Mr & Mrs Smith

Hospes Maricel

Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Hospes Maricel is a converted 16th-century mansion set right on the water’s edge with a bar overlooking the Med, an enticing restaurant and a spa area set in the caves by the waves. Within the hotel’s sandy-toned stones, you won’t hear a peep from Palma, though it’s just five minutes away.

Need to know

• Rooms 51, including seven suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $249.39 (€189), excluding tax at 8 per cent.
• Facilities As well as the Bodyna Spa & Wellness centre, there are unique treatment rooms in the caves by the Med. There's a gym, free WiFi throughout (except in pool areas), DVD and CD library. In rooms: flatscreen TV, DVD player, minibar, free bottled water.
• Poolside If you prefer your water unsalted, stick to the hotel’s three pools: the outdoor heated, the outdoor unheated, or (for lightweights) the indoor heated pool.
• Check-out 12pm; check-in from 3pm.
• Children Welcome in low season but 2–12 year olds not allowed May until mid-October (when main pool open). Cots are provided free, extra beds cost €115 (plus tax) and there's a babysitting service (book two days ahead). More...
• Hotel closed 2 January to 17 February 2011
• Also Don't expect much from the touristy surroundings: this is a hotel to hole up in for the weekend, or to use a base for escaping into Palma.

Food and drink at Hospes Maricel

• Hotel restaurant

  Senzone restaurant is a sleek, pared-down space, which lets its dazzling seascapes and award-winning innovative contemporary cuisine do all the talking. The muted beige and cream decor, awash with white linen, comes with accents of blue-white sky and green-blue waves. Dedicate a few hours to breakfast here – the tasting menu spans eight courses and changes frequently. Expect a rainbow-range of sweet pastries, juices and milkshakes or chocolate with spices, sweet and salty butters, aromatic breads, yogurts with compotes, chocolates and creams (never too early), fruit and vegetables and a shot glass of onion and tomato with quail’s egg. No wonder it was named ‘Best Breakfast in the World’ at the culinary conference, Madrid Fusion. Just in case you were worried Hospes Maricel was a one-meal pony, dinner includes treats such as boneless glazed suckling pig with crispy skin and vanilla oil and a dessert of frothed Baileys with chocolate.

• Dress code

  Suitably sharp to match the designer furniture: don't be afraid to break out your Balenciaga or Blahnik numbers for a bit of posing. Tight waistbands not advisable.

• Top table

  In summer, the seats on the edge of the terrace are snapped up like hot tortillas. In winter, everyone wants the romantic tables by the window, which have magnificent panoramas over the Med.

• Last orders

  During the summer, the restaurant serves breakfast 8am–11am, lunch at 1pm–4pm, dinner at 8pm–11pm, with the bar open from noon to midnight during the week and until 2am at weekends. In winter, lunch and dinner end half an hour earlier.

• Room service

  The full restaurant menu is available during opening hours, or opt for salads, snacks and sandwiches round the clock.

• Hotel bar

  Senzone Lounge & Cocktail Bar is an extension of the lobby and shares its cool, calm and modern design. A soundtrack of chilled house provides an unobtrusive background, although if you head here on a Thursday, you’ll find jazz cats mixing things up with live sets. Don’t leave without trying the Moon Light, a naughty muddle of raspberry vodka, dark and white chocolate, Baileys and cream. There’s also the Senzone Pool Bar to help quench your thirst between dips.

Also worth knowing

• Weddings This property is suitable for weddings. More...

Hospes Maricel Carretera Palma - Andratx, nº 11, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, 07181