Palacio Can Marques hotel review: Mallorca resurgent

Up in the hills overlooking Mallorca’s capital Palma, legend has it that a singing plant used to grow on the bare earth outside the workshop of the artist Joan Miró. When the plant found itself alone, it opened its petals, lent into the Balearic breeze and made a whistling sound to invite passing birds to keep it company.

The plant is no longer there. Presumably the birds ate the seeds and deposited them elsewhere, perhaps further down the coast in Magaluf – which for years was seemingly the island’s biggest draw and which set the tone for Mallorca’s reputation abroad as a party island.

But now Mallorca’s tune is changing. There’s a resurgent celebration of the island’s cultural depth, rich history and luxurious trappings. After all, this is the island that inspired Miró; where Antoní Gaudí came to modernise Palma’s cathedral; and where Robert Graves, Frédéric Chopin and Agatha Christie enjoyed spending time. Surely they didn’t all just come for €1-shots and sunset booze cruises?

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Across the bay from Miró’s workshop, wonderfully preserved by the Fundació Miró Mallorca, is Palma’s historic old town – a tumbling mix of the old and new along the winding streets, narrow between tall sienna-coloured walls.

And here’s one of Palma’s secrets – the space behind the walls. Dotted along unassuming streets are large wooden doors and metal gates that are easy to pass unnoticed but behind which unravel magnificent buildings with private courtyards. These courtyards are particularly important in this balmy climate, offering a gathering place and cool respite from the summer midday sun.

Some of these large houses have now been developed into hotels and private residences, offering tourists a variety of places to stay. One of the most impressive and lovingly restored hotels on the islands is the unique Palacio Can Marques, located right in the heart of old town Palma.

Formerly owned by the Marques family, the 18th-century building has been faithfully restored to its original opulence and then accessorised with all the necessary mod cons. There can’t be many five-star, luxury boutique hotels that it are easy to walk past, but here, if the large wooden doors are closed, you might not even notice it.

The giant doors lead through to a vast open atrium with high ceilings, thick stone walls (cool in summer, heated in winter), gothic alabaster columns, and two symmetrical staircases, one on each side, which curl round and double back into a floating staircase hovering over the central space.

It is so striking, don’t forget to look down at the intricate reconstruction of the original stone floor. This relatively small area of the building took six months to complete and illustrates the careful, patient and truthful ambitions of the project.

If architecture isn’t your speciality, you might like to know there’s also a champagne bar to the left; and outside, a large, tranquil courtyard of fig, olive, cherry and palm trees, creating a sheltered oasis in the heart of the city.

Inside, the residence is made up of 13 luxury suites, each individually designed with eclectic fittings and furnishings. The Cathedral room has lofty ceilings, Romance has a bath for two, Rose is a flurry of soft pinks and subtle fushia with a private terrace, and Eden is an elegant space of delicate burnished golds and coppers, with a private lift either up to the roof terrace or down to the courtyard.

The crowning suite, both structurally and figuratively, is the Riad. This presidential suite, with its Moroccan-themed design, sits at the top of the hotel and has three bedrooms, a gigantic living and dining area as well as a private terrace and a private kitchen (chefs can be provided or, if you are fortunate enough, you can BYO). The arches in the room are original, discovered during the renovation.

And right at the top, in the tower of the Palacio, is a bedroom with a 360º panoramic view overlooking the city and the bay of Palma. It’s like being in a luxurious crow’s nest at the top of your own ship.

With so much going on in one hotel, it kind of sounds like it shouldn’t work. How can all these elements fit together without jarring and bleaching into each other? The answer is in the detail. The furniture and fixtures have been either sourced or crafted to fit in their exact space. For an example see the 38 custom-made chandeliers, each designed to enhance and harmonise with existing features, not steal the limelight.

Few buildings will have benefited so much from the skill of local workers using local materials, such as stones from the towns of Binissalem and Santanyí, as well as applying the traditional stucco plaster to render the walls. For owner Kim Schindelhauer and designer Aline Matsika, this is more than just a quick doer-upper to spin a few quid. It’s a cultural achievement.

Of course, you can ignore all the above and just have a great time there too. Enjoy a gin and tonic on the roof terrace with views of the bay, the cathedral and the mountains, or relax in the courtyard with wine and tapas, and dine in the hotel’s classic French-Mediterranean crypt-like restaurant.

If you do leave the sanctuary of the hotel, there is plenty worth seeing nearby. Visit Palma’s impressive gothic cathedral, where Antoní Gaudí worked his architectural-magic in the early 20th century. Or head up to Miro’s workshop or Es Baluard art gallery to immerse yourself in some of the island’s modern art and great views.

There are also plenty of bars and tapas restaurants, including the excellent La Paloma restaurant minutes from the hotel. Outside of Palma, there’s also a coastline of beautiful beaches to explore, while inland there are around 70 vineyards and seven Michelin-starred restaurants – good going for an island roughly the same size as Cornwall.

One of Palma’s main events of the summer is the Regata Copa del Rey, a sailing tournament that takes place this year from 27 July to 3 August, in the Bay of Palma de Mallorca. “Ah, but I didn’t bring my boat,” you might be thinking. Fear not, the owner of Palacio Can Marques has Win Win, an award-winning, 108-ft super-fast, super-yacht that guests of the hotel can charter.

Suites at Palacio Can Marques start from £336 per night on a B&B basis including private airport transfers. (Availability and pricing for day charters of Win Win can be provided upon request.), palaciocanmarques.com

For more information on Palma please visit: visitpalma.com