Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel
Funchal, Portugal
★ Verified by our editors · September 2026
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The verdict
The hotel that invented Madeira as a winter destination, open since 1891 on a clifftop promontory over Funchal bay, with subtropical gardens dropping to the Atlantic and steps into the sea. Churchill stayed in 1950, and the afternoon tea is still served on the terrace at four. It holds two MICHELIN Keys, and its William restaurant a MICHELIN star. Grand rather than fashionable, and the better for it.
A winter week with sun, gardens and a hotel that does the old rituals properly.
You want contemporary design or a small house: this is a grand hotel of 126 rooms, with a formal dress code at dinner in William.
Book the tea terrace the day you arrive, at four, and ask for a table at the rail: the bay, the cliffs and the whole point of the place are from there.
The rooms
Its 126 rooms and suites are spread across the main building and the garden wings, most with a balcony over the sea or the gardens. Interiors are classic — chintz, mahogany, tiled bathrooms — and the sea-view suites in the Atlantic wing are the ones with the view along the coast.
The setting
On Estrada Monumental, on a promontory about fifteen minutes' walk west of Funchal's old town, with subtropical gardens on the cliff, three pools (fresh water, salt water and a natural sea pool) and direct access to the Atlantic.
The food
William, the fine-dining room over the bay, holds a MICHELIN star; Ristorante Villa Cipriani serves Italian food on the terrace; Brisa do Mar sits by the sea in season; and afternoon tea on the terrace is an institution in its own right.
Getting there
About 25 minutes by car from Madeira airport, and a fifteen-minute walk or a short taxi ride from the centre of Funchal.
Good to know
It is a family hotel in the school holidays and a quiet one outside them. William keeps a jacket-preferred dress code; the natural sea pool depends on the swell.
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