FOUND No.001
Reid's Palace
On the west side of Funchal Bay, fifty metres above the Atlantic, a pink house has stood on a cliff called Horse's Leap since 1891. Madeira1 found it, and made something for it.
Stories
01 · 1891
The house on Horse's Leap
William Reid reached Madeira in 1836, aged fourteen, and made his fortune in wine and in letting quintas to winter visitors. In 1887 he began a hotel on a cliff called Salto do Cavalo, Horse's Leap. He died before it was finished; his sons William and Alfred opened it in November 1891. The restaurant named after him, William, holds a Michelin star.
02 · Every afternoon
Tea above the bay
Afternoon tea is served here, on the terrace above the bay, with the whole of Funchal across the water.
03 · Ten acres
A garden on a cliff
Ten acres of garden, planted more than a century ago, lie between the house and the Atlantic. Among the palms and orchids grows a rare jade vine.
04 · Three pools
Fresh, salt, and the Atlantic
Three pools: one freshwater, one saltwater, and a natural pool in the Atlantic itself, at the foot of the cliff.
05 · Until 1964
Everyone came by sea
Until Madeira's airport opened in 1964, every guest arrived by sea. Liners anchored in the bay, boats brought passengers ashore, and in the early days porters carried them up this cliff.
06 · 1925
Shaw learns to tango
In January 1925 George Bernard Shaw was photographed taking the sun on these rocks. During his stay at Reid's he learnt to tango.
07 · January 1950
“Paintable, batheable”
Winston Churchill arrived on 1 January 1950, looking for somewhere “paintable, batheable, comfortable, flowery”. He stayed at Reid's and painted the harbour at Câmara de Lobos, a few kilometres west along this coast. When an election was called he flew home early, on 12 January, by flying boat.
Then / Now
- 1836William Reid, fourteen, arrives in Madeira.
- 1887Building begins on the cliff called Horse's Leap.
- 1891His sons open the New Hotel in November.
- 1950Churchill arrives on New Year's Day.
- 1964The airport opens; guests stop arriving by sea.
- 2006The two cliff-top pools are given infinity edges.
- Today126 rooms and suites, ten acres of garden.
In the model, “then” is an interpretation: the later wings and the neighbouring buildings are hidden and the colours are faded. No plan of the 1891 hotel survives in any source we found. The photographs are the documents.
From here
Where am I within Madeira?
On the west side of Funchal Bay, three kilometres from the city centre, on the island's sunny south coast.
- Funchal Cathedral 1.7 km
- Funchal harbour 1.0 km
- Monte 4.3 km
- Pico do Arieiro, 1,818 m 11 km
- Cabo Girão 7.8 km
- Câmara de Lobos 5.1 km
- Airport 15 km
- Desertas Islands 41 km
- Porto Santo 73 km
Visit
Estrada Monumental 139, 9000-098 Funchal, Madeira, PortugalSources and credits
Model, lighting and the Golden Lizard: made by Madeira1.
Terrain: Copernicus DEM GLO-30 © DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA. The hotel's grounds are shaped by hand.
Aerial imagery: Fonte: DROTe — Informação geográfica cedida pela Direção Regional do Ordenamento do Território (CC BY 4.0).
Buildings, coastline and trees: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Photographs
- The New Palace Hotel, MON 1909.jpg — Messrs Reid (photo) in W. H. Koebel, Madeira: Old and New, 1909, Public domain
- Reid's Palace Hotel, Madeira (16400805888).jpg — Glyn Lowe Photoworks, 2013-10-14, CC BY 2.0
- Part of the Garden of Reid's Hotel, Madeira, by Sarah Angelina Acland, c.1910.jpg — Sarah Angelina Acland, c. 1910, Public domain
- Reid's Palace Hotel, Madeira (16588035515).jpg — Glyn Lowe Photoworks, 2013-10-14, CC BY 2.0
- Ship in Funchal Bay, Madeira, by Sarah Angelina Acland, c.1910.jpg — Sarah Angelina Acland, c. 1910, Public domain
- George Bernard Shaw taking his sun bath cure at Madeira, 1925.jpg — Sport & General Press Agency, London, 1925-01-21, Public domain
- Van de Polls vrouw Nell Langlais en de heer Hages op een terras van Reids Palace, Bestanddeelnr 190-0160.jpg — Willem van de Poll / Nationaal Archief, 1934, CC0
- Reid's Hotel and Surrounding Landscape, from Funchal, Madeira, by Sarah Angelina Acland, c.1910.jpg — Sarah Angelina Acland, c. 1910, Public domain
- Funchal, Reid’s Palace (from Ribeiro Seco).jpg — Dr. Thomas Liptak, 2026-02-14, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Madeira, Reid's Palace Hotel, c. 1900.jpg — Unknown (postcard), c. 1900, Public domain
- Funchal, Belmond Reid’s Palace.jpg — Dr. Thomas Liptak, 2025-12-23, CC BY-SA 4.0