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Overall, the stay was okay. It was centrally located right above a supermarket which was great. The host was communicative majority of the time and was kind enough to accommodate a late check-out for us. However, the stay lacked the love and attention which I’ve come to appreciate in home stays. For example, it was listed to have washing machine, but there was barely enough detergent for one load. So we restocked it for her. We stayed almost a week with 3 guests noted and there were only two rolls of toilet paper provided, no paper towel, no shower essentials etc. so we also restocked all of that. One of the bedrooms and the main living room had no lightbulbs, so we often sat in poorly lit rooms at night. Also, the cleaning agent that was used upon our arrival was SO strong, it made a couple of us super nauseous the first night (I don’t fault the owner for this, but it could be nice to use less toxic cleaning supplies moving forward). Overall, grateful for the location but also it is important to know that there were a lot of homeless people/ drug users in the area which made us feel slightly uncomfortable at some points as they actively followed us and yelled in the streets at different points in the trip.

This apartment is in Atlantic gardens beach hotel. This info was not included in the directions we were given, which explicitly pinned a completely different complex further up the road. We spent over an hour searching for the place because of this. The aparatment is much bigger than how it looks from the pictures and the view is breathtaking, they have really good wi-fi for remote work and good ammenities such as pool, service desk.. However, a lot of things were lacking for long term stays. There were only one set of sheets, kitchen was not very well equiped. The floors were very dirty when we got there, and the couch is filthy, it needs a deep cleaning, so we were avoiding using it. The whole place looks a bit run down, which is not something to complain about but the price for that is not justifiable. For a lower price it would be fine, but with all the flaws it wasnt worth it, especially with so many better options for rent. The neighborhood opposite the ocean is pretty dingy, with trash containers that absolutely reeked of fish leftovers. The place is situated at the bottom of a huge hill, which requires walking up about 5 flights of stairs to go anywhere. The beach however is really nice and the pool make this offer more appealing. We are planning to come back for a full year, but in a different place. A fine place, just maybe not for the price.

Beautiful view, instructed to the west (simply bad architecture, unfortunately) so you can’t see the sunset…. It still nice though because you’re oceanfront. But that’s all that’s nice: super uncomfortable beds, rock hard, most uncomfortable I’ve ever slept in, and they’re two different single mattresses (not quite the same level of discomfort, but both still terrible), and they won’t stay together, they drift apart with hardly any movement, so it’s really bad for partners who like to cuddle or care about being close… not to mention it makes it very difficult to sleep - worst sleeping month I’ve ever had in my life. Must be a super cheap owner, the couch is a cheap old one that’s super uncomfortable and hard to find a decent seating position on. Sparse furniture, no rug, we asked for a rug and the manager was nice enough to bring it back in, but it was so old and disgusting we can see why they took it away. Super basic, just a typical old concrete apartment cube with nothing extra and sparse, old/dated furniture. Could be so nice if the owner wasn’t so cheap and short-sighted. C’est la vie

Our stay was for 5 weeks. The landlord was always responsive and the front desk staff were helpful in answering questions and assisting with needs. The coffee machine stopped working and they sent a replacement. We left the keys in the apartment and Sandra drove in to provide a duplicate set on the weekend. The key to the back gate did not work to open the gate so we always had to access through the front door. Parking is sometimes an issue but we usually found a way to park either in front or on the side. A car is necessary if you want to get around since the building is at sea level and you have a mountain to climb to go up to Monument. We rented a car after 2 days from Sixt located at the roundabout by Reids The view from the apartment and large terrace is jaw dropping. The promenade along Praia Formosa provides a lovely walk in either direction toward Lido area and Funchal (through the tunnel) or to Camara de Lobos. There are restaurants and snack bars along the promenade. The apartment was not comfortable for our needs. It was bare bones in terms of furniture, bed, cookware and linens. The bed was like sleeping on a hard floor and the linens made it worse since they were rough and did not fit the bed. The pillows were a mystery to us, large, full of lumps and bumps. We both had restless sleep and woke with back aches on most days. The towels, 2 bath and 2 hand should have been retired years ago. They were old and acted more like an exfoliator for the skin instead of absorbing moisture. The kitchen was not outfitted to properly cook a small meal and most of the equipment is old and worn. The washing machine worked well and accompanied by a dryer rack to use on the terrace. We love Madeira and were fortunate to spend the Christmas and New Years Holidays on Praia Formosa. Ultimately, we were able to overlook the discomfort and enjoy the view.

