VidaMar Resort Madeira
VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira is a contemporary five-star hotel on the clifftop above Funchal’s western seafront, on the south coast of Madeira, the Portuguese island in the Atlantic. It’s built around ocean views rather than a beach: two towers face the sea over three big infinity pools, a 2,000 m² sea platform with direct Atlantic access, five restaurants and a free kids club from age three, a short taxi from the city.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Who it suits, what you swim in when there’s no beach, and the board basis to know before you book.
VidaMar is a smart, contemporary five-star built around ocean views rather than sand. There’s no beach on site: the resort opens onto the Atlantic across a sea platform, and the nearest sand is a 10-minute drive away. What it has instead is three large adults-only infinity pools, a shallow children’s pool, a free indoor heated pool, five restaurants and a free kids club from age three, which together make it one of the stronger family options in central Funchal.
It suits a family happy to swim in pools and off the platform, with older children who’ll manage the rocky ocean entry, or younger ones content to paddle. It’s a hillside site with a descent to the sea, so there’s some up and down, though the main road along the front is flat. It isn’t all-inclusive: the standard family basis is half-board, and drinks sit on top. If a sandy beach at your door is the point of the holiday, this isn’t it.
Best for
Pools and ocean swimming over sand, a free kids club from three and a stylish base a short taxi from Funchal.
Maybe not for
You want a sandy beach on site, all-inclusive board or level ground throughout.
Best ages
Three and up for the kids club. Babies and toddlers have cots, the shallow children’s pool and babysitting, but no supervised club under three.
What stands out
A 2,000 m² sea platform with direct Atlantic access, described as the largest in Madeira, and three big adults-only infinity pools.
What to check
Whether the kids club is running for your dates, and the sleeping arrangement if four of you share a Superior Double.
Where is it?
On the Estrada Monumental in São Martinho, on the clifftop west of Funchal on Madeira’s south coast, in Portugal.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where it sits on Madeira, how the two towers are laid out and what the slope down to the sea means with a pushchair.
VidaMar sits on the Estrada Monumental, the main hotel road running west out of Funchal through the São Martinho district, on the south coast of Madeira, the Portuguese island in the Atlantic off the coast of north-west Africa. This is the Lido strip, Funchal’s principal hotel area, with shops, restaurants, bars and pharmacies along it within a short walk. The city centre is about 20 to 25 minutes on foot, though the ground is hilly, or 5 to 10 minutes by taxi or bus.
The hotel is two towers of up to ten floors, set on a south-facing clifftop so every balcony looks out over the ocean. Oyster’s reviewers liken the pair to two docked ocean liners. The lobby, the pools and the spa sit between and below the towers, facing the sea, with lifts inside the buildings.
It’s a hillside site. The pavements along the Estrada Monumental are reasonably flat, but the resort grounds step down towards the sea platform, so there’s a descent and some slopes between the buildings and the water. It’s manageable with a pushchair, with a bit of effort on the slopes. All the restaurants have ramped access through a side entrance, and there’s an indoor car park charged by the hour, which is useful if you’re hiring a car for day trips. For the wider island, its beaches and when to go, see our Madeira guide.
Every restaurant and bar
All five restaurants, the two bars and how the half-board Dine Around actually works.
The resort has five restaurants and two bars, and it isn’t all-inclusive. On half-board you get breakfast and dinner at the Ocean Buffet, and the Dine Around option lets you take dinner at the à la carte restaurants instead, booked ahead. Drinks sit on top everywhere, priced by the glass or the bottle.
Ocean Buffet is the international buffet and the main family restaurant, open for breakfast from 07:30 to 10:30 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30, with themed evenings through the week. It’s the one meal you don’t book, so a toddler’s appetite gets met whenever it arrives, and reviewers single out its range for weaning babies. Dress is smart-casual, there’s ramped side access and gluten-free meals can be arranged if you ask when you reserve. Wine and other drinks are priced separately.
Sabor a Mar is the poolside restaurant, open daily 10:30 to 18:00 for light lunches and fresh local fish, Black Scabbard, tuna and limpets in garlic butter, à la carte. It has a children’s menu and a long list of ice creams, and it sits about fifty steps from the ocean, which makes it the natural lunch stop on a pool day.
Ristorante Mamma Mia is the Italian, à la carte, open Wednesday to Sunday from 15:00 to 23:00 and closed Monday and Tuesday. It seats indoors and outside, and you need to book ahead. An early sitting works best with small children.
