{"id":2255,"date":"2023-11-28T15:12:29","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T15:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.pestana.com\/?p=2255"},"modified":"2025-05-27T21:55:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T21:55:27","slug":"pestana-carlton-the-hotel-where-everything-began","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.pestana.com\/en\/pestana-carlton-the-hotel-where-everything-began\/","title":{"rendered":"Pestana Carlton. The hotel where everything began"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As Madeiran flower petals fill the air, a fishing boat serves as a makeshift shellfish bar, while waiters dressed in florist garb serve champagne and hors d\u2019oeuvres<\/em> against a backdrop of oxcarts, anchors and lighthouses.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On 20th November 1972, Manuel Pestana looked on as Am\u00e9rico Tom\u00e1s, then President of Portugal, cut the ribbon with gold and jewel encrusted scissors to mark the opening of the luxury hotel he built on his native isle. Shortly before, the same head of state had bestowed the Order of Agricultural and Industrial Merit upon this grand entrepreneur.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of those present remarked that both Pestana and his wife, Caridade, were tearful on more than one occasion, although this dream only came true after decades of hard work, ever since the family escaped poverty by emigrating in 1945.<\/span><\/p>\n

Designed by the architect J\u00falio Semi\u00e3o, boasting expansive views over Funchal Bay, the modern resort was constructed on the site previously occupied by the classic Hotel Atl\u00e2ntico since 1898, a building both Semi\u00e3o and Pestana admired from an early age. After four years of construction, the Pestana Carlton Madeira<\/a> opened with over 300 rooms, with management duties undertaken by the prestigious North American Sheraton chain, just one of the many wise decisions that would make the hotel such a success.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t<\/section>\r\n\n\n\t\t