Ocean Views - AND MORE!
Review Submitted: June 4, 2008
Date of Stay: May 2008
Lovely apartment with spectacular views (The name is a give away). Make sure that you have a head for heights and strong knee joints though, there are forty steps from the parking area to the front door and a further, slightly easier walk to the pool. The apartment is well furnished and comfortable. You can hear the road noise from the main 'motorway' down below in the valley and it is constant, but the views make up for it. The management staff are very helpful and friendly and will be there to greet you.
The drive to the apartment after leaving the main road is not for the faint hearted (I write this as an ex professional driver M/C;s to 7.5t lorries), neither is the rest of the island (1st gear is recommended for the last turn into the apartment's road). It makes a great game of seeing if you can get around the next bend without meeting the local bus. Cars will rarely get out of 2nd and 3rd gear even on the 'main' roads. I'm just glad not to have been the passenger. Full insurance coverage highly recommended!
Funchal is a short drive away and is a lovely, vibrant city. Plenty of things to see and do. There's a fascinating market with fruits and vegetables that you could only dream about here in the UK. The ski lift is an absolute must as are the gardens. The lido, if it is open, is one of the few places you can swim in a public area due to very limited access to the sea.
If you like walking I would recommend buying the Sunflower Guide to Madeira. It covers drives, Lavada walks as well as some of the mountain paths too. The north side of the mountain is spectacular with its' lush green ravines and coastal roads literally clinging to the cliff face. The swimming pool at Porto Moniz is sublime. Built around the Basalt rocks, it provides one of the few swimming areas in the island and a great bargain at around 1.25 euros each.
There's so much you could say about Madeira that is positive. My only negative is that I wouldn't recommend it for people that have children that need 'Entertaining'. My own two have had a lifetime of being walked here and there and not having the luxury of a TV on holiday and get by on books and their MP3 players. Having the pool was a definate bonus and was well used even on cooler days.
I would love to return one day and would recommend it to all. A fantastic island with warm and friendly people that, by the look of the roads, are 1/2 mountain goat and 1/2 mole. Well worth the trip.
Owner's Response: Thank you Dawn for your comments. They reflect what we say in our advertisement - that the apartment is unsuitable for guests with limited mobility and that car hire is highly recommended. The apartment's elevated position is about 100 metres above and 1 kilometre away from the 'motorway' and it is double glazed. No guest have complained of road noise before but what you say may be of use to future clients coming from remote and quiet destinations. I would suggest they opt for somewhere other than the Funchal area, perhaps further west in the region of Calheta where we have other properties.
The owner of the apartment (a keen golfer) has made it very homely so future guests can chill out after a busy, energetic day. The TV receives 2 local channels and there is a large selection of DVD’s, a CD player, board games, cards and books for you to enjoy.
Madeira originally became popular more than a century ago with UK visitors stopping off on Union Castle ships bound to and from South Africa, India, etc. Since then it has been considered a wonderful destination for adults wanting to find tropical warmth during the cold British winter months, and only 3.5 hours' flight away. The Madeiran government has recently given priority towards expanding entertainment and activities for all ages, making it a perfect destination now for families too and within easy reach of Ocean Views there is so much to do, including a new water park, a new theme park packed with interesting information centres as well as activities for children, museums, a tropical bird park, ecological gardens, golf (classes available for children), horse riding, water sports, snorkelling, scuba diving, dolphin and whale watching, paragliding, canoeing and lots more… not forgetting the 800 miles of levada walks on the island and your own swimming pool (yes, unheated and shared) in the garden!
Clare, Island Homes Lda.
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