Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel, Madeira

If you’re finding Reid an unlikely name for a Portuguese fellow you’re not wrong. Reid’s Palace was founded over a century ago by a Scotsman of that name, long before the Belmond hotel group took over, back in the early stages of what’s now a full-fledged relationship between the British and the Portuguese island of Madeira. After all there’s so much to remind them of home, at least the island part, plus a significant improvement in the weather. So it is that everyone who was anyone, from Churchill on down, has spent some time here.

A massive renovation might have set nerves on edge among Reid’s regulars, but this grand old palace on the terraced hillside above the Bay of Funchal has come through with flying colors. Nothing essential was disturbed in this listed landmark; the classic guest rooms have been modernized in function, if not in style, and the twin swimming pools have seen some work as well, and now boast infinity edges to make the most of the bay view. The restaurant, William, earned a Michelin star in 2016. And while the dress code has been relaxed a bit, Belmond Reid’s Palace is still something from another era — this is how warm-weather holidays used to work, in the days before all-inclusive resorts and budget airlines.