The best Madeira hotels in Funchal

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Choosing a hotel in Funchal is harder than it looks, because nearly everything scores well. Of the 240 places to stay in the city with a guest score of 7.0 or more, 99 score 9.0 or better, and the median is 8.8. A list of Madeira hotels sorted by score alone puts a two-room flat with a dozen reviews above a palace with five hundred, which says little about either.

So the ranking weighs each score against the number of reviews behind it, and it covers the whole range: five-star quintas in their gardens, the resort hotels of the Lido, the old-town hotels by the cathedral, adults-only hotels, guest houses and a hostel. Every price is from one sample search, two adults for two nights from 10 to 12 October 2026, converted from dollars and rounded: prices move with the dates, so read them as a guide to the level, not as an offer.

The short answer: the highest-ranked hotel is Quinta Jardins do Lago, a five-star mansion in its botanical gardens above the centre, at 9.7 from 541 reviews. Reid's Palace, on its clifftop, follows at 9.5, and the Savoy Palace, on the Avenida do Infante, at 9.3 from 1,153 reviews.

For less, Hotel Baía Azul, a four-star by the Lido, scores 9.0 from 1,031 reviews for about €368 for the two nights, and São Francisco Accommodation, a guest house in the centre, 9.0 from 1,032 reviews for about €217.

How the ranking works

The common mistake is to sort by score and book the top result. A score on its own flatters the small.

A flat with nine reviews can sit at 10.0 because nine happy guests stayed there, while a hotel with two thousand reviews carries every bad night it has had. So each place's score is multiplied by the square root of its review count, and the count stops at 500, past which more guests add confidence but not quality. Only places at 7.0 or above are counted at all.

What comes out holds up. Of the 263 places in the October search, 240 clear the floor, and 99 of those score 9.0 or more. Most of them are flats: 135 apartments, 24 holiday homes, 13 guest houses and 11 aparthotels, against 47 hotels in the strict sense. The 47 hotels have a median score of 8.6, a little below the whole field.

The price range is wide. The cheapest place above the floor cost about €142 for the two nights, and the dearest, a suite hotel inside the Savoy Palace, about €4,145. The median place cost about €390, and the median hotel about €477.

A high score is not cheap in Funchal. None of the 99 places scoring 9.0 or more cost under €150 for the two nights, 11 cost between €150 and €300, and 88 cost more.

Most of the high-scoring places in Funchal are flats rather than strict hotels.

The top of the list

Visitors often assume the famous names win on reputation alone. At the top, they also win on the numbers.

The best hotels Madeira has in its capital, ranked this way, are the five-star houses. Quinta Jardins do Lago leads at 9.7 from 541 reviews: an 18th-century mansion in the hills above the centre, in botanical gardens with 600 plant species, where every room has a balcony over the gardens. It cost about €717 for the two October nights.

Reid's Palace, a Belmond hotel, follows at 9.5 from 519 reviews, on a cliff in 10 acres, about 4 ha, of subtropical gardens over the Atlantic in São Martinho, and it was the dearest of the leaders, at about €1,926.

The Savoy Palace, on the Avenida do Infante, scores 9.3 from 1,153 reviews, with an outdoor and an indoor pool and a private beach area, for about €1,141. The Pestana Vila Lido, on the Lido, scores 9.1 from 1,386, with direct access to a private beach area, for about €988.

In the centre, the Barceló Funchal Oldtown, on Rua da Alfândega, scores 9.0 from 1,868 reviews with a rooftop pool, for about €584, the lowest price among the five-star leaders.

Below them, the Hotel Baía Azul and the TURIM Santa Maria, at 9.0 and 8.9, lead the four-stars.

The Savoy Palace is located on a cliff in São Martinho with about four hectares of subtropical gardens.

Where the hotels are

People often book by the name of the hotel and find it is a steep walk from everything. In Funchal, the parish decides the day.

