One of the highlights of any visit to Monte is a wander round the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. This former hotel began life in the late 18th century as a private residence belonging to the British Consul Charles Murray. In the late 1980s it was purchased by local entrepreneur José Berardo, who transformed it into a weird-and-wonderful tourist attraction by filling the grounds with fountains, grottoes, follies, sculpture pieces and lots of exotic plant life.