Madeira: half board or just the hotel breakfast?
A hotel with half board, or an apartment and a hotel breakfast only on the days you want one? An honest comparison for Madeira: cost, flexibility, hotels.
Anyone spending a few days in Madeira, especially between October and April, nearly always faces the same choice when booking: a hotel with half board, where breakfast and dinner are already paid for, or an apartment, a house or a smaller hotel, with breakfast sorted out later.
Between the two there is a third way: stay wherever you like and book breakfast at a four or five-star hotel only on the mornings you feel like it. Morning Club does this at 7 hotels in Madeira and Porto Santo, without a room, like a restaurant table. This article compares both options honestly: what you pay, how much freedom each one gives you, and which hotels and areas are in the picture.
What half board means, and what it asks of you
With half board, breakfast and dinner are included in the price of the stay, usually in the hotel restaurant and at set times. You pay for both meals for every night, whether you use them or not.
It has clear advantages: you do not have to think about where to eat, there is nothing to add up at the end of the day, and breakfast is in the same building you sleep in. In return, dinner is tied to the hotel and its hours, and breakfast is always in the same room.
What half board costs at a particular hotel, and whether the hotel offers it at all, depends on each hotel and each offer. That price is in your travel quote, not here.
The alternative: stay elsewhere, book only the breakfast
The other way to do the holiday is to separate things. You sleep in an apartment, a house or a smaller hotel, have breakfast where you are staying on busy days and, on the mornings you want to be special, book a table at a hotel.
| Hotel | Area | Category | Price per person | Hours | Children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pestana CR7 Funchal | Marina | 4-star | €20 | 07:30–11:00 | free up to age 2; half price up to 12 |
| Pestana Promenade | Lido | 4-star | €20 | 07:30–11:00 | free up to age 2; half price up to 12 |
| Pestana Casino Park | Sé | 5-star | €23 | 07:30–11:00 | free up to age 2; half price up to 12 |
| Pestana Vila Lido | Lido | 5-star | €23 | 07:30–11:00 | free up to age 2; half price up to 12 |
| BIO Hotel Quinta da Serra | Jardim da Serra | 5-star | €25 | 07:30–10:00 | free up to age 5; half price up to 16 |
| Legacy Ithos Boutique Hotel | Cabeço da Ponta | 5-star | €30 | 07:30–11:00 | free up to age 6; half price up to 12 |
| Quinta da Casa Branca | Casa Branca | 5-star | €35 | 07:30–10:30 | free up to age 4; half price up to 10 |
The table is wired to our database: prices, hours and rules for children are the ones each hotel has today. Breakfast costs between 20 and 35 euros per person and is served in the same room and at the same level as for the hotel guests.
The comparison at a glance
| What matters | Half board at the hotel | Apartment and hotel breakfast |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Breakfast and dinner for every night, used or not | Only the mornings you book, per person |
| Breakfast | Every day in the same room | At a different hotel whenever you like: in Funchal, in the hills or on Porto Santo |
| Dinner | At the hotel, at the hotel's times | Wherever you like |
| When you decide | When you book the trip | Up to the day before, or on the day at hotels that accept it |
| Cancelling | Under the terms of your booking | Free up to 24 hours before, with an automatic refund |
| Pool and spa | Your hotel's, if it has them | Not included in the breakfast booking |
What a morning costs
The sum for breakfast without staying is simple: the price in the table, times the number of people, times the mornings you actually go. Between 20 and 35 euros per person per morning, depending on the hotel. Children pay according to each hotel's rules: free up to a certain age, half price up to another (it is in the last column of the table).
The difference lies in what you do not pay for. On half board, fourteen nights mean fourteen breakfasts and fourteen dinners, even on the days you set off early for a levada walk or eat out. With breakfast without staying, three hotel mornings cost you three.
To compare it with your travel quote: check how much half board adds to the room-only price, and set that amount against the price in the table, multiplied by the mornings you would spend at a hotel. Remember that half board also pays for the dinners, and that dinner outside the hotel costs money too. There is no answer for everyone, only the sum for your trip.
Flexibility: you decide the evening before
| Hotel | Area | Hours | Same-day booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIO Hotel Quinta da Serra | Jardim da Serra | 07:30–10:00 | no, book by the day before |
| Quinta da Casa Branca | Casa Branca | 07:30–10:30 | yes, up to 45 min before |
| Legacy Ithos Boutique Hotel | Cabeço da Ponta | 07:30–11:00 | no, book by the day before |
| Pestana Casino Park | Sé | 07:30–11:00 | yes, up to 30 min before |
| Pestana CR7 Funchal | Marina | 07:30–11:00 | no, book by the day before |
| Pestana Promenade | Lido | 07:30–11:00 | no, book by the day before |
| Pestana Vila Lido | Lido | 07:30–11:00 | no, book by the day before |
The table shows when each breakfast room opens and closes and whether the hotel takes same-day bookings. Where it does not, you book by the day before: in the evening you see what tomorrow looks like, and then decide. If it is a hiking day, you have breakfast where you are staying; if it is a slow day, you treat yourself to a long breakfast at a hotel.