Casa das Espetadas is the Madeiran grill, 100 metres outside the hotel complex on a short walk. It cooks beef espetada, skewers grilled over the fire on laurel sticks, alongside Bolo do Caco, the island’s sweet-potato flatbread made at the fire, and Poncha, the local sugarcane-and-honey drink, with Fado and Madeiran folklore in the evenings. It’s open Friday to Tuesday, 15:00 to 23:00, closed Wednesday and Thursday. The open fire and the skewers tend to hold children’s attention.
Koi Sushi is the Japanese restaurant, led by Chef Inês and built around the freshness of the fish, with sushi and sashimi served à la carte. It's open daily from 10:30 to 18:00, sharing its daytime hours with Sabor a Mar as the resort's two afternoon options, with an ocean view and the same casual dress as the rest of the daytime restaurants.
The two bars
The Lisboa Bar is a piano bar, open daily 17:00 to 01:00, with cocktails, Portuguese wines, Poncha and live music, and panoramic ocean views. It’s an adult evening venue rather than a family one. The Ocean Lounge Bar is a quieter garden and ocean-view lounge bar, open 10:00 to 18:00, for relaxed drinks through the day.
Dress is smart-casual across the hotel, with a jacket and tie only for the New Year and Christmas galas, and casual at the pool and the outdoor restaurants. A children’s menu is confirmed at Sabor a Mar.
How Dine Around works
On half-board, breakfast and dinner are included, taken at the Ocean Buffet or, under Dine Around, at one of the à la carte restaurants instead. The à la carte restaurants each need a reservation, and their opening days vary through the week, so it’s worth planning which night goes where. Drinks aren’t included on any basis, and there’s 24-hour room service in every room.
Rooms and suites
Every category with its official size, then the pools and the sea platform below the towers.
There are ten room and suite categories, all 39 m² or larger and most facing the sea. The table below is the full line-up with the official sizes and how many each sleeps; the guidance after it is which suit a family.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prestige Double (Garden & Side Sea View) | 39 m² | 3 | King or twin beds on the lower floors, with a partial sea view. The entry-level room, taking two adults and a child with a cot. |
| Double Sea View | 39 m² | 3 | King or twin beds and a full sea view. |
| Superior Double Sea View | 39 m² | 4 | One single and one double bed (200×200 cm), ocean-facing. The listed beds sleep three against an official maximum of four, so confirm the arrangement if you’re four. |
| Premium Double Sea View | 39 m² | 2 | One double on the upper floors. Set up for two, and described as adults-preferred. |
| Vida Junior Suite (Garden View) | 39 m² | 2 | Two singles on the garden side, with turndown, a pillow menu, a robe and a coffee machine. Adults-preferred. |
| Premier Junior Suite (Sea View) | 39 m² | 2 | The same suite facing the sea. Adults-preferred. |
| Terrace Junior Suite (Sea View) | 45 m² | 2 | Two singles with a large private patio and two loungers. Adults-preferred. |
| Premium Family Room (Sea View) | 51 m² | 4 | King plus two singles, ocean-facing. A separate children’s twin room off the main room, a dining area, an ocean balcony and a bathroom with a bath, a shower and twin basins. |
| Premium Suite (Sea View) | 51 m² | 2 | One double, with a separate bedroom and a living room with a sofa bed. Adults-preferred. |
| Master Suite (Sea View) | 104 m² | 2 | One double on the top floor, with a lounge, a dining area and two balconies, and a free à la carte dinner for two at Mamma Mia. The bedroom faces the mountain. Adults-preferred. |
For a family, the room that’s actually built for one is the Premium Family Room at 51 m². It’s the only category with a separate children’s bedroom, a twin room off the main room, along with a dining area, an ocean balcony and a bathroom with a bath, a shower and twin basins. Everything else is a single space. The Superior Double Sea View is listed for four, but its stated beds, one single and one double, sleep three, and the hotel doesn’t say how a fourth is accommodated, so if you’re a family of four confirm the sleeping arrangement when you book. The Prestige Double is the entry room, on the lower floors with a partial sea view, and takes two adults and a child with a cot.
Several categories are set up for two and described as adults-preferred, so they aren’t the ones for a family with young children: the Premium Double, the two Junior Suites, the Terrace Junior Suite with its private patio, the Premium Suite with a sofa bed in the lounge, and the Master Suite. The Master Suite is the largest at 104 m², on the top floor with two balconies and a free à la carte dinner for two at Mamma Mia, though its bedroom faces the mountain rather than the sea. The Premium Family Room is the one to book if you want the children sleeping separately.
