Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Socalco Nature Calheta Ana Jardim In recent years, Madeira has come alive. Soulful culinary retreats, design-forward boutique hotels and inventive fine- (and fun!) dining restaurants are showcasing the Portuguese island’s creative side. Meanwhile, its year-round temperate climate and lush natural beauty—rugged cliffs plunging into the ocean; mountains blanketed in laurel forests—still make it a timeless destination.
And new direct flights from Toronto and Boston (along with the existing nonstop from New York) put the island within closer reach than ever. Where to Stay Savoy Palace and the Reserve The Reserve Courtesy of the hotel Since its opening in 2019, the Savoy Palace hotel has dominated the cityscape of the island’s capital, Funchal. It was designed by Madeira native Nina Andrade Silva with a go-for-broke sensibility, including a chandelier made from four miles of metal chain, a mosaic-tile-studded swimming pool and curvaceous golden staircases inspired by the island’s lace tradition.
Last year, the owners carved out a 40-room hotel-within-the-hotel on the top floors of the (formerly) 349-room building. They called it the Reserve, and to drive that home, they added a separate velvet-roped entrance, designated a special elevator for Reserve guests, added a private restaurant and lounge, and designated a team of snap-to-it concierges. They also set aside a rooftop swimming pool, 17 floors above everything else in Funchal.
Reid’s Palace Afternoon tea at Reid's Palace Courtesy of the hotel MORE FOR YOU Election 2024 Swing State Polls: Harris Leads Or Ties Trump In All Battleground States, Latest Survey Finds Kamala Harris Defends Biden Admin’s Economic Record In First Big Interview—But Says ‘More To Do’ ‘The Rings Of Power’ Season 2 Premiere Review: A Dreadful, Jumbled Mockery Of Tolkien’s ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ This grande dame hotel , now managed by Belmond, is the place that first put Madeira on the map for luxury travelers. It was the dream of 19th-century Scotsman William Reid, who arrived on the island at age 14 in hopes of treating his respiratory ailments and went on to develop tourism businesses. Since it opened, in 1891, the hotel has seen all kinds of history—Winston Churchill painted and worked on his memoirs, and assorted royals were among the guests—and its 123 recently renovated rooms and suites have a retro appeal.
The terrace is one of the most beautiful spots for high tea in Europe, and the fine-dining restaurant, William , now helmed by Madeira-born chef José Diogo Costa, holds a Michelin star. Socalco Nature Calheta Socalco Nature Calheta Ana Jardim function loadConnatixScript(document) { if (!window.cnxel) { window.
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) Octávio Freitas called it “my heart, my dream” when it opened four years ago, and it’s still a winsome combination of rural tourism, gastronomy and glammed-up agriculture. It has eight compact standalone houses and ten hotel rooms in the middle of terraced vineyards and organic gardens above the municipality of Calheta. The restaurant serves a daily-changing menu based on products from the garden, local fishermen and nearby farmers, and the activities program includes farm tasks, cooking demonstrations and hands-on sessions baking bread or making jams.
Estalagem da Porta do Sol Estalagem da Ponta do Sol MdFaria This Design Hotels member has long been a popular spot for sunset cocktails, but it’s also an appealing, low-key place to stay away from the development of Funchal. The oldest part of the clifftop Estalagem da Ponta do Sol dates from the late 19th century, when Madeira was a center of sugar production, and it has a bit of a plantation vibe. The 70 minimalist rooms occupy a much newer building and are decorated in contemporary black-and-white.
The hotel emphasizes culture, with a collection of large-scale artworks, a concert series, occasional festivals and sunset parties for digital nomads and the local community. Saccharum Saccharum Francisco Nogueira Another hotel away from Funchal that combines the island’s sugar history with contemporary design is the striking Saccharum wellness resort. It occupies onetime sugarcane warehousing and processing facilities, with a collection of machines on display, and it has an abundance of handsome space throughout the public areas.
The spa is focused on Ayurveda and includes in-demand amenities like a Himalayan salt rock wall, and the seven restaurants and bars emphasize island and international dishes, often with a view of the mountains or the sea. Where to Eat Desarma Chef Octávio Freitas at Desarma Tiago Maya Chef Octávio Freitas received his Michelin star for this restaurant atop the Views Baia hotel earlier this year. The name Desarma means “disarm” in Portuguese, but that could also mean to take someone by surprise.
Freitas and crew are attempting to do just that with their spin on the island’s gastronomy. The dining room is centered on the large open kitchen—about 1,000 square feet—that’s surrounded by marble dining counters that give eight guests a front-row seat each night. Those diners get a 12-course tasting menu while those in the rest of the restaurant can choose six or nine courses, all (loosely) based on local traditions and made with market ingredients.
They hit the militaristic branding pretty hard—“This is the battlefield of the senses where we fight for the triumph of flavor,” announces the website—but the dishes are complex without being overly complicated. Ákua A red carabineiro prawn at Ákua Henrique Seruca Longtime Madeira resident Júlio Pereira has dedicated himself to researching the island’s gastronomic history and translating it into simple, elegant restaurant experiences. After his success with Kampo (still a good bet), the chef opened Ákua in Funchal, a love letter to fish and seafood that also draws on his childhood memories growing up in a fishing village on the Portuguese mainland.
He calls Ákua a “street restaurant” where the flavors of the sea combine with products from the (is)land. Sardines are paired with eggplant and passion fruit, and braised tuna comes with razor clam rice redolent with garlic and coriander. Theo’s Theo's Courtesy of the restaurant Pereira’s latest project is the rejuvenation of Theo’s , a traditional restaurant in the center of Funchal, which he took over earlier this year.
The restaurant dates from 1933, when it was a simple teahouse that grew into a gathering place for the island’s businessmen and bourgeoisie. Now Pereira is paying homage to that history with a menu of Madeiran and Portuguese classics, such as tempura green beans with tartar sauce, suckling pig croquettes, octopus rice baked in the oven, and confit duck leg with smoked-sausages rice, orange and cheese from Portugal’s other islands, the Azores. Gazebo Gazebo Henrique Seruca Chef Filipe Janeiro and project manager Adrianne Zino traveled the world and worked on organic farms before settling in Madeira and opening their restaurant, Gazebo , on the premises of Zino’s parents’ estate in Funchal.
With a long table in front of the open kitchen, it feels as much like a private cooking party as it does a restaurant dinner. Given their commitment to sustainability, it’s no surprise that the menu changes frequently, but it generally runs six or nine courses and includes simple but flavorful dishes like line-caught fish with couscous and chives, and Iberian pork with celeriac and hazelnuts. Avista Avista Henrique Seruca Part of Les Suites at Cliff Bay, the handsome Avista is more than a standard-issue hotel restaurant.
A century-old house is the setting for two distinctive dining experiences, one Mediterranean and the other Asian, both overseen by chef Benoît Sinthon (who holds two Michelin stars at his island flagship, Il Gallo d’Oro ), though most diners choose one of the terraces or outdoor lounges overlooking the ocean. At the main (Mediterranean) Avista, the dishes are largely a la carte and designed to be shared, though there are also bistro-style, innovation-driven and vegetarian tasting menus, all which have earned the restaurant a Bib Gourmand designation from Michelin..
