Quinta da Casa Branca

The estate was a 19th-century banana plantation and vineyard, and the bananas are still growing. Around 28,000 square metres of them, along with botanical gardens holding African tulip trees, yellow trumpet trees, Canary palms, mangoes and a great deal else brought back from around the world by generations of a Madeiran family.

The hotel that opened here in 1998 was the first design hotel on the island and won the City of Funchal architecture prize the following year. It is a low structure of wood, glass and stone, with huge windows so that the gardens are effectively the decoration, and every one of its rooms has a private terrace or balcony opening onto them.

In 2015 the family's own manor house was brought into the hotel, adding five suites in an entirely different register: Madeiran antiques, stone fireplaces, marble bathrooms, high ceilings. There is also a villa dating from the early 19th century beside the pool. So there are 49 rooms in total across three quite distinct buildings, and the choice matters more than the category.

There are two heated pools, one of them for adults only and set among the banana plants, which is a strange and pleasant place to be in a jacuzzi. The health club has a Turkish bath, sauna and treatment rooms, and there are two restaurants, with dinner served in the old house or, in summer, out on the terrace.

The location is unusual for Madeira: near the centre of Funchal but entirely screened from it, so the loudest thing is birdsong. The marina is around ten minutes by car and the old town a short walk.

It is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and holds one Michelin Key.