The only advantages of the apartment are the balcony with a superb view and the fact that the building is on the beach. Apart from these aspects, the apartment is in a deplorable condition. The tile moves and creaks everywhere, it even swelled and broke and they moved us to another apartment to make repairs. You cannot sit on the sofa in the living room, it is at least 30 years old and it falls apart from any corner. The sofa and the carpet are so old and faded and full of dust that they are completely unusable and have given us a strong dust allergy. The furniture in the balcony is so old that the paint is peeling off. We had to wash all the windows when we moved into the apartment plus the carpet which was full of dust. The refrigerator in the apartment is an extremely small one, like a hotel refrigerator, totally unsuitable for an apartment or for a medium-long term rent. The doors and windows do not insulate sound at all. You can hear any movement from the parking lot and from the nearby shisha bar. The internet is not good for remote work. The collaboration with the staff was a good one.

The apartment seemed to look nice on initial arrival, and so we thought we’d have no problems, the location is also great. But unfortunately this provided to be a very uncomfortable stay, and led to a lot of frustration and sleepless nights. Firstly, there is no AC in this apartment. I had known this and contacted the landlord to confirm and she comforted me by telling me that there is a big fan above the bed which keeps the room very cool. I thought I’d be fine, being as Madeira doesn’t get ridiculously hot due to it’s geographical position, but oh how I was wrong. The room was always so horrendously hot, it would always be warmer than it was outside and me and my partner could never sleep nor fully just relax in the apartment as it was so uncomfortable. It got to the point of being unbearable where we had to buy ourselves an extra fan to try mitigate the terrible heat that this apartment trapped in- it was cooler outside than it was inside all the time. We would often be covered in sweat, and eventually, the heat became so bad we started spending some nights at my partners parents house in Madeira. This apartment was a burden to us and to them…disgraceful. Secondly, the natural light was such a big issue for me. I could never have one sleep where my body wouldn’t be disturbed by the natural light, so I never was able to have one night of continuous sleep here (+ the heat as explained above). As the landlord likely wanted to keep costs down for them, instead of thinking about the basic needs of their tenants, as well as no AC, there were no fitted blackout curtains. Just two blinds that were set so far from the window all the light managed to enter from the gapping sides, and a flimsy, sheer white curtain which was set in front of the large glass double door that led to the small terrace, so so much light just poured in as soon as the sun rose at 6am. Furthermore, the blind had been poorly fitted and if we went to just open the window to try lessen the boiling hot apartment, the blind would fall and every time we would have to fix it. It became a nuisance. We had to take matters into our hands again, by using a blind that they had hidden behind a cabinet and draping it over that curtain pole. It didn’t do much but we had to try something. Thirdly, the hot water. When we went to have a shower, obviously one would want to take a lukewarm shower, not an ice cold one for 30 mins to wash their hair, or shave etc. The hot water just ran out after 30mins leaving me or my partner, to have to have a cold shower. So we had to start taking shorter showers, when we had been at the beach or out all day and just had wanted to come back to a relaxing shower. That was not an option at this shit show of an apartment! Finally, the landlords attitude when faced with having to take care of their tenants. It was awful. On my last night, our keys had been left in the apartment and the door had been shut and locked itself (as it locks automatically) as we went for dinner with my partners parents at around 9pm-10pm. We realised as we left the apartment building neither of us had the key, and so we called Lucia the landlord. She was talking over me as I was trying to politely explain what happened, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and blamed it on poor connection as she isn’t even in Madeira she is in South Africa, so no where near to properly assist to her tenants if need be. However when she did eventually listen to my problem, I was met with such a rude and, dare I say, bitchy tone, as she said she won’t do anything about it, regardless of the fact we had a flight the next morning at 7am, as the other woman who also assumed responsibility of the apartment and lives in Madeira, was asleep and she reused to wake her and said we’d just have to miss our flight as there is nothing she would do about it. After my polite plead for help, my partner had to use a more firm tone with her, in which she finally agreed to call the other woman to give us the spare set of keys she had. So we drove there, got them, and all was sorted- however, again lack of concern for tenants was apparent as they had not left any spare keys anywhere near the apartment. So this whole stay was just not a peaceful experience, it was so problematic. From the hot temperature due to no AC, the flooding in of natural light at 6am due to poor efforts to install proper blackouts, to sleepless nights, and the rude/ unprofessional attitude of the main tenant Lucia…I would 100% never stay here again. I should note the apartment building itself had maggots just running around on the ground floor, and there was a crushed dead one on the elevator door- think it sums up the stay pretty well. Thanks. LANDLORD'S REPLY: Thanks for your comments and feedback. A few things were out of my control eg the uncharacteristic heat wave in Madeira that broke new temperature records. An aircon has not been needed in the past due to the normally moderate climate, but we will look at investing in this in the future. The unusually high temperatures probably also contributed to the maggots you saw, as the block is always kept in a very clean state. I will bring this up with the body corporate though. I apologize if I was abrupt in the middle of the night, but I was caught off gaurd. We now have procedures in place if this happens again in the future.

