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TRAVELLER
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83
BUSINESS
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MAJORCA
THERE IS ONLY ONE
way to get a really good view
of Cap Rocat. And that’s by hovering over it in a
helicopter, preferably on the way to landing at this
hotel’s heliport. From there, it is but a short ride in a
chauffeured golf cart to the private beach or back to
one of the pleasingly secluded suites.
Built into the cliffs of Cap Enderrocat and
overlooking the Bay of Palma, this fortress-turned-
luxury-hotel has, since its opening in 2010, become a
firm favourite with the type of traveller who favours
discreet luxury above all things. Virtually invisible from
sea level – a useful quality, presumably, when it was a
military outpost – the place is like a fantasy dwelling,
complete with drawbridge: part Spanish finca, part
Moroccan riad.
For those who associate Majorca with the package
tourism boom that brought in bucket-and-spade-loads
of holidaymakers in the 1970s, the fact that a place such
as Cap Rocat exists here at all may come as a surprise.
It shouldn’t. This Balearic isle was once the jet set’s
favourite playground: in the 1950s, Hollywood starlets
such as Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor could be
found frolicking on the pearly-white sands of the
island’s northern tip. And now it’s winning back its
ritzy reputation.
“The island has passed from 1950s glamour to
hooligan capital to ‘there’s no space for my private jet’,”
says Pablo Carrington, managing director of MHM
Management, which operates Cap Rocat. Of course,
he’s talking with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but
there is a broader point to be made. Cap Rocat is an
extreme example of a whirlwind of change that is
taking place here.
Across the island, luxury hotels are springing up
with nearly the same rapidity that high-rise blocks did
in years past. There are nowmore than 200 five- and
four-star dwellings on Majorca, including 30 deluxe
rural properties. And when the Jumeirah Port Sóller
Hotel & Spa opened earlier this year, it signified another
milestone: the first foray onto the island by one of the
world’s most high-end chains, and a sure sign that
international businesses are taking Majorca seriously.
The town of Port de Sóller is further testament to
this. Recently treated to an expensive refresh, this spot
on the island’s overlooked north-west has had its beach
widened and promenade manicured. Even Magaluf,
with its concrete hotels and neon-lit bars – once
synonymous with the more raucous side of tourism here
– is being made over, as the Sol Melia group launches a
big-money hotel redevelopment there this summer.
Carrington puts the island’s renaissance down to a
number of factors: “It’s two hours from every important
capital in Europe, which is tremendous. Then there’s
the weather, and the fact that it’s more than sea and
sand – it has history and interesting cultural places.”
If more evidence were needed that this is an island
on the up, then a visit to Palma provides it. With a
busy calendar of cultural events, many art galleries,
cafés and growing parade of designer boutiques (Louis
Vuitton arrived last year, Hermès is said to be coming
next), it’s no surprise that it’s been dubbed the new
Barcelona. Visiting as the sunshine beats down
S I M O N K U R S
A
RENT
DIFFE
EWVI
LUXE HOTELS, TOP RESTAURANTS AND SOME SAVVY BUSINESS TYPES ARE
HELPING MAJORCA RECLAIM ITS GLAMOROUS PAST. ABOUT TIME TOO