Belmond Reid's Palace

Reid's Palace, where to start? Let's start next door, at those other hotels, the ones that nowadays uglify the headland above Funchal. Soulless slabs of concrete with luxury pretensions. Some of them even have gardens, a feature that Reid's inaugurated, but they're pale imitations of Reid's gardens. Heck, even Madeira's main Botanical Gardens pale in comparison to the acres of meticulously tended gardens that wrap around Reid's. In short, Reid's is special. Very special. Four distinct eras of buildings, some of them well over 100 years old, cascade down the cliffside. The size is vast but, and this is the most special part, the proportions are intimate; everything is on a human scale. Everywhere you go there are surprising nooks filled with comfortable sofas, cool dark corridors turn into sun-filled spaces with fabulous views, underfoot, deep rugs cover teak parquet flooring. Just moving about the hotel is a total delight. Outside is the same: where the other hotels line up hundreds of loungers on some hideous concrete sundeck, Reid's has dozens of individual spots with a handful each. Some by the pool, of course, but others in the shade of the garden palms, others right down at the edge of the sea where intricately patterned crabs with scarlet legs cling to the rocks. We had had a rough year, Reid's was a healing balm. I absolutely loved it.

Our second visit to Reid’s Palace and once again, a faultless week. Every member of staff was so friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them. Excellent room, service, food and more. Afternoon tea again was a joy. As was supper in Cipriani on our last night. We didn’t eat in William this time but we did enjoy the new ice cream parlour a couple of times.!! What confirmed the exceptional level of service for me, was that I developed tooth ache during our stay. On Wednesday evening, I asked the Reception/Concierge team to try and book me a dentist appointment for the next day. They said they would sort it. At 0830 the next morning, the room phone rang and I now had a dentist appointment in Funchal at 0900. They ordered a taxi for us and at 0900 I was in the dentist chair with a lovely view out to sea.!!!! Antibiotics prescribed and then we headed back. Happy to report tooth ache did eventually go away after we got back. We will definitely be back again at Reid’s in the future.

All as expected in this grand old hotel. Back to pre covid days, Will be returning again in the not to distant future.

What a marvellous place to stay. Beautiful environment and fantastic service. Nothing is too much trouble and staff regularly go the extra mile

Amazing hotel in all aspects. Services are excellent, decoration amazing, the views are beautiful.. top hotel