Pestana Churchill Bay Hotel

The Pestana Churchill Bay is one of Madeira’s newest hotels.

Lining the harbour wall in the south-coast town of Camara da Lobos, the hotel takes it’s inspiration from water colours Winston Churchill painted during a visit to the bay in 1950. The spot where he set-up his easel and canvas was subsequently names the ‘Miradouro de Winston Churchill’ to commemorate his visit. Camara de Lobos takes it’s name from ‘lobos-marinhos’ – the Portuguese for ‘sea-lions’ as the bay was once home large sea-lion colony. Less-reliant on it’s fishing harbour than in past times, the town is gradually evolving into Funchal’s commuter belt, giving it’s popular cafe bars and restaurants more of a local-feel than the capital.

It’s also a very pretty town, with it’s traditional-style whitewashed houses which seem to defy gravity as they cling to the steep ridges and terraced banana plantations that rise up from the coast. It’s central location on the south coast make the Pestana Churchill Bay an ideal base from which to explore the island by car. The secluded Curral das Freiras valley and the famous miradouro at Cabo Girao are a short drive away, or you could spend the day exploring the north coast’s seacliffs and natural swimming pools with our resident guides.