"The Alto Lido Hotel enjoys an excellent location on the western side of Funchal in the Lido area. It's bright, it's contemporary and it's within a 10 to 15 minute commute by several local bus lines to the marina and central area of town. It's also located a 10 minute walk from the Forum Shopping Centre which hosts retailers such as Pull & Bear, Stradivarius, Zara, C&A and a large Pingo Doce supermarket.
I travelled with Jet2 Holidays and stayed in a Premium Deluxe room on an All Inclusive basis. These rooms occupy the street frontage and are arranged on 4 stepped levels. They have the best views south, towards the water, and the balconies get sunshine from about 9am until 7pm. Try and get one of the higher levels (2,3 or 4). Level 1 doesn't get quite the same sunlight and it's a bit too close to the pavement if you are security conscious. I managed to negotiate a room change from Level 1 to Level 4 and it was much better.
The room was spacious with two very comfortable single beds (not too firm and not to soft) and the bed linen was pristine. There was a separated bathroom (with a door) and with a large walk in shower which was both powerful and hot. Thankfully, this hotel has not followed a growing trend to have showers located in a corner of the room where all and sundry can watch your ablutions!
There was a large wall mounted digital TV which carried multiple international channels but only SKY News for UK visitors. There was no BBC/ITV etc. That said, the portuguese channels show a lot US content (films and dramas) and it's broadcast in english with portuguese subtitles - so not a problem to watch.
Standard rooms are located within a 12 storey tower that occupies the remainder of the site. From what I could see, their outlook is not as good, but it all depends on which floor and which direction the balcony faces.
The outdoor pool is located on Level 3 and is surrounded by s small sundeck with loungers and parasols and is where the poolside bar is located. The pool is rectangular but quite narrow, best suited for swimming lengths. That said, it never seemed to be too crowded. One thing I would say is that the unfortunate colour of the tiles (dark blue and grey) gives it a cold and uninviting appearance which is a bit of a shame.
There is an attractive and much more extensive sun terrace accessible by stairs from Level 3, but you could easily be unaware of this and hence the reason why it didn't appear to be very busy. It's a bit of a hidden secret, albeit in plain sight.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner are all served in the ground floor self-service restaurant and this was operated very efficiently. In fact too efficiently. On five separate occasions I returned to my table to find that my place settings and drink had been swiped away by over zealous waiting staff. Once was funny but five times?
The choice and quality of food was adequate and certainly no worse or no better than you would expect to find in a typical 4 star hotel but nothing to write home about.
Breakfast had something for everyone - hot and cold - and I don't think anyone would find much to complain about.
Lunch was however most disappointing. It just seemed a very half hearted affair with very restricted choice and not such great quality. Personally, I'd have preferred to have been able to eat at the poolside bar but that was expressly not allowed. Given the very low attendance I suspect it would have actually been more economic for the hotel?
Dinner featured the usual array of salads with perhaps 10 'hot' main course choices which regularly featured a lot of fish and pork. I emphasise 'hot' because it really wasn't. It's a major bugbear of mine but I have yet to find a hotel that operates self service dining to have perfected the art of keeping food properly hot. It's a real pity because it renders what is probably not bad food in itself a tad unappetising. Tepid stodgy pasta and cold sauces just ain't nice! Desserts were also a bit disappointing and far less extensive than I've come across in similar hotels. Still, less pounds to shed after the holiday.
I suppose you ultimately get what you pay for. If you're looking for a finer dining experience then best stick to B&B and eat out. There are many options close by.
Finally, a word about All inclusive at this hotel. I felt that it was pretty mean. You can't get any drinks before 11am, you are restricted to local beer, wine and spirits and soft drinks only, no cocktails and it doesn't even include tea or coffee. You can't eat from the Poolside Bar menu for lunch and the only other available 'food nibbles' is an hour long window in the afternoon together with a bizarre 'ice cream hour'. This is not genuine All Inclusive and I wouldn't recommend it as an option.
In conclusion, I had a perfectly good time at the Alto Lido hotel and would probably stay here again, notwithstanding the one or two issues I've identified."
