Alto Lido

Booked in here as a last minute extension to our holiday. Got an exceptional room at the front overlooking the road, but was still very quiet when the door was shut (which we needed for air con!).
Strange layout of the hotel grounds which are built around a high rise apartment block! Not a problem, just made for a weird layout in a 4 star hotel. Sun terraces were plentiful and clean. Nice touch with some added extras every day in the room (biscuits/fruit/wine). On site bar/food prices very expensive although we were only b&b so ate out mostly. Worst aspect was the buffet breakfast - chaotic "canteen" style breakfast with staff who clearly didn't want to be there. Food was adequate and plentiful/replenished often. For the area it is actually a bargain for the price if you can get a good deal.

Great hotel, great staff, good service. Play area, spa, inside pool, book exchange. Lifts, various different rooms and locations. We were all inclusive with jet 2. All buffets were good. Salads, starters, variety, snack and various meals. Puddings, cake, fruit, ice creams. So much choice. Meat, fish, veg, cheeses. I asked for a veggie burger one lunch and got a great vegan option. Lots of gluten free provision. Lots of people just had breakfast included. The hotel had great self cater accommodation and there is a supermarket a few doors away with some take away food. Bars and restaurants near by. Great balconies and pools, and sun bathing area. The bar by reception has detailed list of all inclusive drinks .... more than we initially thought!! Afternoon snacks by pool are good too. Lidos and pebble beach near by. Walk to other beaches ... with tunnel access. We recommend booking - perhaps with trip advisor in advance- a trip round the island or boat trip to see whales etc. We took local bus to fisherman's village, and hotel bus to town. We took cable car ride! Great time, lovely area.

Just returned from 10 nights at Alto Lido (with Jet2). I'll admit we were worried having read some of the reviews but I am glad we ignored them! We had premium deluxe rooms with sea view. We were on the first floor which does pretty much look onto the road, so if you get the option go for a higher floor! The room was lovely, comfy, clean. There was a mini fridge but nothing in it - I assume they only fill it if you're not all inclusive!? We bought water and milk (there's no milk for the tea in the rooms) from the supermarket next door and kept it chilled in there. Beds were comfy, tea bags were replenished daily (there's no coffee in the rooms though). The shower could have done with a bit more water pressure but it was a nice, spacious bathroom.

Lifts are a bit of an issue, there are two one end that go up to floor 5 I think, and two the other end that go to the top (floor 15?). You can spend a long time waiting, or as we experienced, get in and press to go down to 0, but first it goes all the way up to 14 to collect whoever has pressed the button there, and then stops multiple times on the way down. You can only fit about 6 people in at a time though. I expect it could get very tiresome if you were on a high floor. We were only on the first floor, and discovered the stairs (the door looks like it's just a fire escape, but they are nice, clean stairs and plenty of other people were using them) which would definitely be the better option if you are on one of the lower floors.

The food is fine. Breakfast was good, a good selection of fruit, meats and cheeses if you want continental. Cereal, yoghurt, croissants, pastries and hot food, including an omlette station. Lunch is not great tbh, there are always burgers and hot dogs and then a small selection of other dishes that changes each day, including basic salad stuff. But there's ice cream, plenty of fresh fruit and a small selection of desserts. However, there is also a sort of buffet that appears in the pool bar around 4pm each day. We were not told about it and I have not seen it advertised anywhere. All inclusive can definitely eat from it, I don't know if you have to pay if you are BB/HB. Dinner was fine, plenty of options, freshly cooked and replenished regularly. The atmosphere in the dining room is a bit canteen like but all the staff we encountered were helpful, friendly and efficient and were always on hand to sort us a table (family of 5) even if that meant moving place settings etc.

The main bar on the ground floor has plenty of seating, including outside, and there is live music in there every evening, plus plenty of tables if you want to play cards with family whilst listening.

There are two pools, one indoor and one outdoor. Neither are huge but we enjoyed both of them and if you pick the right time they are very quiet. Plenty of loungers, especially if you take the stairs up from the pool area, there is a huge roof terrace which we never saw full. Always loungers free, and not too much sunbed hogging either, not many towels appearing at dawn and staying on unused loungers like you get in a lot of resorts. We were able to get loungers whatever time of day we went up there, even early afternoon.

The hotel is in the Lido area which is lovely, There are plenty of bars and restaurants around if you want a change from the hotel, and you can walk to a shopping centre easily and several small supermarkets. You can walk into Funchal Old Town in about 40 mins or you can get the complementary bus from the hotel (book at reception the night before) which drops off and picks up by the Ronaldo museum in the marina. If you walk the opposite direction out of the hotel there is a really cool tunnel through the rock that comes out at a stony beach with several bars, and I believe you can walk all the way around to Camara des Lobos if you fancy a longer walk.

We had a fantastic stay, admittedly there are limits to the drinks included on all inclusive but we found plenty that we were happy to drink and didn't buy anything extra. The hotel is clean (we enjoyed watching the robot vacuum :-D ), comfortable, well situated and all the staff we encountered were friendly and helpful, I would stay here again.