Where We Are and Why We Chose Here
We’ve been coming to Madeira for more than ten years, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that where you stay on this island changes everything. Not just practically, but how the place feels to you.
We chose Santa Maria Maior deliberately. It sits above the harbour, above the hotel strip, above the noise that most visitors never escape. The parish is one of Funchal’s oldest, and it still feels like it. Real streets, real neighbours, the kind of neighbourhood where people actually live rather than pass through.
The views from up here are, honestly, better than anything you’ll find at the official miradouros that the tourist maps point you toward. We’ve watched storms roll in over the Atlantic from our terrace. We’ve seen the cruise ships come and go in the harbour below. On clear evenings, the lights of Funchal spread out beneath you in a way that stops you mid-conversation. Nobody tells you about this. Most visitors never make it up here.
On Funchal itself, we’ll be honest with you. After more than a decade, our view is that Funchal is a base, not a destination. It’s a perfectly pleasant city with good restaurants, a wonderful market, and a harbour worth walking. But the island is what matters. The levadas, the north coast, Paul da Serra, the villages that feel untouched, that’s why people fall in love with Madeira and keep coming back. Funchal is where you sleep and eat well. The island is where you actually go.
The good news is that Santa Maria Maior puts you ten minutes from everything Funchal offers, the Mercado dos Lavradores, the old town, the cable car up to Monte, without being in the middle of it. That distance is part of what we value about it.
One honest word of warning: it’s hilly. Properly hilly. If you’re planning to walk everywhere, factor that in, some of the streets back up to the house require a bit of effort, and the neighbourhood isn’t flat in any direction. We drive, and we’d suggest you do the same. A rental car on Madeira isn’t a luxury, it’s how you actually see the island.
For the right guest, someone who wants space, quiet, and a genuine sense of place rather than a hotel-district postcard, we think it’s the best location on the island. We wouldn’t have chosen it otherwise.