Every room has air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV, a minibar and fridge, a kettle, a safe, a hairdryer, a balcony and, in most categories, a bath as well as a shower, with 24-hour room service. Cots are free on request. A standard Double officially takes three adults, or two adults with a child under twelve and a cot.
Pools and water features
The resort has four outdoor pools, an indoor pool and the sea platform. Three of the outdoor pools are adults-only seawater infinity pools, each 19 by 13 metres and 1.4 metres deep, lined up along the terrace above the ocean with lifeguards on watch. Children have one pool of their own, a small seawater one, 5 by 5 metres and just 40 centimetres deep, shallow enough for babies and toddlers to paddle in with a parent alongside. It’s unheated, like the sea, so it can be cold outside the summer months. There’s no splash pad here and no water-play features; the children’s pool is a plain shallow pool.
Indoors, the Aqua Area has a heated pool, 15 by 15 metres and 1.4 metres deep, with a sauna and a hot tub, free for all guests and open year-round. Children can use it, and as the resort’s heated, treated pool it’s the warm-water option outside the summer months. It’s separate from the paid spa wet area covered further down. Pool towels come with the room and can be swapped through your stay.
The sea platform and ocean access
The resort’s answer to a beach is its sea platform, a 2,000 m² deck at the foot of the terraces that the hotel describes as the largest in Madeira. It’s for hotel guests only and gives direct access to the Atlantic. Entry is the Madeira norm: over volcanic rock, down steps and ladders rather than off a sandy shelf, so it suits confident adults and older children who can manage the rocks more than it does toddlers. Lifeguards are confirmed at the pools but not on the platform itself, so treat it as unsupervised and keep a close eye on anyone swimming from it. There’s no sand on site at all, and the nearest beach is covered in the area section below.
Babies and toddlers
The free kids club and where it stops, babysitting for younger ones, and the cots and feeding.
Aquatica Kids World is the kids club, free, for children aged three to eleven, run by a dedicated team with games, crafts, face painting, water play, sport and cooking sessions. The official site says it runs daily, though its season can vary, so confirm it’s running for your dates before you count on it. There’s no supervised club for under-threes.
For younger children, babysitting is available on request, including for under-threes, and needs booking ahead. The price isn’t published, so ask the hotel. Cots are free on request. The Ocean Buffet’s range is one that reviewers rate for weaning babies, and it’s included on half-board, and basic baby supplies are sold along the Estrada Monumental strip within walking distance.
A few things cost extra for families: babysitting on request at a rate the hotel doesn’t publish, the spa’s Thalasso wet area at €25 a person for over-sixteens, the indoor car park at €1 an hour (both last checked June 2026), drinks with meals, and an airport transfer surcharge at certain times. Each is covered in its section on this page.
On resortThings to do
The VIDA Health Club is the gym, with cardio machines, free weights and instructors on hand, and it runs free group classes year-round: hydrogymnastics in the pools, body balance, Pilates, dance classes from Zumba to salsa, body combat and cycling, on a monthly schedule. On the sports side there are two squash courts, free with rackets and balls provided and booked through reception, plus free table tennis and billiards. The hotel can arrange a golf package on courses nearby, though there’s no course on site. Beyond that the hotel can lay on outdoor sports for a surcharge, without specifying which, so ask what’s available when you’re there.
The Thalasso Sea Spa is the wellness centre, open daily from 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 19:00, with treatments booked at least 24 hours ahead. The menu runs from facials and marine body wraps to massages, reflexology and balneotherapy, some given outdoors on a balcony over the Atlantic. The thermal wet area, a thalassotherapy pool with a jacuzzi, sauna, Turkish bath and contrast shower, costs €25 a person and is for over-sixteens only. It’s separate from the free Aqua Area, so families swim in the Aqua Area’s heated pool at no charge while the paid wet area is the adult add-on. With the kids club free, the spa is the obvious grown-up hour.
In the evenings there’s live music at the Lisboa Bar, and Fado and Madeiran folklore at Casa das Espetadas; there’s no confirmed children’s evening programme. At New Year, guests on the Gala Dinner package get rooftop access for Funchal’s famous fireworks.
The area and days out
Funchal on the doorstep, the nearest sand, and the day trips that suit young children and the ones that don’t.
