Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Peace offering
vibe in muted greens and dark shadows, appearing to be sculpted out of a cave. It was romantic, peaceful and otherworldly, with treatment rooms and relaxation zones, a sauna, Turkish bath, beauty salon, sensory showers and pool.
The food at the Savoy was innovative and stylish, with executive chefs creating memorable menus that showcase the island’s wealth of local produce and surprisingly good wines.
I ate in the hotel’s Alameda poolside, Hibiscus, Jacaranda and Galaxia skybar restaurants, and at the Trapiche Restaurant at the neighbouring Savoy Saccharum Resort & Spa hotel.
During my stay I also enjoyed a sneak peek at the Savoy Signature’s newest addition in Funchal, the supertrendy Next Hotel aimed at a younger digital generation, with direct access to the sea.
Hugo, the Savoy’s cocktail maker extraordinaire, showed off his creativity nightly, putting on a show at the bar as he added Madeiran twists to classics like the Cosmopolitan and Pornstar Martini, and mixed up a fine Poncha, the rum-based local cocktail. It would have been incredibly easy to hang out here all day, every day, but for a small island
Madeira has a lot to offer and, as a first-time visitor, I was keen to explore.
Jutting sharply up out of the Atlantic, this volcanic isle is blessed with a picture postcard coastline, natural lava pools, jagged mountains, pretty villages and a unique network of hiking trails. Bananas, mangoes, avocados and passionfruit grow in the year-round sun, while vineyards and sugar cane crops line the steep hillsides to create the island’s best known export, Madeira fortified wine.
A three-mile walk along one of the island’s famed network of levada trails with the knowledgeable Eilseu was a chance to draw breath among the eucalyptus, imported here from Australia and now something of a scourge. He pointed out the laurel, magnolia and lily of the valley trees that form a canopy for brightly coloured flowers and bushes, lizards, bees and insects.
An off-road jeep tour with Ricardo was next – there’s not much this proud Madeiran doesn’t know about the island’s history, tourism, secret spots and politics.
A two-hour tour in his opentopped jeep, wind blowing through our hair, was an exhilarating way to travel. We zig-zagged downhill, hugging the hillside and carefully passing nonplussed grazing cattle perched on vertiginous edges.
There’s more, much more, to the island – but time was my enemy, and soon we had to leave.
I’d arrived in Madeira with some heavy baggage, of the pandemic kind – but a long weekend here turned out to be just what I needed to lighten the load.
Calm and space has been missing, and Madeira offers this in abundance