If you want one answer: book PortoBay Santa Maria if you are a couple, PortoBay Porto Mare if you have children, and Savoy Palace if the budget stretches to a landmark five-star. The area you choose matters more than the star rating – the city climbs a steep hillside, and walking uphill in August is a real cost. Spring and autumn are the busiest seasons, when the best-located rooms go months ahead.
Compare 6 hotels
Nightly rates from €90. Check live prices, or tap a name for our review.
- Savoy Palace
SuperbSeafrontLuxury, rooftop
from€300a night
Our review - The Vine Hotel
ExcellentCentreDesign, central
from€220a night
Our review - PortoBay Santa Maria
ExcellentOld townAdults only
from€170a night
Our review - Castanheiro Boutique
ExcellentOld townBoutique
from€180a night
Our review - PortoBay Porto Mare
ExcellentLidoFamily, gardens
from€160a night
Our review - Editory Garden Carmo
Very goodCentreValue, central
from€90a night
Our review
Which Funchal hotel should you book?
Couples and first-timers should book PortoBay Santa Maria. It is adults-only, sits on the edge of the old town beside the marina and the cable car station, and puts the restaurants of the Zona Velha two minutes from the door. That combination is hard to beat and it is why the hotel books up early. Check PortoBay Santa Maria availability for your dates.
Families should book PortoBay Porto Mare in the Lido, for the gardens, the pool space and the flat seafront promenade outside. On a tighter budget, the Editory Garden Carmo in the centre is the honest value pick. If you want the trophy stay, it is Savoy Palace, and only Savoy Palace.
Savoy Palace
The city's landmark five-star, a wave-shaped tower on the seafront with the Galáxia Skybar and an adults-only rooftop infinity pool on the top floor, a large spa and several restaurants. It is the flashiest stay in Funchal, consistently among the highest-rated hotels on the island, and the rooftop view over the bay is the reason people book it.
Worth knowing: the seafront position means a 10 to 15 minute walk into the old town, mostly flat along the promenade. Check Savoy Palace rates.
The Vine
A design hotel in the middle of the shopping streets, themed around Madeira wine, with a rooftop pool and bar looking over the city to the sea. The draw is the position: you step out into the centre, with the Mercado dos Lavradores and the old town a few minutes' walk away, so a car is genuinely unnecessary.
Best for travellers who want contemporary style and a base they can explore entirely on foot. Check The Vine rates.
PortoBay Santa Maria
The best-located hotel in Funchal, and our pick for couples. A four-star adults-only PortoBay hotel with 146 rooms and suites, all with a kitchenette, on the seafront at the edge of the Zona Velha, with two pools and three jacuzzis and direct access to the seafront promenade. The cable car to Monte and the old town's restaurants are both within a few minutes on foot.
It used to trade as Hotel Porto Santa Maria, and some booking sites still show that name. Adults-only keeps it calm, which is the point. It is also the hotel on this page most likely to be sold out on peak dates. Check PortoBay Santa Maria rates before deciding.
Castanheiro Boutique
A boutique hotel in the historic centre that links several restored heritage buildings, with a small rooftop pool and bar above the old streets. It is intimate and characterful rather than resort-scaled, and the location puts the cathedral, the market and the Zona Velha all within a short walk.
Choose it over PortoBay Santa Maria if you prefer heritage architecture and a quieter, more design-led stay to a seafront position. Check Castanheiro Boutique rates.
PortoBay Porto Mare
The family choice. A relaxed resort in the Lido district sharing large subtropical gardens and several pools with its sister hotels, a few minutes from the seafront promenade and the sea-water lidos. There is room for children to run, half-board options that take the stress out of dinner, and a flat walk to ice cream.
The Lido sits about 25 minutes' walk west of the old town, or a short bus or taxi ride. Check PortoBay Porto Mare rates.
The Editory Garden Carmo
The value pick, and the one whose name has changed. This central hotel traded for decades as Hotel do Carmo and now operates as The Editory Garden Carmo Funchal after a full refurbishment by the Editory group. Some booking sites still list the old name, so search both if your results look thin.
It has 80 rooms across seven floors, an outdoor pool, a fitness room and its own restaurant, on Travessa do Rego in the historic centre, a few minutes' walk from the Mercado dos Lavradores. Simple rather than luxurious, but very well placed for the money. Check Editory Garden Carmo rates.
Which area of Funchal should you stay in?
Funchal is where most Madeira trips are based: it is central, walkable at the bottom, and nearly every island tour picks up here, so you can stay in one hotel all week.
| Area | Suits | You get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old town (Zona Velha) | Couples, first-timers | Restaurants, painted doors, cable car | Busiest streets in the evening |
| Centre | Walkers, value hunters | Market, shops, best rates | Some uphill walking |
| Lido (west) | Families, longer stays | Pools, promenade, sea-water lidos | 25 min from the old town |
| Seafront / clifftop | Luxury stays | Views, spas, rooftop bars | Taxi for most dinners |
Funchal has no sandy beaches, and this is the single most common surprise for first-time visitors. The coast here is volcanic rock. What hotels offer instead is pools, sea-water bathing platforms and the lidos along the western seafront, and it is genuinely pleasant, just not sand. For that you cross to Porto Santo, or look at the all-inclusive resorts that include the beach island.
When to book for 2026
Funchal fills from April to June and again from September to October, the two stretches when the island's weather is at its best, plus the Christmas and New Year fireworks period when the whole city sells out. Outside those windows you have room to negotiate; inside them, the well-located rooms simply go.
Rates on Booking.com move with demand rather than to a schedule, so the price you see today is not one that waits for you. If a rate and an area both work, take the refundable option now and cancel later if plans change. Then start planning the things to do in Funchal around it.
For type-by-type alternatives across the island, see the guides to luxury hotels, adults-only hotels and family hotels, or step back to the island-wide where to stay in Madeira guide if Funchal is not settled yet.
Where is the best area to stay in Funchal?
The old town (Zona Velha) suits couples and first-timers, with restaurants and the cable car on the doorstep. The centre offers the best rates and walkability to the market. The Lido, about 25 minutes west, suits families who want pools and the flat seafront promenade.
What is the best hotel in Funchal?
PortoBay Santa Maria, formerly Hotel Porto Santa Maria, is the best choice for most couples: a four-star adults-only hotel on the seafront at the edge of the old town, with 146 rooms and suites with kitchenettes, two pools, three jacuzzis and direct access to the seafront promenade. Savoy Palace is the top luxury option, with a rooftop infinity pool and sky bar.
Is Hotel do Carmo in Funchal still open?
Yes. It was refurbished and rebranded as The Editory Garden Carmo Funchal by the Editory hotel group. It still has 80 rooms across seven floors, an outdoor pool and a central position on Travessa do Rego, minutes from the Mercado dos Lavradores. Some sites still show the old name.
Do hotels in Funchal have beaches?
No sandy ones. Funchal sits on a volcanic rock coast, so hotels offer pools, sea-water bathing platforms and the lidos along the western seafront instead. The nearest real sandy beach is the nine-kilometre stretch on Porto Santo, reached by ferry or a short flight.
Do you need a car if you stay in Funchal?
No. Funchal is walkable at sea level and almost every island tour picks up from city hotels, so most visitors go car-free and take guided day trips. A car only helps if you want to reach rural trailheads and north-coast villages on your own schedule.
How far in advance should you book a Funchal hotel?
Book two to three months ahead for April to June and September to October, and earlier for Christmas and New Year, when Funchal's fireworks sell the city out. Well-located rooms in the old town go first, and rates rise as availability tightens rather than falling late.
Photo: H. Zell / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
