When we start looking at properties in Madeira, we found a lot of beautiful accommodations at a good price. In fact, having so many cool accommodations was one of the reasons for us to go to Madeira and not to Puerto Vallarta as we had initially planned. But just when we were going to book, the accommodations that we had as favorites, disappeared.
With few options remaining on Airbnb, we decided to book an apartment rented by a host named Maria. The apartment had very good reviews and the photos were well done.
We booked a week during which we would look for long-term accommodation as we initially planned to spend 3 or 4 months in Madeira. Maria’s accommodation was fine, but we wanted something facing the sea and with a garden if possible.
We were going to check in at 11pm and María had no problem and did not charge extra for that. She was a charm and to top it all, she waited for us with 4 pastéis de nata. Nobody never received us in any accommodation with a detail like that.
The first thing to note is that the Internet was 100mb and it was the only accommodation that had a good internet, the others did not exceed 30mb. At first, we had problems because the connection dropped at times, but Maria came the next day, called the company and they changed the router.
In addition to this, the apartment was immaculate and had cleaning products. It was very bright and although it did not have a view of the sea, the balcony overlooked a banana plantation. The kitchen was super well equipped and there were basic things like oil, coffee and salt.
That week we were going to visit the accommodations that we had already preselected by Airbnb and Flatio (rental website in Madeira).
The first day we only visited one apartment because it was the only one that responded of all those we had contacted, and we discarded it because it was too small, and the internet speed was not good.
We had arranged to see another one in the center of Funchal and the woman forgot to meet us and then made the excuse that we had not confirmed the visit, so we discarded the accommodation and the agency in general for being so incompetent.
There was also an agency where we wrote on the web specifying that we could only be contacted by WhatsApp. A woman from that agency never understood and she called Diego’s phone like a hundred times and when I answered, she was speaking in Portuguese, although I was speaking to her in English. That agency was also ruled out.
This happened to us with several accommodations in Madeira since even though I wrote in English, they responded in Portuguese. I can write in Portuguese and look for what I can’t write in a translator, but since they are the interested parties and those who work in tourism, just as I can use the translator, they can also do it.
We visited an apartment in the Caniço area that had two terraces and was brand new. It had 200mb of internet and it cost 750 euros per month, which we thought was a good price for the location and the views it had. Also, it had two balconies.
This apartment belonged to a Dutchman who had invested there without even going to see the island before. At first, he seemed kind of silly to us. We told him that we wanted to be there for around 4 months, but that we would be paying by the month since we did not want to tie ourselves.
When we confirmed that we wanted to rent with him, since in general the offer of good accommodation is quite scarce or those who rent are incompetents, the guy told us that he was “choosing” us since the other couple who had visited “did not give him a good feeling.”
There things got weird as the guy wanted us to pay him the first month along with the security deposit three days before checking in at his property. Not satisfied with that, we would enter on the 21st, which was when he had his trip back to Holland, but he would give us the keys on the 20th, and he had to have the money in his account that day.
As you can see, all the comforts for him and problems for us because in Maria’s apartment we had check out on the 20th, so we would have to see where to spend that extra night despite having already paid and having the keys to the new apartment.
I asked him several times about the cleaning since the logical thing is that you have a service that goes and leaves the house clean before I enter. The guy never responded about it, so we understood that he was going to leave us the apartment dirty. Another point to highlight is that the guy wanted to rent us the apartment for 4 months and go back to his country, so there was no one left in Madeira to assist us if something happened like a pipe breaking.
As you can see, the one who seemed stupid was smarter than all of us. Obviously, I replied that the keys are given at the time of check in and not the day before, that the security deposit is given at the time of check in when we verify the condition of the apartment and that the payment of the first month is done by hand at the time of check in. It turns out that this way he “did not have a good feeling” to rent us the apartment. Logically, before it didn’t give him a good feeling, I had already decided not to rent anything from him just for being so “cunning”.
The last accommodation we visited is called Quintas das Vinhas and it is in Estreita da Claheta (near Ponta do Sol) This is one of the preferred accommodations of digital nomads and costs around a thousand euros per month. We rented a car to visit it because it was impossible to get there with the limited public transport in Madeira.
The site is beautiful, but we also discarded it for the following: you necessarily need a car for the most basic things like going to the supermarket, the beach was an hour walking in an almost vertical descent that then you have to climb to return, the kitchen was minimal and not well equipped for long stays, the cabin was cold and only had a small stove that was not enough to heat everything, there were no cleaning supplies so you had to pay 50 euros each time you needed the cabin cleaned, It didn’t have a washing machine, so you also had to pay extra for that. This meant extra logistics that bothered me.
Then, we arrived to the middle of the first week seeing that there were no accommodations like the ones we were looking for and that Madeira was not even remotely what we had imagined; so, we decided to rent one more week to tour the island and then get out of there.
Fortunately, María was able to extend our stay for another week since a reservation she had got canceled due to the covid situation.
At the beginning of the second week, María came with a box with two queijadas as a gift. She brought us new sheets and towels. In fact, she was going to change the sheets and I told her not to worry, that I would change them. She also brought a packet of toilet paper. This is not done by absolutely anyone and if they do, they charge you 50 euros. It is a detail that does not cost the host anything, but almost all accommodations charge for it.
She stayed with us for a while and told us a little about her life. That she had lost weight due to heart problems and had had head surgery years ago. She also told us that she had been fired from her company when the covid started and that she was now living from renting that apartment.
If I was already happy with the accommodation, with that I already fell in love with Maria. From then on, everything was “Why can’t everyone be like Maria”, “Maria is the best thing that happened to us in Madeira”, “I wish all the accommodations had hosts like Maria”.
But that’s not all, the last night there was a mega storm on the island that even the power went out for several hours. Maria wrote to me to thank me for the review I had left her on Airbnb and told me that if the flight did not leave due to bad weather, she would let us stay the night for free in her apartment. What a good and lovable human being!
As at that time Diego was on the Slack of the community of digital nomads in Madeira, we also recommend her accommodation there.
Maria’s apartment is as any tourist accommodation should be. I do not ask for luxuries; I only ask for what is fair. This apartment was well located next to the bus station, with s supermarket 5 minutes walking, it was spotlessly clean, well kept, well equipped and with good internet. But for me it was Maria’s hospitality that stood out and exceeded my expectations.
I leave the link of the accommodation:
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