Eira do Serrado — Hotel & Spa

The Eira do Serrado Hotel & Spa stands at 1,094 metres on the ridge above Curral das Freiras — the Valley of the Nuns — where the central mountains close in on every side and the valley floor falls away far below the terrace. It is one of the few places on the island where you sleep inside the landscape the postcards promise.

The hotel's panoramic viewpoint is a destination in its own right; at dawn the peaks catch the first light while the valley still lies in shadow. Rooms, the restaurant and the terrace all face the amphitheatre of mountains.

Inside, a heated indoor pool, sauna, jacuzzi and treatment rooms make a warm refuge when the mountain air turns cold. Chestnut groves, the Eira do Serrado footpath down to the valley and the levadas of the interior begin at the door; Funchal is thirty minutes below.