Les Suites at The Cliff Bay – Madeira's most private address, Two MICHELIN Keys

On a clifftop promontory above Funchal's Estrada Monumental, Les Suites at The Cliff Bay is PortoBay's most private address on Madeira: twenty-three suites built around two restored, century-old villas standing beside the group's flagship, The Cliff Bay. The MICHELIN Guide gives it Two MICHELIN Keys, describing it as something of a hotel within a hotel, offering a splendidly secluded experience, while letting guests draw on the parent property's spa, open-air Jacuzzis, direct sea access and the two-MICHELIN-Star Il Gallo d'Oro restaurant. Behind the calm, low-rise façade sits a mix of restraint and generous detail: tiered gardens, an infinity pool, and sea-facing suites with floor-to-ceiling glass and Greek marble bathrooms. It is a small hotel with the resources of a large one, and the quiet of neither.

01The house

The story begins next door. Just outside Funchal, on a clifftop promontory overlooking the Atlantic, the original Cliff Bay is one of Madeira's most upscale hotels, and when the neighbouring property came up for sale, PortoBay bought it outright, restoring its tiered gardens and a pair of century-old villas and adding a new wing and an infinity pool to create Les Suites.

The two hotels are connected by beautiful gardens, as well as a comfortable interior corridor, so arrival feels like stepping into a private annexe rather than a separate building. PortoBay has since added a cinema room, a Pilates room, a library and a gym exclusively for Les Suites' guests, and the project was honoured at the debut of MICHELIN Keys in Portugal, alongside sister hotel PortoBay Flores.

02Rooms and suites

Twenty-one of the 23 suites look out over the ocean, and the nine on the ground floor have access to a private garden of their own. All share the same vocabulary of ultra-spacious layouts, sea-facing floor-to-ceiling windows and lavish Greek marble bathrooms that set Les Suites apart even from its already grand neighbour.

Insider tip

Book Il Gallo d'Oro ahead; Avista Ásia is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Categories run from the 60 sq m Suite and the 63 sq m Junior Suite with Terrace to the 66 sq m Suite with Sea View and the two-level Duplex Suite, also 66 sq m, each with a separate living room and bedroom, a tea and coffee station and a safe. It is a compact collection by design, built for guests who want a hotel that knows their name rather than a resort that knows their room number.

03Where to eat

Il Gallo d'Oro, on the neighbouring Cliff Bay side, is Madeira's only two-MICHELIN-Star restaurant. Since 2004 its chef has been the Frenchman Benoît Sinthon, who has contributed significantly to the restaurant's success: in 2009 it became the first restaurant on the island to win a Michelin star, took its second in 2017, and in 2022 added a MICHELIN Green Star for its commitment to sustainable gastronomy, built on produce from PortoBay's own kitchen garden.

Within Les Suites itself, Avista serves seasonal Mediterranean cooking on menus signed by Sinthon but prepared daily by chef João Luz, running from tasting menus to à la carte, petiscos and a children's menu. Dishes have included Black Angus tartare with balsamic vinegar, Pommery mustard, confit egg yolk and cep ice cream, Atlantic squid with cuttlefish sauce, ginger and smoked Spanish paprika, and acorn-fed Iberian pork fillet with sweet potato, pineapple and mustard jus.

One floor above, Avista Ásia turns to Japanese, Chinese and Korean technique, always with robust flavours to which are added touches from the Mediterranean and the Madeira archipelago. The kitchen is chef Rui Pinto's, his background in well-known restaurants at home and abroad now applied to a dining room with its own sweep of sea and sky over Funchal.

04The bar

Avista's ground floor doubles as lounge and bar, built around the same panorama as the restaurant above it. Guests can sample a signature cocktail to accompany starters and snacks, or settle in for afternoon tea with its own distinctive menu, best taken, as PortoBay puts it, on a sunny afternoon with friends and family.

05Spa and wellbeing

Les Suites has its own infinity pool and gardens, but the real depth of wellbeing lies next door: guests have access to all services and amenities at The Cliff Bay, including direct access to the sea, three pools, three Jacuzzis, spa treatments and gardens shared between the two hotels.

On its own side, Les Suites adds a cinema room, a Pilates room, a library and a gym, giving guests the choice between the quiet of a private wing and the fuller resort infrastructure of The Cliff Bay a few steps away.

06The neighbourhood

The hotel sits in São Martinho, on the Estrada Monumental, Funchal's hotel-lined clifftop road a few kilometres west of the old town. The Lido Bathing Complex, with its sea pools carved into the rock, is a short stroll away, and Funchal Marina and the wider waterfront lie within about two kilometres.

07Making the most of a stay

Dinner at Il Gallo d'Oro is worth building an evening around, but it is worth booking Avista Ásia too: the restaurant serves dinner Thursday to Monday from 6pm to 10pm and closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so plan accordingly if a fusion night is on the list. Check-in runs from 2pm and check-out to noon, with buffet breakfast typically served from 7.30am to 10.30am — enough time, before either, for a swim in the infinity pool while the Cliff Bay side of the garden is still quiet.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.