Belmond Reid's Palace
Belmond Reid's Palace is a historic hotel located to the west of Funchal Bay in Madeira, Portugal, in an imposing position looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel has beautiful sloping gardens.
, 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. It opened as the New Hotel in November 1891 and later became the New Palace Hotel, then Reid's Palace or just "Reid's". The hotel was acquired by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., which changed its name to Belmond Ltd. on 10 March 2014. At that time the hotel changed its name to Belmond Reid's Palace.
The pioneer colour photographer Sarah Angelina Acland 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, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, David Lloyd George, deposed emperor Karl von Habsburg, Roger Moore, Gregory Peck, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the missionary Albert Schweitzer, and dramatist George Bernard Shaw.
Reid's is particularly known for its tradition of serving afternoon tea on the terrace.
