Seavilla

This one bedroom apartment built in 2006, in Funchal, Madeira, is on the 5th floor. It has a spacious 27′ x 14′ lounge complete with 2 sofas, dining table for 6, TV, DVD, hi-fi and a double balcony with sea views and sun chairs.

There is a fully equipped kitchen with full size oven, fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine, tumble dryer, iron and safe.

The bedroom has large built in wardrobe, king-size bed and small balcony.

The bathroom has bath with a shower over, toilet, bidet, large basin and hairdryer. Bathroom towels are provided but not beach towels.

There are two lifts in the block, which has 5 apartments to each floor, and the penthouse flat is above us. The block has its own 
underground car park with private parking bay. A maid service is available please book as required. It is not suitable for young children and is strictly No smoking.

There are fans for the summer and heaters if there is a chilly evening in the winter.

Prices per week

• £350 most of the season
• Christmas week £450
• New year £550 – Madeirans really celebrate New Year.

Change over days Monday or other day by prior arrangement.

About Funchal

Funchal is the capital and is where the majority of visitors stay. The thriving city centre has the harbour, fruit and fish market, cable car, shops, and restaurants, and then about 1 1/2miles out is the Lido area where the majority of tourist hotels are. There are the local municipal buses, which are quite regular from the town to the Lido tourist area.

The apartment is only 5 minutes from the harbour and 10 minutes from the town. The well-known Casino itself, apart from gambling, has live entertainment shows on the 
 first floor and these are very good.

Flights

Easy jet from Stansted, Bristol and Gatwick.
Other airlines flying to Funchal [FNC] include First Choice,
TAP [Portuguese], BA and Thomson.

Taxis

Approximately 30 euros for a taxi from the airport and we have an English speaking driver who can meet you

Leisure

Madeira is volcanic so there are no sandy beaches as such but there are 
swimming pools in Funchal and the nearest is situated in a lovely park 10 minutes walk away and costs less than 5 euros for the day. Other Lidos are at the water’s edge so sea swimming is possible and there is a public beach at nearby Praia Formosa [past the Lido].

If you like walking then Madeira is famous for Levada walks down from the 
 mountains through the mimosa forests, farmland and countryside. I can tell 
 you more about all this if you’d like to fire questions. (You must have proper walking boots/shoes for the walks.)

Further attractions

Whale, turtle and dolphin watching, deep-sea fishing.

Gardens

Monte Palace Gardens, botanical gardens, the Orchid house, [accessible by cable car from the town.]

Festivals, golf, indoor shopping centres, lovely restaurants and many local food and drink to taste….

Amenities

There are small mini markets nearby which stock bread, milk, water as well as basic foods.

The new shopping centre Dolce Vita has opened at the bottom of the main road into town just past the park [10mins away] and this includes a large supermarket. [You can always arrange with Nuno our taxi driver [details in apt] to meet you there to get shopping back up hill if it’s a big shop!].

Other info

Water is drinkable in Madeira.

What the owner says…
“The Bulldog in Olimpo [John] serves real Poncha – sugar cane based hooch – must be tried. If you want day trips out Nuno or his brother Angelo can take you wherever you want to go at your own speed and if you pal up with others it halves the cost. They can take you to lovely local restaurants and to all the best views etc.”

Christmas time

The Madeirans start preparations in October with putting up all the thousands of Xmas lights including a Christmas crib of 250,000 lights and nearly every tree is covered. Poinsettas brighten the 
 city streets and at New Year they hold the firework festival, which is 
, currently the best in the World [according to the Guinness Book of Records]. It is synchronized with a dozen of more bases on land and out to 
 sea on moored ships and is on for 30 – 40 minutes – just huge displays in 
 all directions. Because of its fame flights around that time get very 
 booked up so you may be better off to try for dates first before confirming 
 holiday dates – even the mainland Portuguese come to Madeira for Xmas and 
 of course everyone wants a flight home after the display.

“The biggest 
 attraction for us is that Madeira is like England was 40 years ago. You don’t get lager louts, people are respectful to each other, and the Madeirans are very friendly people.”