the cleaners and poolside staff. They are a treat! The location is amazing and it is close and walking-distance to most things we wanted to do. We got a room on the 18th floor, so the view was absolutely amazing! The rooms were clean and spacious, however a tiny bit outdated - did not mind at all. Overall, I'd definitely recommend :)

Great Hotel but needs some renovating. Elevators are too slow too small or too few. During peak hours, you can sometimes wait 10 minutes for the elevator or take the stairs. View is awesome, pools are nice. Game room (Pool Billard, table tennis and table soccer) is terribly small and dark and overall quite a shame. Maybe not very important for most of the crowd (elderly folks) but for families it's quite a disappointment. Breakfast is great if you're early (before 9am), later it's way too crowded. Cannot comment on lunch or dinner, which we always had in the restaurants on the island.

Looks a bit tired now, but that's reflected in the price. The location is fantastic - it's surrounded by the best hotels on the island. Some aspects of the service could be improved - we had to ask twice to get an ironing board. Good choice at breakfast.

Stayed in a 2 bedroom appt. It was huge. The mattress was like concrete. We got toppers Great balcony with fantastic sea view. A long walk from reception and 2 lifts! . No option to purchase a dinner except the expensive package. Very enjoyable experience overall and quite good location.

Hotel is nice laying on a small cliff with sea view. Two nice outdoor pools with sea water. Plenty of bars available. Rooms are nice, big enough and the beds are big and comfy.