Funchal is 5 to 10 minutes away by taxi or bus, or 20 to 25 minutes’ walk downhill. It’s a proper city rather than a resort strip, with the Zona Velha old town, the harbour and the Mercado dos Lavradores market, whose stalls of exotic fruit sit on flat ground that suits a pushchair. Praia Formosa, Madeira’s largest public beach, is about a 10-minute drive. It’s a run of four linked beaches stretching around 2 km, dark pebble and black sand rather than golden, with lifeguards in season, parking, changing rooms, a first-aid post and a playground. It isn’t a Blue Flag beach, but it’s the nearest real sand to the resort.
For days out, the cable car from the Zona Velha climbs to Monte, a village above the city, where the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, about 5 km from the resort, sits, and the wicker-basket toboggan runs back down towards Funchal, a Madeiran tradition that suits children of around four and up who can sit for it rather than babies. The Madeira Botanical Garden, about 4.6 km from the resort, is family-friendly and pushchair-manageable on most paths. Cabo Girão, roughly 14 km west and half an hour away, is a glass-floored skywalk on one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs, not one for very young or nervous children given the drop. Funchal Marina runs whale and dolphin watching trips, with minimum ages that vary by operator, and the Funchal Ecological Park, about 9 km out, has hiking trails better suited to families with older children than to prams.
Funchal’s harbour also has the CR7 museum, dedicated to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born on the island, a short stop for a football-minded family.
Loves and gripes
What families rate and the watch-points worth weighing, then how it sits against the other Funchal five-stars.
It’s well rated across the booking and review sites, and Oyster describes it as upscale and kid-friendly. What guests raise most, on both sides:
What families love
- The ocean views from the rooms and the pools.
- The contemporary twin-tower design.
- The sea platform and swimming straight off the rocks.
- Three big pools that rarely feel crowded.
- The free kids club from three.
- Friendly, attentive staff.
- The buffet’s range, weaning babies included.
- Five restaurants’ worth of variety.
- The stylish spa.
- Free Wi-Fi, one of the few no-extra-cost touches guests mention.
Gripes and watch-points
- No sandy beach on site; the nearest sand is a short drive away.
- The children’s pool is unheated, so cold outside summer.
- The à la carte restaurants need booking ahead.
- The buffet can feel repetitive over a week, with limited vegetarian choice.
- Some lower-floor rooms catch mosquitoes from the gardens.
- The free kids club’s season isn’t nailed down, so it needs confirming for your dates.
- Not all-inclusive, so drinks are an extra cost across the week.
How it compares
Enotel Lido is all-inclusive and sits on the seafront promenade, but its kids club starts at four; VidaMar takes children from three and has more pool space and the sea platform. Belmond Reid’s Palace is the historic, more formal and more expensive five-star up the coast; its kids club also takes from three but runs only in the school holidays, where VidaMar is more contemporary and casual. Savoy Palace is newer, from 2020, top-tier and premium-priced, with under-twelves staying free; VidaMar is the more attainable five-star at a similar spec. Calheta Beach, about 45 minutes west, has the island’s only man-made sandy beach, so if sand is the priority it’s the one that delivers it; VidaMar wins on the pools and the city-edge location, and its kids club starts at three against Calheta’s four.
Getting there and when to go
The transfer and its surcharge, the board options, and the months that suit young children.
Madeira Airport, FNC, is about 14 miles (22 km) from the resort, roughly 20 to 25 minutes by road. The hotel arranges transfers on request: give it your flight number and arrival time when you book. A surcharge applies to transfers at weekends, on bank holidays and to any run between 9pm and 7am, so an evening or early-morning flight costs more than a weekday daytime one. There’s an indoor car park, charged by the hour, if you’re hiring a car.
The resort isn’t all-inclusive. The standard family basis is half-board on the Dine Around scheme, with room-only also available. There’s an official Special Families package for three or four nights, and summer discounts run through June to October. The offers page carries the current terms and what each package includes.
Madeira is mild all year and the resort stays open through it, so timing is about the sea and the rain rather than whether it’s open. For swimming, June to September is warmest and driest, with the sea reaching 22 to 23°C by late summer. April and May are warm spring months with fewer crowds, and the Madeira Flower Festival, a colourful street display in central Funchal, usually falls across them, manageable with a pushchair. October and November stay warm but turn wetter, and December to March is mild winter sun, cooler and wetter still, with the sea down around 18°C.