And if your plans change, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before, with an automatic refund.
Which hotels, and in which area
In Funchal, the hotels for anyone staying in the city:
- At the Lido, on the seafront promenade: Pestana Promenade, a four-star hotel a two-minute walk from the beach, with a buffet at Breezes, and Pestana Vila Lido, a five-star hotel with its buffet at Flor do Mar, with windows onto the ocean and tables outdoors.
- In the Sé, Pestana Casino Park, the Oscar Niemeyer building, a five-minute walk from the centre, with its buffet at the Panorâmico, facing Funchal Bay.
- At the Marina, Pestana CR7 Funchal, in the centre, with a buffet and show cooking at Inverse by CR7.
Outside Funchal:
- In the hills of Câmara de Lobos, BIO Hotel Quinta da Serra, a five-star hotel on a historic estate, with free parking for Morning Club bookings.
- On Porto Santo, Legacy Ithos Boutique Hotel, by the sea, with breakfast à la carte at ORIGO34.
The Pestana hotels in Funchal have their own car parks, paid separately. The full portrait of each hotel, with everything on the table, is in our guide to hotel breakfast in Madeira.
When half board is the better choice
To be honest, there are trips where half board is the better choice:
- You want to think about nothing. Dinner at the same time, in the same place, with no restaurant hunting.
- You spend most days at the hotel, between the pool, the spa and the garden, and use everything the stay includes.
- You are travelling with small children, and fixed times in the same building make the day easier.
- Your offer makes dinner cheap, and you would eat at the hotel anyway.
When an apartment and a hotel breakfast are the better choice
- You are out all day. Levadas, viewpoints, the north coast: on those days you have breakfast where you are staying or on the way, and you do not pay for a dinner you will not eat.
- You want to eat out. In Funchal, in the Zona Velha, by the sea or in another corner of the island, instead of the same restaurant every night.
- You are staying for several weeks. For anyone wintering on the island, an apartment with a kitchen and a hotel breakfast now and then is a routine that works.
- You want variety. One morning in the Niemeyer building, another at the Lido, another in the hills.
- It is an occasion. A birthday or a morning for two, without paying for the night.
When it does not make sense: if what you want is a hotel's pool or spa, that does not come with the breakfast booking. The booking covers the table and the breakfast, nothing else. When a hotel sells an experience separately, such as the pool day at Quinta da Serra, it appears on the hotel page as an add-on, with its own price.
How to book
You choose the hotel, the date, the time and the number of people, pay online with instant confirmation and turn up at the booked time. No room and no check-in. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before, with an automatic refund. All the island's hotels are on the Madeira page, and the full mechanics are in the guide to hotel breakfast without staying. To give it to someone heading for the island, gift vouchers are valid for 12 months at any partner hotel, Madeira included.
Frequently asked questions
What is cheaper in Madeira: half board or just the breakfast?
It depends on your travel quote and on how many mornings you really want to spend at a hotel. Breakfast without staying costs between 20 and 35 euros per person per morning, and you only pay for the mornings you book. Compare that with what half board adds to the room price, bearing in mind that half board also includes the dinners.
Can you have breakfast at a hotel in Madeira without staying there?
Yes. In Funchal, at Pestana Promenade, Pestana Vila Lido, Pestana Casino Park and Pestana CR7 Funchal. In Câmara de Lobos, at BIO Hotel Quinta da Serra, and on Porto Santo, at Legacy Ithos.
Does Morning Club sell half board or dinners?
No. Morning Club books breakfast and the add-ons a hotel sells separately. Rooms and dinners are booked with the hotel or with whoever sells you the trip.
How far ahead do I need to book?
Up to the day before, and on the day itself at the hotels that accept it. The hours table further up shows which ones.
Are the pool or spa included?
No. The booking covers the table and the breakfast.
Can I cancel?
Yes, free of charge up to 24 hours before, with an automatic refund.
The short version
- Half board: breakfast and dinner paid for every night, at the hotel and at set times.
- Breakfast without staying: 7 hotels, between 20 and 35 euros per person, only on the mornings you choose.
- In Funchal at the Lido, the Sé and the Marina; in the hills of Câmara de Lobos; and on Porto Santo.
- Book up to the day before; cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
- Half board pays off if you spend your days at the hotel; breakfast without staying, if you spend your days on the island.
Explore: Hotels in Madeira · Gift a breakfast
Keep reading: Hotel breakfast in Funchal and Madeira without staying · Hotel breakfast index 2026: what it costs in Portugal · Breakfast with a sea view: hotels in Portugal