On a Funchal hotels map, the places fall into a few clusters. São Martinho, west of the centre, holds the Lido and the Estrada Monumental, the city's resort strip: 60 of the places above the floor and 24 of the 47 hotels, with a median score of 8.75 and a median price of about €432 for the two nights. It is a walk or a bus ride from the centre, along the seafront promenade.

The Sé, the centre around the cathedral and the marina, has 47 places and 12 hotels, a median of 8.8 and about €404. Everything in the old city is a walk away.

Santa Maria, the old town to the east, has 27 places, mostly flats and guest houses, and the highest median score of any area, 9.0, for about €353. The streets are narrow and steep, and the evenings busy.

São Pedro, uphill to the west of the centre, has 23 places at a median of 8.2 and about €300, and Santa Luzia, above the centre to the north, 9 at 8.4 and about €314. Monte, far up the hill, has two hotels, reached by the cable car.

The neighbourhood guide compares the areas in detail.

Sea views and the Lido

The mistake is to assume every seafront hotel has a sea-view room. Most sell the view as a room type, at a higher rate.

The hotels in Funchal with sea view rooms are mostly on the Lido, where the resort hotels stand on the cliffs of São Martinho. The Pestana Promenade, a four-star, has direct access to the promenade that runs to Praia Formosa and Atlantic views from the balconies, 8.9 from 630 reviews, for about €1,261. The Hotel Porto Mare, part of the Vila Porto Mare resort with 5 pools in a tropical garden on the oceanfront, scores 8.9 from 1,067, for about €757, with balconies over the sea, the garden or the pool.

The Meliá Madeira Mare, a five-star by the centre, has an indoor and an outdoor pool and a spa, and some rooms look over the Atlantic, 8.9 from 1,960 reviews, for about €733. The Enotel Lido, five-star and all-inclusive, has direct access to the promenade, 8.7 from 635.

Uphill in São Pedro, The Views Baía, an adults-only four-star, looks over the bay from its balconies, 8.9 from 2,503 reviews, the most reviewed hotel in the top group, for about €454.

The Lido itself is a public bathing complex on the rocks, with its prices on the Frente MarFunchal tariff.

The Lido is a public bathing complex built on the rocks with prices set by the local tariff.

Five-star hotels

Visitors often expect five stars to guarantee the top score. In Funchal, the class and the score are close, but not the same.

Sixteen of the hotels are five-star, with a median score of 8.95 and a median price of about €820 for the two nights. The 27 four-stars have a median of 8.6 at about €432, and the four three-stars 8.3 at about €338.

The five-stars split into two kinds. The resort hotels of the Lido and the Avenida do Infante, from the Savoy Palace and the Pestana Vila Lido to the Meliá Madeira Mare, the Enotel Lido and the Pestana Grand, have pools, spas and the sea. The quintas in the hills, Quinta Jardins do Lago, Casa Velha do Palheiro and Quinta Mirabela, trade the sea for gardens and quiet.

Among the five-stars, the lowest prices in the sample were at Quinta Mirabela, a design hotel in Monte, 8.6 from 689 reviews, for about €422, and The Editory Ocean Way in São Martinho, 9.2 from 314 reviews, for about €433. The Pestana Royal, all-inclusive on the western edge of the city by Praia Formosa, cost about €1,134.

Inside the Savoy Palace, The Reserve, its suite hotel, scores 9.7 from 71 reviews and was the dearest place in the city, at about €4,145.

By the casino and the marina

People often think the casino is a reason to stay somewhere else. The hotels around it are some of the best placed in the city.

The Madeira casino hotels stand along the Avenida do Infante, a short walk west of the centre. The Pestana Casino Studios, a four-star aparthotel a 3-minute walk from the Casino da Madeira, has studios with kitchenettes and sea-view balconies and a year-round outdoor pool, 8.6 from 975 reviews, for about €555 for the two nights.

