Hotel Madeira

Hotel Madeira stands on Rua Ivens, a short street beside the Jardim Municipal in the middle of Funchal, and has taken guests since 1969. It is the work of Raúl Chorão Ramalho, the modernist architect behind more than fifty works on the island, among them the Regional Assembly on the Largo da Sé. Here he worked the island's slatted window shutters into a sculpted facade of projecting bays, ochre when new and pale today; the hotel likens its ornament to Madeira embroidery. It is now a small three-star, and its look has been renewed in earthy tones, soft greens and deep blues.

The rooms are compact and modern. A Standard Room measures 17 to 20 m², with double or twin beds, a walk-in shower, air conditioning, a desk and soundproofing. The Standard Balcony Room adds a balcony with a table and chairs, and the Superior Rooms run to 20 to 25 m², the balcony version with mountain views. The two suites have room to spread out: the Junior Suite has a separate bedroom, a sitting room with a sofa bed and two balconies in 27 m², and the Superior Suite, 29 m² with a bathtub, has two balconies facing the municipal garden. A Family Room and connecting rooms cover families.

The reason it is here is what about €150 a night buys in June: a double with buffet breakfast, six minutes' walk from the Sé, eight from the marina and 14 from the Mercado dos Lavradores, at much the same height as the cathedral rather than up one of Funchal's hills; only the walk back from the seafront is a short climb of about 20 metres. The fifth-floor pool and sun deck look across the city's roofs to the mountains, with a strip of the Atlantic between the buildings to the south, and from the Panorama Terrace Bar beside them the bell tower of the Sé rises above the garden's trees; it serves cocktails, snacks and hot dishes until 23:00 and hosts dance nights. Bistrô 13, the hotel's Art Nouveau café and crêperie, serves brunch dishes, crêpes and poke bowls, and half board brings a dinner menu that changes daily. In winter the rates fall further.

The trade is space and facilities. Rooms are small, there is no spa and for now no gym, and the one pool, on the roof, is open from 09:00 to 19:00. Reception is staffed from 07:00 to midnight rather than round the clock. Book it as a well-placed base for walking the city, the cable car to Monte, levada walks and island tours; skip it if you want a big room, a sea-level pool or a resort to spend the day in.