This particular property was too loud for me due to the proximity of traffic, restaurants, and a construction site. However, the landlord moved me to a quieter property within 24 hours of check-in at no additional cost and I was very happy there. It was clean, safe, comfortable, with fast internet. All-around good experience.

Teresa and her partner Andre are the worst hosts ever. I've never experienced anything like this in my entire life. I read other reviews and I don't understand how come is that possible. In July I rented the apartment for 1 year starting from 11 September. I was able to come only at September 14th and I warned Andre more than a month before that. However, when I called Andre from the airport after the aircraft has landed, he said the apartment is not ready and I should spend 1 day in a hotel. Imaging hearing this when you just landed after 10h flight with wife and 9months old baby and no one told you anything beforehand + I paid for all the days from 11th to 14th.. The apartment advertisement has 'garage included'. however, Andre tried to charge me for that. I contacted Flatio support but Andre just told me face to face that he doesn't care. Then, suddenly, it turned out that I am breaking rules. The cleaning ladies made photos of the apartment when I was gone with baby's toys over the floor, 2 dirty plates on the table and 1 folded diaper on the floor. Turned out that's against rules and they cancelled my contract. As I have a small baby, it was very uncomfortable to me to look for a new apartment so I said I'll follow their rules but they didn't listen. I know at least 3 more cases when Teresa and Andre were trying to cut the corners cancelling the contracts of the tenants under ridiculous reasoning. As for the apartment, the bed is too small for 2 adults. It's the cheapest bed I've slept on. It's 110cm width and ~185cm length. The couch is so small and uncomfortable that you can't even watch the tv while sitting on that thing. This is a corner flat and the neighboring building is pretty close. Some guys are listening unbearable techno music there literally every day (at least not at night). A few good things like location and space mean nothing comparing to the flaws and personal experience.

Good place near ocean, but requires some changes inside; also description must be updated.

+ modern & clean + good communication + nice bathroom + spacious apartment + average internet speed + coffee machine, toaster - short bed (1.8m) with hard, not comfortable mattress and pillows (I didn't get well sleep) - noisy neighborhood (loud techno music & cars) - kitchen equipment deficiencies: blunt knife, missing pot lids - you will have to buy dishwasher & laundry capsules/powder - host will need 100 EUR deposit from you (against the Flatio rules), but you will get it back

Location is perfect, however the flat is quite old (furniture, equpiment - for example the table was almost falling apart). We were also not perfectly happy with the cleanliness.

The room was big and confortable, Ana received me, invited me to meet the place and do a hiking near the house, was a nice host.