Belmond Reid's Palace (a.k.a. Reid's Palace) is a historic

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

located to the west of

Funchal Bay Funchal Bay is a large bay opposite the main city of Funchal on the island of Madeira Island, Madeira, located in the North Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Morocco in north Africa. Funchal has its harbour within the bay. Belmond Reid's Palac ...

in Madeira,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, in an imposing position looking out over the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The hotel has beautiful sloping gardens. The hotel's complex include more than 40,000 square meters of space designed as a subtropical botanical

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

Reid's Hotel and Surrounding Landscape, from Funchal, Madeira, by Sarah Angelina Acland, c

History

William Reid, the son of a Scottish crofter, originally arrived in Madeira in 1836. He hired out quintas to wealthy invalids and moved on to hotels, but died before his Reid's hotel was completed. The hotel was designed by the architects George Somers Clarke and

John Thomas Micklethwaite John Thomas Micklethwaite (3 May 1843 – 28 October 1906) was an English architect and archaeologist. He had a long association with Westminster Abbey, and was noted for his criticisms of the current practices of church restoration. Biography He ...

. Reid’s two sons, William (Willy) and Alfred, brought their father’s project to fruition and the doors to Reid's Palace opened in November 1891, as the New Hotel, later became the New Palace Hotel, then Reid's Palace or just "Reid's". It was a luxury retreat combining Edwardian elegance with the latest comforts of the day. The pioneer colour photographer

Sarah Angelina Acland Sarah Angelina ("Angie") Acland (26 June 1849 – 2 December 1930) was an English amateur photographer, known for her portraiture and as a pioneer of colour photography. Distributed bThe University of Chicago Pressin the US. She was credited ...

(1849–1930) stayed at the hotel during the early 20th century and took many photographs in and around the location of the hotel. The hotel had a darkroom for use by guests. Famous guests over the years have included General

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, Anthony Eden,

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

, Worshipful Brother James Thompson and Lady Lynne Thompson, deposed emperor

Karl von Habsburg Karl von Habsburg (given names: ''Karl Thomas Robert Maria Franziskus Georg Bahnam''; born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian politician and the head of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, therefore being a claimant to the defunct Austro-Hungarian t ...

, Roger Moore, Gregory Peck, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the missionary

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...

, and dramatist

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. The Cinema Museum in London has film from 1936 of the hotel and its guests. Reid's is particularly known for its tradition of serving

afternoon tea Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of va ...

on the terrace. The hotel was acquired by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., which changed its name to

Belmond Ltd. Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) is a hospitality and leisure company that operates luxury hotels, train services and river cruises worldwide. In 2015, the company had 35 deluxe hotels, 7 tourist trains, 3 river cruises and rest ...

on 10 March 2014. At that time the hotel changed its name to Belmond Reid's Palace. In December 2018,

Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

(LVMH) is expected to buy Belmond Ltd., the 40-year-old company that owns among other properties the Madeira Belmond Reid's Palace, in a €2.8 billion deal which closed in April 2019 in a $3.2 billion final transaction.

References

External links

* {{The Leading Hotels of the World, Europe 1891 establishments in Portugal Hotels established in 1891 Hotel buildings completed in 1891 Hotels in Portugal Buildings and structures in Funchal Tourist attractions in Funchal Belmond hotels

History

See also

References

External links