Around it, the Savoy group has three hotels: the Savoy Palace, 9.3; NEXT, a four-star with a rooftop pool and a spa 600 m from the casino, 8.7 from 2,111 reviews, for about €844; and the Royal Savoy, an ocean resort with an indoor pool, 8.8 from 227, for about €817. The Quinta da Penha de França, a four-star in its garden on Rua Imperatriz D. Amélia, has the second-most reviews of any hotel in the city, 2,822, at 8.4, for about €353.

From NEXT, the marina is a 12-minute walk. The Pestana CR7, a four-star on the Praça do Mar by the marina, scores 8.4 from 1,656, for about €898.

The single highest score

The mistake is to assume the top score belongs to the most expensive hotel. It does not.

Ranked on score and reviews, the best hotel in Madeira's capital is Quinta Jardins do Lago, at 9.7 from 541 reviews, and it cost about €717 for the two October nights, well under Reid's Palace at about €1,926 or the Savoy Palace at about €1,141.

It is an 18th-century mansion in the São Pedro hills above the centre, set in botanical gardens with 600 plant species. The rooms have a seating area, a marble bathroom and a large balcony over the gardens, and the Beresford restaurant serves Madeiran and international food in the evening, with two bars, one by the pool.

What it does not have is the sea at the door: the gardens are its view, and the centre is downhill. For a first stay in Funchal, weigh that against the Lido hotels, where the promenade and the bathing complex are a few steps away.

Among the hotels, only The Reserve inside the Savoy Palace also reaches 9.7, from 71 reviews. Some flats score 10.0, from two or three reviews each, which is why they rank far lower.

Suites and aparthotels

Visitors often book a hotel room and then eat every meal out. For a week, a kitchenette changes the budget.

The Suite Hotel Eden Mar Madeira visitors find on the Lido is a four-star aparthotel of the PortoBay group, in tropical gardens over the Atlantic, with a lagoon-style pool, a tennis court and a spa with a hot tub and a hammam. Every unit has a kitchenette. It scores 8.7 from 541 reviews and cost about €626 for the two nights.

Next to it, The Residence Porto Mare, another PortoBay aparthotel, scores 9.1 from 307 reviews, for about €705. The Terrace Mar Suite Hotel, a four-star in São Martinho, scores 8.6 from 683 reviews for about €275, one of the lowest prices among the four-stars.

In the centre, the ASPA Studios, a three-star aparthotel in São Pedro, scores 8.8 from 488 reviews for about €296, and the Pestana Casino Studios sit by the casino.

The flats are a different market: 135 apartments clear the floor, 29 of them in the Sé and 29 in São Martinho, and the best of them rank with the hotels. King David Suites, apartments by the cathedral 200 m from the marina, scores 9.1 from 564 reviews for about €362.

Four-star value

People often skip the four-stars in search of a deal on a five. The best value in the city is in the four-star band.

The Hotel Baía Azul, newly renovated, 4 minutes on foot from the seafront, has 215 rooms, 3 pools, 3 restaurants and a spa, and scores 9.0 from 1,031 reviews for about €368 for the two nights, the best ratio of score to price among the hotels.

The Madeira TURIM Santa Maria, on Rua João de Deus, has a rooftop pool and scores 8.9 from 2,251 reviews, for about €671. The Sé Boutique Hotel, by the cathedral, scores 8.8 from 981 for about €469.

On the Lido, the Allegro Madeira, adults-only, 5 minutes from the promenade with a rooftop bar, scores 8.7 from 1,003 reviews for about €389, and the Madeira Panorâmico 8.6 from 574 for about €392. The Golden Residence, over Praia Formosa at the western end, scores 8.6 from 2,400 for about €352.

East of the old town, the ARTS IN Hotel Conde Carvalhal, a restored Madeiran mansion 900 m from the old town with its own botanical gardens and free covered parking, scores 8.7 from 895 for about €383.

The lowest-priced four-star in the sample, Hotel Escola in São Martinho, cost about €228 at 7.9.

Adults only and all-inclusive

The mistake is to book a resort for its pools and find it full of children, or the reverse. Check the policy first.

