Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel

The site was bought before the money existed to build on it. William Reid, a Scot from Kilmarnock, reached Madeira in 1836 at the age of 14 and made a fortune in wine and in letting quintas to the island's winter visitors. In the 1880s he acquired a rocky headland on the Estrada Monumental at the western edge of Funchal and commissioned a hotel from the London architects George Somers Clarke and John Thomas Micklethwaite. Reid died in 1888; his sons William and Alfred finished the work, and Reid's Palace, Funchal, opened in November 1891.

History

The house was built for a particular trade: the English and Northern European winter guests who came to Madeira for its climate from November to April. The island's harbour was a coaling stop for liners to South Africa and South America, which put the hotel on the route of a wealthy and well-travelled clientele.

George Bernard Shaw stayed in the winter of 1924 and took tango lessons on the terrace from the hotel's dancing master, Max Rinder; he left a signed photograph calling Rinder the only man who ever taught him anything. Winston Churchill arrived in January 1950 and painted the fishing village of Câmara de Lobos, a few kilometres west; the hotel still points out his vantage. The Blandy family, Madeira wine merchants, bought Reid's from the founder's heirs in 1937 and kept it until 1996, when it passed to Orient-Express Hotels, renamed Belmond in 2014 and part of the LVMH group since 2019.

Architecture and design

The hotel sits on its cliff with the main block in a plain late-Victorian style, cream-washed, with terraces stepping down the rock. The gardens below are its distinctive feature: some four hectares of subtropical planting, with jacarandas, strelitzias, frangipani and old trees set along paths that drop to the seawater pools and a sea-level landing stage. The interiors have been renewed many times but keep the plan of a grand hotel, with a long tea terrace, a bar, a library and dining rooms facing the bay.

Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites look either over the Atlantic and the bay of Funchal or into the gardens. Most have balconies or terraces. The suites at the top of the range occupy corner positions with views along the coast in both directions, and several carry the names of the famous guests who used them.

Dining

William, named after the founder, is the fine-dining restaurant and holds a Michelin star. Ristorante Villa Cipriani, in a separate house in the gardens, serves Italian cooking under the name of the sister property in Asolo. The Cocktail Bar and the terrace serve lighter food through the day, and afternoon tea on the terrace, with scones and Madeira cake, has been served since the hotel's early years and draws non-residents from the town.

Wellness

The spa occupies a wing of its own with treatment rooms, a sauna and a fitness room. Below it, two heated seawater pools sit at the foot of the cliff with direct access to the ocean, and a freshwater pool is set higher in the gardens. Tennis courts are in the grounds, and a kids' club runs in the holidays.

Weddings and events

Reid's is the most requested hotel on the island for weddings, which are held in the gardens, on the terraces above the sea or in the function rooms of the main building, with Madeira's mild climate allowing outdoor ceremonies most of the year. Meeting rooms serve seminars and incentive groups, and the hotel can be booked in part for private celebrations. Capacities vary by space.

Location

The hotel stands on the Estrada Monumental about two kilometres west of Funchal's centre, a 25-minute walk along the seafront or five minutes by taxi. The Monte cable car, the cathedral and the Mercado dos Lavradores are in the centre; the Lido promenade runs west from the hotel's door. Madeira airport at Santa Cruz is about 20 kilometres east, roughly 25 minutes by road. For a luxury hotel in Funchal, the setting on the headland is the thing to come for.