VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira

VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira is a five-star of 300 rooms in two towers on the cliff at the western end of Funchal's hotel strip on Estrada Monumental, in the Lido district. Lifts take guests from the lobby and the palm gardens down to what the hotel calls the largest sea-level platform in Madeira: 2,000 m² along the shore, with three outdoor seawater pools facing the Atlantic, a children's pool and direct access into the sea, all watched by lifeguards and kept for hotel guests. The infinity pools are for adults, and children have a pool of their own.

Every room has a balcony or terrace and a sea view, straight ahead in most categories and from the side in the Prestige rooms and the Vida Junior Suites. The Superior Sea View is 39 m², with a king-size bed or twins, a sofa and room for up to four. The junior suites on the first to fourth floors of Tower 1 add turndown, a pillow menu and a separate shower; the Terrace Junior Suite, on the third floor, trades the balcony for a patio with two loungers and an umbrella. For four, the Premium Family Sea View Room has 51 m²: a 40 m² main room with a king-size bed, a dining area and an ocean balcony, and a separate children's room with twin beds and a window.

The family case rests on the water and the club. Aquatica Kids World is free for children from 3 to 11 and runs daily in season, with games, crafts, face painting and water play, and it has a children's pool, 25 m² and 40 cm deep, reserved for children; ask which dates it runs before you book. Babysitting for under-3s can be booked ahead, cots are free, and pool towels wait in the room. When the sea is calm, the platform's direct access makes an Atlantic swim easy, and the Aqua Area's heated indoor pool, with a separate area for children, is free to every guest. Sabor a Mar, by the pools, has a children's menu and ice creams.

The trade is temperature and age. The outdoor pools are seawater, and guests often find them cold outside high summer, so the warm swim is the indoor one. There is no sand: the sea is reached from the platform, and Praia Formosa is a 40-minute walk. Rooms outside Tower 1's junior suites look dated to many guests, and the hotel says renovation is planned. Book it for a week of pools, sea swimming and, in season, a free kids' club, with the centre a gentle 33-minute walk or a bus ride away, and take the family room for the second bedroom.