A sancturio natural with walls dating back to the 14th century, now reborn thanks to one of the Med’s most cutting-edge hoteliers – this adult-only retreat is somewhere to hide away in and then emerge rebooted.
In spring 2024, National Geographic named Mallorca’s Valldemossa village “the most beautiful place in the world”. Back in the early 90s, King Charles III described it as, at least, “one of the most attractive spots on the island”, while for 19th-century Parisian novelist George Sand, it inspired the famous line, “All that a poet or painter might dream of, Nature has created here.” It’s fair to say that, for a place so tiny – approximately 2,000 residents in its 2024 census – Valldemossa makes a big impression.
Indeed, the destination, whose roots are said to go back to at least the 10th century, boasts delightfully cobbled streets, discerningly deep green Italianate shutters and bistros and boutiques that are almost entirely rustic and artisan. But the secret to Valldemossa’s remarkable beauty lies, as its name suggests, out there: in the valley.
It’s here that you’ll find its new namesake hotel. A surprisingly level five-minute shuffle along the hillside from this quaint, bustling centre, this 2024 opening set a new bar for hotels within this age-old, UNESCO World Heritage Site mountain range – and across Mallorca, even Spain. Initially two 19th-century stone houses owned by local turquoise-turreted landmark the Royal Carthusian Monastery, the buildings have been entirely reimagined and recast as an elegant, contemporary 12-room stay for adults only (specifically 14-year-olds and above). IT Mallorca, the group behind the transformation, led by Spanish hotelier-architect power couple Miguel Conde and Cristina Marti, has form in sensitively reviving interesting and well-located historic buildings – this is the sixth in their collection, and has already become their most desirable.
The crowd is therefore, unsurprisingly and unanimously, chic: smart, clued-up couples over from the US, UK, Italy, France and Spain itself, drawn by a desire for a few days’ nourishment encircled by lush but immaculately kept countryside, housed in comfortable rooms. These have a Fifties-French vibe, dotted with original pieces by Charlotte Perriand and Miguel Milá and new furniture crafted by Mallorcan makers using island or local materials.
“Nature is the thread that runs through [Valldemossa],” Conde explained when it opened last summer. “We want our guests to connect with it and enjoy the gardens that make up the exterior, listening to the birds and the sounds of nature.” The bells on passing goats, the cries of soaring eagles and a nightly spattering of village fireworks – plus occasional leafblower sessions – make up the soundtrack of a stay here. “We have combined native Mallorcan plants such as olive trees, rosemary and lavender, which use very little water, with organic fruit orchards, which will provide the ingredients for our menu at [our restaurant] De Tokio a Lima,” he continued.
Valldemossa’s well-briefed team is largely local, too: young Barcelonians in for the season; nonchalant Palma bar staff over just for the evening to shake the cut-above cocktails, such as the sweet signature orange pisco sour. The approach to service is guest-led: if you don’t want to see another soul and to just hang out on your huge terrace for a week, that’s no problem; if you want endless recommendations and drinks direct to your sunbed table, that’s fine too.
And while produce in the restaurant’s kitchen is as Mallorcan as possible, De Tokio a Lima’s dishes are a successful ‘avant-garde gastronomic’ mix of Japanese, Peruvian and Mediterranean, steered by seafood-devotee, the Italian Chef German de Bernardi. Shrimp fritters come well-dressed with orange, rocoto and lime; glazed Iberian pork sweet and sour with papaya salad – and there’s also the four-course Veuve Cliquot tasting menu (sealed with a creamy pie of Sóller lemons).
The leafy, sun-dappled inside-outside spa, a core feature of this nature-inspired sanctuary, is primed to impart another sort of full body and soul indulgence: the Valldemossa Longevity programme. Informed by traditional Chinese medicine and Western lymphatic drainage, treatments include natural sea products such as brown algae found over 25 metres deep in the North Atlantic, as well as all sorts of ultrasounds and lasers. And then there’s the indoor sauna and Jacuzzi-pool area guests can reserve entirely for an hour each day (or longer if there’s no waitlist), the village-facing al-fresco gym, plus peaceful outdoor pool – if you’re lucky enough to have that to yourself too, take the portable Marshall speaker from your room for a poolside soundtrack.
And thanks to the hotel only having 12 rooms, such shared spaces tend to be almost entirely exclusive to you – albeit apart from the destination restaurant, which has just the right buzz-igniting number of guests come suppertime. Such peace makes it all the easier to switch off from life beyond the valley awhile, and to properly reconnect with ‘all nature’s dream’ within it.
