The Best Hotels in Funchal

A chandelier made from nearly four miles of matte metal chain sets the tone in the lobby: this is a large luxury hotel that wants you to know it. Doormen in pink top hats greet arrivals at Madeira's largest property, which sits between Old Town and the sea. Belle Époque interiors run through 309 rooms, a rooftop pool, spa, and several restaurants. The Reserve, a hotel-within-a-hotel, exists for guests who find all of that merely adequate. Forbes Four Star.

Coral walls on a Funchal cliff, port wine on a sun-drenched terrace, and the faint feeling that Winston Churchill might have sat in your chair. Reid's Palace is a grand old cliffside resort where the Belmond group has managed to keep the Edwardian grandeur intact while quietly modernizing around the edges. Three ocean-side pools, a spa, and several restaurants give families and honeymooners plenty of reasons to never leave the grounds.

A clifftop property just outside Funchal, Les Suites is a 23-suite hotel housed in a pair of restored century-old villas with tiered gardens sloping toward the Atlantic. Floor-to-ceiling windows face the sea, the bathrooms run to Greek marble, and some suites come with private gardens. Guests also tap into the neighboring Cliff Bay's spa, ocean access, and infinity pool. The Michelin Guide awards it 2 Keys.

Flowers turn up everywhere at this walled-garden estate hotel in Funchal, in the rooms against soft neutral furnishings, out in the gardens, visible through floor-to-ceiling glass from nearly every angle. Suites spill onto sun-drenched terraces overlooking the grounds. Dinner moves outside by moonlight in summer. Madeira draws a quieter crowd for a reason, and Quinta da Casa Branca, holding a Michelin Key, leans into that without apology.

An 18th-century manor house in the hills above Funchal, with gardens rolling toward views of the bay and the Atlantic beyond. This is a small luxury hotel that has been around forever, and the old Madeiran quinta atmosphere has survived the renovations intact. Rooms are generous, some look out over the valley and the sea, and there's a formal dining room, a bistro, a cocktail bar, and a poolside bar when you'd rather not think too hard about history.