Top 10: the best boutique hotels in Madeira
An expert guide to the best boutique hotels in Madeira, featuring the top places to stay for designer interiors, rooftop pools, tropical gardens, relaxing spas and excellent restaurants, in locations including Funchal and Ponta do Sol.
Castanheiro Boutique Hotel
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
9Telegraph expert rating
Ochre-coloured exteriors with dark red trim and awnings unite five different houses from over the last 300 years. The oldest, dating from the 18th century, was originally the atelier of artisans; another was home to wealthy merchants in the 19th century. From across their inner courtyards, three buildings from the early 20th century, which were houses for embroidery, a bakery and a typography company are also part of the hotel. Exposed stone arches and wooden rafters preserve the sense of heritage in the public areas, whilst the bedrooms are stylishly designed in bold, contemporary tones. Local modern art hangs throughout. On the rooftop there is a heated outdoor pool with a solarium overlooking the bay. Read expert review From £95per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel The Vine
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
9Telegraph expert rating
Designer Nini Andrade Silva has encapsulated her passion for the island’s fortified wine in the hotel's interiors, adding full-bodied warmth to the ultra modern building. Each of the four floors of the hotel represents a different season in the life cycle of the grape. Food and wine are very much the focus here with a guided chef's tour of the local market followed by a cooking lesson on offer. The poolside bar, with its twice daily happy hour, is not to be missed for its 360 degree views and introduction to local wines. Rooms are sexy and warm, with free-standing baths, often at the foot of the bed, which are lit up by the lights of Funchal town shining through floor-to-ceiling windows. Read expert review From £112per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel da Vila
Ponta do Sol, Madeira, Portugal
9Telegraph expert rating
Well-known architect and designer Duarte Caldeira has cunningly wrought his ‘chic & rural’ concept on what used to be the town’s prison. Decoration draws on wood and stone from the surrounding mountains mixed with local blue tiles. The whitewashed façade is broken up by khaki green shutters and wrought iron balconies. The 15 rooms are completely simple, but pleasingly so; furniture is in peaceful white – including the television – and all rooms have desks. Headboards are made of wheat straw encased in transparent plastic. The feel is welcoming and homely with a stylish twist. Just in front of Hotel da Villa is a diving centre and the pebbly beach is just across the road. Read expert review From £60per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Estalagem Quintinha Sao Joao
Madeira, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
This inn was built by the owners of the old 19th-century quinta (estate) that it shares its lush tropical garden with. Situated on the outskirts of Funchal, it overlooks the city and surrounding mountains. Rooms and public areas are imbued with a welcoming, family-run atmosphere. Drawing on local handicrafts, from embroidered linens to carved and painted wooden furniture atop polished wooden floors, with fresh flowers brought in from the gardens, the hotel has a bright and homely atmosphere. The Quintinha spa has its own building in the subtropical gardens, offering a sauna, steam room, hot tub and treatment rooms with Darphin products. There is also a gym and two swimming pools. Read expert review From £137per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Quinta Mirabela
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
High up above Funchal, with magnificent views over the bay, the 24-bedroom Quinta Mirabela offers a luxurious base from which to explore the town and its famous botanical gardens. A modern wing with floor-to-ceiling glass windows has been added on to the original, late 19th-century villa. Interiors mix marble with wood and bold colours of reds and greens, while walls are hung with pictures of local ferns and plants. There is an outdoor pool, as well as indoor fitness facilities with sauna and a small spa. A large terrace offers panoramic views over the bay. There is a shuttle bus twice a day down to Funchal, a five to 10-minute journey. Read expert review From £69per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Funchal Design Hotel
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
This contemporary, design-savvy hotel in the centre of Funchal stands out from the crowd of old, antique-filled quintas which populate the island. Strikingly decorated in black and white with much use made of glass, its 18 rooms are sleek, clean-lined and confident in style, providing a welcome contemporary presence on the cobbled streets of the capital. A huge wooden door from the street leads to the restaurant, filled with futuristic lights and dominated by a large black and white photograph on the wall of dancing revellers. There are 16 rooms in all, nine of which are standard and seven of which are apartments. Read expert review From £69per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Estalagem Quinta da Casa Branca
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
9Telegraph expert rating
Opened in 1998 as the first ‘design’ hotel on the island, the hotel comprises a 19th-century manor house with five luxury suites and a design-driven glass and steel cube with 43 rooms. In the modern wing, interiors mix light and dark woods against white walls, resulting in a warm feel flooded by light from the floor-to-ceiling windows. In the manor house, the suites echo the public areas which are filled with Portuguese antiques, Venetian chandeliers, polished wooden floors and memorabilia from the Leacock family, initiators of the Madeira wine trade with England in the mid-18th century. A heated swimming pool can be found in the gardens, as well as a health club and spa. Read expert review From £190per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Porto Bay Serra Golf
Santo da Serra, Madeira, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
This beautiful art nouveau villa is full of character and charm. Exteriors are powder blue with a frieze of flowers running around the top of a small turret, capped by grey, fish-scale tiles. Interiors in the main house are traditional with wooden floors and fireplaces whilst a newer annexe, which includes the pool and spa, has floor-to-ceiling glass windows with views onto the garden. Two superior rooms and one two-bedroom suite, with direct access to the garden, are in the main house, with exposed stone walls, wooden floors, a fireplace and in the suite, a kitchenette. The remaining 18 standard bedrooms, in various shades of cream, are more modern in décor and are housed in the annexe. Read expert review From £61per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Quinta Jardins do Lago
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
8Telegraph expert rating
Viscount Beresford, British military commander on Madeira during the Napoleonic Wars, installed himself in this elegant 18th-century house in botanical gardens on the outskirts of Funchal, now a charming small luxury hotel imbued with calm, the scents of exotic plants and a sense of history. The Quinta has preserved the essential character of a stately home, but with a less formal ambiance than would have prevailed during General Beresford’s tenancy. It's easy to relax on comfortable sofas in well-appointed public rooms and on shady garden terraces, and succeeds in being both refined and homely. A palm-fringed pool in the gardens has views to the hills, and there is a gym with sauna, Turkish bath and whirlpool tub. Read expert review From £199per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Estalagem Ponta de Sol
Madeira, Portugal
7Telegraph expert rating
Perched on a cliff overlooking the sea high above the pretty village of Ponta do Sol, this stark white inn, designed by architect Tiago Oliveira, is dramatically eye-catching as it tumbles in a series of layers down the slope. Interior designer Carvalho Araújo has whitewashed the inn inside and out and added minimalist furnishings in light wood, floors of slate and black-and-white photographs on the walls, allowing your eye to be dominated by the magnificent coastal views. Cubes, angles and boxes are linked by bridges creating a stark, design-driven exterior but the interiors are flooded with light from its clifftop position. The much photographed infinity pool lies above a generously-sized hot tub, which is perfectly positioned for watching the sun set. Read expert review From £58per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
