Choupana Hills Resort and Spa

Chic, award-winning spa hotel with jaw-dropping views in the Madeiran mountains

Choupana Hills is nothing like it ought to be. It’s cool, stylish, gutsy and, frankly, exotic: the essence of Malaysian luxe, magically transported to genteel Madeira. The brainchild of Michel de Camaret and Didier Lefort, of world class Datai, Langkawi fame. You’ll feel as though you’re airborne when you first arrive at Choupana Hills. As you sip a reviving herbal tea, the lobby glass wall opens onto a vertiginous, wide-angled panorama of Funchal Bay, far below you.

The feel is sometimes Asian, sometimes African, always chic. Natural materials are used throughout – slate, stone, limestone and Tali (a rich, red-brown wood sustainably harvested). Madeira is cleverly in the detail: basalt inlaid floors echo Funchal's mosaic pavements; golden wicker furniture glows on sunny verandas. Outside, it’s all about the view. Inside, the stars on show are the Xôpana Restaurant and the Spa. Rooms are in bungalows on stilts and scattered in the gardens. Don’t worry about the steep paths as you’re gently chauffeured around the grounds by golf buggy.

Highs

• Seriously good food at the Xôpana Restaurant
• Cloud-level surroundings in a World Heritage laurisilva forest, with eagle-eye views of sparkling Funchal and a levada walk starting straight from the grounds
• Charming staff who correctly (but unostentatiously) anticipate your needs (mid-afternoon smoothies and cake were a highlight for us)
• An outdoor "razor-edged" green mosaic pool, and an indoor pool at the spa
• Stunning architecture (there is not one single supporting wall in the whole hotel) and stylish rooms with lazy verandas (some with outdoor Jacuzzis)
• Pillowy robes and duvets to keep you snug as a bug in the cooler months

Lows

• You’re a 10-15-minute drive from Funchal, though a timetabled courtesy bus operates during the daytime
• Choupana Hills attracts a young, hip crowd, but the island as a whole used to be famed for octogenarian headwaiters and even more elderly guests - this is starting to change
• The hotel is several degrees cooler than Funchal and can sometimes be lost in the clouds; lucky that your room’s toasty and that there’s a fabulous indoor pool
• Spa treatments, though great, are pricey
• If eating out, some restaurants in town are unimaginative; perhaps avoid those that feature espada, a benighted fish tasting of ready-made fishcakes!