Month by monthWeather and when to go
VidaMar is on Madeira’s south coast, at Funchal, the sheltered, drier and sunnier side of the island, so the cloudier, wetter north coast doesn’t apply here. The figures below are long-term averages for Funchal.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 20° | 14.5° | 99 mm | 9 | 19° |
| February | 20° | 14° | 95 mm | 8 | 19° |
| March | 20.5° | 14.5° | 83 mm | 10 | 19° |
| April | 21° | 15° | 62 mm | 7 | 19° |
| May | 22° | 16.5° | 44 mm | 5 | 20° |
| June | 24° | 18.5° | 17 mm | 2 | 21° |
| July | 25.5° | 20° | 4 mm | 1 | 23° |
| August | 27° | 21° | 4 mm | 1 | 24° |
| September | 26.5° | 20.5° | 45 mm | 5 | 24° |
| October | 25° | 19.5° | 118 mm | 10 | 24° |
| November | 22.5° | 17° | 112 mm | 10 | 22° |
| December | 21° | 15.5° | 135 mm | 12 | 21° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer. The resort is open year-round.
Entry and practicalities
Madeira is part of Portugal, in the Schengen area, and there’s no FCDO advice against travel. UK visitors can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa; your passport needs to have been issued within the last ten years and to be valid for at least three months after you leave. The EU’s Entry/Exit System is being rolled out, which may mean registering fingerprints and a photo at the border on a first visit, though children aged eleven and under aren’t fingerprinted. A UK GHIC or EHIC covers emergency state healthcare in Portugal, but it isn’t a substitute for travel insurance.
Crime is low, with the usual caution over pickpocketing in tourist spots, and Madeira is regularly named one of the safer places to travel. If you hire a car, foreign and rental cars are a target for theft, so don’t leave anything in view, and carry photo ID, which is required when driving. Basic baby and everyday supplies are sold along the Estrada Monumental strip within walking distance.
Questions
The things families ask before booking, the official pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
Will the kids club be open when we’re there?
Email the hotel with your dates before you rely on it. The official line is daily opening for ages three to eleven, free, but the season can shift, so it isn’t guaranteed for every week of the year. If a free club is part of why you’re booking, ask the hotel to confirm it for your dates.
We’re a family of four, so will we fit in a Superior Double?
Ask the hotel exactly how the fourth person sleeps before you book it, because the published beds account for three and no extra bed is listed. If you want certainty with two children, the Premium Family Room is the only category with a separate children’s bedroom.
Does the airport transfer cost extra?
The hotel arranges it when you send your flight number and arrival time, and a surcharge lands on weekend arrivals, bank holidays and anything between 9pm and 7am. If you can choose your flights, a weekday daytime landing is the cheaper one; if you’re stuck with an evening arrival, budget for the surcharge.
Is there a beach?
Not on site, so if sand is essential, plan the drive in. The resort swims off a rock platform straight into the Atlantic, which suits confident swimmers more than toddlers, and the nearest sand is Praia Formosa, about ten minutes away by car. For a beach at your door you’d be looking at a different resort, such as Calheta on the west coast.
Is it all-inclusive?
No, so choose between room-only and half-board when you book. Half-board covers breakfast and dinner, and the Dine Around option spreads dinner across the à la carte restaurants if you reserve ahead. Drinks aren’t included on any basis, which is the cost to weigh against an all-inclusive elsewhere.
Can we get a babysitter for a baby or toddler?
Yes, on request and booked ahead, including for under-threes, so arrange it early in your stay rather than on the night you want it. The rate isn’t published, so ask the hotel what it costs. With no supervised club below age three, babysitting is the way to get an evening out with a baby.
Is there anywhere warm to swim in winter?
Yes, the indoor Aqua Area, a heated pool with a sauna and a hot tub, free for all guests and open year-round, and children can use it. The outdoor pools are seawater and the children’s pool is unheated, so outside summer the Aqua Area is where the warm-water swimming is.
Do they provide cots?
Yes, free on request, so add it to the booking rather than pack a travel cot. A standard Double officially takes two adults with a child and a cot; if you need more room than that, the Premium Family Room is the family room with a separate children’s bedroom.
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Useful links
- VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira: the resort’s own site for rooms, the restaurants, the kids club and current offers.
- GOV.UK Portugal travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Madeira with little ones: our guide to the wider island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 17 July 2026.
