The grand hotels of Mallorca: the back story

About The grand hotels of Mallorca: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Mallorca Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Mallorca’s finest hotels fall into three families. In Palma, noble town houses and palaces have become intimate hotels within walking distance of La Seu. Around the bay, a castle at Son Vida, a fortress at Cap Rocat and new resorts at Calvià face the sea. And in the mountains and the north, the island’s legendary hideaways look out over the Tramuntana and the bays of Pollença and Canyamel.

Palma’s palace hotels

In the old town, Hotel Sant Francesc occupies a 19th-century manor house with a roof terrace over the city, Palacio Ca Sa Galesa describes itself as a 16th-century palace a few steps from the cathedral, and Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden pairs its rooms with the Botànic restaurant and a spa (each hotel’s own website). Hotel Es Princep is home to Zaranda, one of Palma’s three MICHELIN-starred restaurants.

Son Vida and the bay

Above the city, the Castillo Hotel Son Vida keeps its tower and drawing rooms in the villa district of Son Vida. On the bay, Cap Rocat, in the hotel’s words a fortress built to watch over the Bay of Palma, has its spa “carved into the heart of the fortress” and a Sea Club. To the west, The St. Regis Mardavall is home to Es Fum (one MICHELIN star), and Mandarin Oriental Punta Negra is the newest arrival on the Calvià coast.

Two famous names have changed: Hotel Formentor is now Four Seasons, and Park Hyatt Mallorca is the Cap Vermell Grand Hotel.

The Tramuntana

Castell Son Claret, below the mountains at Es Capdellà, is home to Sa Clastra (one MICHELIN star). Gran Hotel Son Net is a mansion above Puigpunyent, and Jumeirah Mallorca looks down on the bay of Port de Sóller.

Formentor and the north

The hotel at Formentor opened in 1929 and, in Four Seasons’ words, “has always attracted writers, actors and the global elite”; it is now Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor, on its own beach. In the hills above Pollença, Son Brull is a rural retreat with its own farm, and on the east coast the Cap Vermell Grand Hotel at Canyamel is home to Voro, Mallorca’s only two-star MICHELIN restaurant.

What has changed

If you are using an older guide: Park Hyatt Mallorca is now the Cap Vermell Grand Hotel; Hotel Formentor reopened as Four Seasons; and Zaranda has moved from Castell Son Claret to Hotel Es Princep in Palma.

Our advice: split your stay. A few nights in Palma for the restaurants and the old town, then the mountains or the north for the sea and the silence.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The grand hotels of Mallorca: the back story before you go.