Madeira's hotels run from about €150 a night to about €825 across our ten, and value here is less about the cheapest room than about what each euro buys. Four of these five include breakfast in the prices shown; Sentido Galomar's lowest rate is room only. IVA, at Madeira's reduced rate of 4%, is in the price, and the tourist tax is added at the hotel: €2 per guest per night from age 13, for up to seven nights, in each of the four councils (in Funchal, the council has voted to raise it to €4 from 2027).
The calendar matters as much as the hotel. At four of these five, rates are lowest between November and February, and after Christmas and New Year the dearest weeks are the Flower Festival or high summer. Then choose by what you will use: Funchal on foot, a free spa, the sea from a cliff or the walks.
Hotel Madeira is the cheapest of our ten, and its address is the reason it is not a compromise. It stands on Rua Ivens beside the Jardim Municipal, six minutes on foot from the Sé, eight from the marina and 14 from the Mercado dos Lavradores, at much the same height as the cathedral, so most walks home are level.
For about €150 a night, two people get a double with buffet breakfast in a 1969 building by the modernist architect Raúl Chorão Ramalho, a fifth-floor pool looking over the city to the mountains, and the Panorama Terrace Bar beside it, open until 23:00. The rooms are compact, so spend the saving on the right one. With the old centre on foot, a car is optional: the Aerobus stops at Plaza Madeira, about 3 minutes away.
The room to book
Junior Suite
about 27 m²€182 a night
27 m² with a separate bedroom, a sitting room and two balconies, a small step above the entry room and the upgrade that changes the stay.
Estalagem da Ponta do Sol gives you more hotel than its price suggests. From about €225 a night with breakfast, you get an old quinta on the cliff joined to monochrome modern wings by the architect Tiago Oliveira, an outdoor infinity pool on the clifftop looking out to sea, and an indoor pool, a panoramic jacuzzi, a sauna, a steam bath and a gym, all free for guests.
The village of Ponta do Sol, on the sunny south-west coast, is five minutes below by the hotel's lift and footbridge, with its pebble beach and five places to eat within 5 minutes on foot, so dinners out need no car. Half board adds about €35 an adult a night for the glass-walled restaurant over the village. Rates are lowest in January and February.
The room to book
Estalagem Double Sea View
about 18 m²€262 a night
Inside it is the same 18 m² room as the Garden View, so the modest extra buys exactly what you came for: a balcony on the Atlantic.
Sentido Galomar is the good-value way to have an adults-only stay by the sea. From about €220 a night room only, the 77-room building on the cliff at Caniço de Baixo gives its adult guests a seawater pool of their own on the cliff top, the Finnish and bio saunas of the Ashoka spa with panoramic windows over the Atlantic, included, and the resort's heated indoor pool at the Galo Active club.
Lifts run down to the Lido Galomar for steps into the Garajau marine reserve, with kayaks and paddleboards for hire. Savings carry on outside: the airport is 12 minutes away, line 555 runs into Funchal, the public car park is €5 a day, and Caniço de Baixo's restaurants are 3 to 9 minutes on foot.
The room to book
Double Room Sea View Balcony
€261 a night
The same fittings as the cheaper doubles with the balcony turned to the open Atlantic, the view a clifftop hotel is worth booking for.
Barceló Funchal Oldtown brings a five-star into this price range. Opened in 2023 behind the old façades of six town houses on Rua da Alfândega, it costs from about €225 a night with breakfast, the same as our design hotel in Ponta do Sol, for an address two minutes on foot from the Sé.
The market is nine minutes away, the Monte cable car and Rua de Santa Maria ten, all on level streets, so the money saved on taxis is real. On the roof are a heated pool, a sun deck and the B-Heaven bar over the bay; downstairs, two restaurants and room service around the clock. Arrive by Aerobus, which stops about 180 metres away, and hire a car only for days out. January is the cheapest month.
The room to book
Junior Suite
about 28 m²€271 a night
About 28 m² with a sofa bed against 22 m² in the entry Deluxe, and it costs less than either view room: the step that buys the most space.
Hotel Quinta do Furão is the value base for walkers. From about €245 a night with breakfast, its 65 rooms, renovated in 2020, share a five-hectare clifftop estate at Santana with two hectares of vines, a miradouro along the north coast, indoor and outdoor pools, a jacuzzi, a sauna and a gym, and a pub with a fire and a billiard table.
The saving is in where it puts you: the Caldeirão Verde levada is 15 minutes' drive away and the path up Pico Ruivo 26, so walking days start without the long climb from Funchal. Half board, about €45 a person a night, covers dinner by the restaurant's two fireplaces, and the hotel has parking on the estate. February and November are the cheapest months.
The room to book
Classic
about 22 m²€276 a night
The cheapest way to wake up to the sea here, with a balcony or terrace over the coast and the garden.
Casa Velha do Palheiro, a Relais & Châteaux country house of 1804 above Funchal, starts from about €320 with breakfast. It is the step up that still feels sensible, with the Palheiro Gardens next door and a MICHELIN-listed dinner at Oxalis.
For families, VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira at the Lido, from about €355 with breakfast, runs a free kids' club in season, which makes a resort stay go further.
From about €355 a night
The best things to do in Madeira, hand-picked
Hand-picked: only the best, one version of each, researched so you don’t have to.
Across our ten, typical low-season starting prices run from about €150 to about €825 a night. Hotel Madeira, in central Funchal, starts from about €150 with breakfast; Sentido Galomar from about €220 room only; Barceló Funchal Oldtown and Estalagem da Ponta do Sol from about €225 with breakfast; and Hotel Quinta do Furão from about €245 with breakfast. IVA is in the price, and the tourist tax is added at the hotel.
When is the cheapest time to stay in Madeira?
Between November and February, at four of these five: November to February at Hotel Madeira, January at Barceló Funchal Oldtown, January and February at Estalagem da Ponta do Sol, and February and November at Hotel Quinta do Furão. After Christmas and New Year, the dearest weeks are the Flower Festival, from 29 April to 30 May in 2027, or high summer. Funchal is mild in winter, with January afternoons averaging 20.0°C.
Is there a tourist tax in Madeira?
Yes. Funchal charges €2 per guest per night (the council has voted to raise it to €4 from 2027), for up to seven nights, paid at the hotel, with children aged 12 and under exempt. Santa Cruz, for Sentido Galomar, Santana, for Hotel Quinta do Furão, and Ponta do Sol, for Estalagem da Ponta do Sol, charge the same €2 for up to seven nights from age 13, and Santa Cruz is reviewing its rate. IVA, at Madeira's reduced rate of 4%, is already in quoted prices.
Do Madeira hotels include breakfast?
Most of ours do. Hotel Madeira, Barceló Funchal Oldtown, Estalagem da Ponta do Sol and Hotel Quinta do Furão include breakfast in the prices shown. Sentido Galomar's lowest rate is room only, with breakfast at the Atlantis in many rates, so check what yours includes. Half board is sold at all five: about €35 an adult a night at the Estalagem, about €45 a person at Quinta do Furão and about €65 a night for two at Barceló.
Can I save money by staying in Madeira without a car?
Yes, if you stay in central Funchal or on the bus routes. Hotel Madeira and Barceló Funchal Oldtown have the market, the old town and the cable car on foot, and the Aerobus from the airport is €6.70 on board. One Regional Tourist ticket, €13.75 a day, covers every operator's buses. Sentido Galomar has line 555 into Funchal, and Estalagem da Ponta do Sol puts the village and its restaurants five minutes below. For Hotel Quinta do Furão and the trailheads, a hire car is close to essential.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
The smart money