Four of the hotels are adults-only. The Views Baía, 8.9 from 2,503 reviews, and the Allegro Madeira, 8.7 from 1,003, lead them. Quinta Funchal Gardens, a five-star in São Pedro with an indoor pool and a year-round outdoor pool, scores 8.3 from 912 for about €465, and the Hotel Orca Praia, on a cliff over a sandy beach 6 km from the centre, 8.6 from 429 for about €485.

Two are all-inclusive. The Enotel Lido, five-star, with three themed restaurants, Portuguese, Italian and Asian, scores 8.7 from 635 reviews for about €823. The Pestana Royal, a five-star of 324 rooms a 2-minute walk from Praia Formosa and a 10-minute drive from the centre, scores 8.1 from 558 for about €1,134.

For families, the resort hotels with several pools suit best: the Vila Porto Mare has 5, and the Savoy Palace has family rooms, a games room and a child-friendly buffet. The family hotels guide covers the rest.

Madeira's overnight stays in tourist accommodation rose by 8.4% in 2025, approaching 12.8 million, on DREM's figures: book early for the busy months.

Quintas in the hills

Visitors often dismiss the hill hotels as far from everything. They are quieter, greener and often cheaper for the class.

The quintas are Funchal's old country houses, many now hotels in their gardens. Beyond Jardins do Lago, Casa Velha do Palheiro, a five-star manor house of Relais & Châteaux in the old Palheiro gardens in the foothills to the east, with access to the Palheiro golf course, scores 9.3 from 290 reviews, for about €1,042.

In Monte, Quinta do Monte, a historic manor house in mature gardens with an indoor pool and views of the sea or the city, scores 8.6 from 1,733 reviews for about €368. Quinta Mirabela, a five-star design hotel on the same Caminho do Monte, scores 8.6 from 689 for about €422.

In São Martinho, the Quinta da Bela Vista, a five-star, scores 8.5 from 221, and the Pestana Quinta Perestrello, a four-star, 8.8 from 283.

A Casa do Caseiro, a guest house on the Caminho do Monte in Santa Luzia, scores 8.6 from 719 reviews for about €228.

The price of the quiet is the hill: from Monte, the cable car costs €16 one way to the seafront, and a taxi or bus is needed for the evenings.

Guest houses, hostels and booking

People often think the cheap end of Funchal means a poor night. The guest houses score as well as the hotels.

São Francisco Accommodation, a renovated building of 6 floors with a lift, 5 minutes on foot from the harbour, scores 9.0 from 1,032 reviews for about €217 for the two nights, the best-ranked guest house. Valhalla Panorama, in Santa Luzia, scores 8.4 from 1,378, and Museum House, in São Pedro, 8.2 from 798, for about €200.

The one hostel above the floor, the Santa Maria Hostel on Rua de Santa Maria in the old town, with family rooms, a shared kitchen and a terrace, scores 8.4 from 933 reviews for about €193.

When you book, budget the tourist tax: Funchal charges €2 per guest per night, for at most 7 consecutive nights, €14 a stay, on visitors over 12 who do not live in Madeira, collected by the accommodation.

Check what breakfast means: most hotels serve a buffet, and several flats and guest houses none. And check the rate against the dates: the October prices are one weekend, and prices move with the season and the events, New Year's Eve above all.

Visit Madeira lists the year's events, the dates to book early for.

Common questions

What is the best hotel in Funchal?

On guest scores weighed by reviews, Quinta Jardins do Lago, a five-star mansion in botanical gardens, at 9.7 from 541 reviews; Reid's Palace follows at 9.5.

Which area of Funchal is best for hotels?

The Lido, in São Martinho, has the most hotels and the resort pools; the centre and the old town are best for walking to everything.

How much does a good hotel in Funchal cost?

On a sample October weekend, the median hotel cost about €477 for two nights for two, and the median five-star about €820; prices move with the dates.

Is there a tourist tax in Funchal?

Yes: €2 per guest per night, for at most 7 nights, on visitors over 12, collected by the accommodation.