Reid's Palace

Reid's Palace stands on a clifftop west of Funchal Bay on the Portuguese island of Madeira, a project begun by the Scottish hotelier William Reid, who died before its completion, and finished by his sons in November 1891. Designed by the British architects George Somers Clarke and John Thomas Micklethwaite, the hotel combines Edwardian architecture with terraced subtropical gardens covering more than 40,000 square meters descending toward the Atlantic. Its clifftop terraces and afternoon tea service have long attracted prominent guests, among them Winston Churchill, who painted views of the coastline during his stays, along with Anthony Eden and George Bernard Shaw. The hotel later became part of the Belmond group of luxury properties, acquired by LVMH in 2019, and continues to operate under its original name overlooking the ocean it was built to face.