La Residencia

Deià clings to a hill on the north-west coast of Mallorca, between the Tramuntana mountains and the sea, and on the slope above the village stand two manor houses in the local stone, Son Canals and Son Fony. La Residencia, A Belmond Hotel in Deià joins them into one property of olive terraces, gardens and pools, with the village and its church tower on the hill opposite.

History

The older house, Son Canals, dates from the sixteenth century and the second, Son Fony, from the seventeenth, both built as farmhouses for the olive and citrus terraces that still surround them. Deià had been an artists' village since the 1930s, when the poet Robert Graves settled there, and his house, Ca n'Alluny, is a museum on the road out of the village. The hotelier Axel Ball opened La Residencia in 1984 in the two houses. Richard Branson bought it in 1987 and ran it under Virgin for fifteen years, during which it became the island's best-known small hotel. Orient-Express Hotels bought it from him in 2002, and the company took the Belmond name in 2014. The Serra de Tramuntana, the range above the hotel, became a UNESCO World Heritage landscape in 2011.

Architecture and design

The houses are Mallorcan possessions in the vernacular manner: thick stone walls, beamed ceilings, tiled floors and small windows against the heat. Gardens and terraces link them, with olives said to be several centuries old, lemon trees and an avenue of cypresses. The hotel holds a collection of works by the Mallorcan artist Joan Miró, who lived in Palma, and a sculpture garden with pieces by local and visiting artists on the terraces. An art gallery on the property shows and sells work by painters living in Deià.

Rooms and suites

The hotel has around 70 rooms and suites, a large count for a luxury hotel in Deià, spread through the two main houses and later additions in the gardens. Rooms keep the stone and timber of the houses, with four-poster beds in some, and the suites have private terraces or plunge pools looking over the village and the valley to the sea.

Dining

El Olivo, the main restaurant, occupies the former olive press of Son Canals, with the old millstone still in the room, and serves Mediterranean cooking with island produce. Café Miró is the informal restaurant and bar, with a terrace and the Miró lithographs on the walls. In summer there is a restaurant by the pool. The hotel keeps a pair of donkeys, used for guided walks on the paths above the village.

Wellness

Two outdoor pools sit among the terraces, and there is an indoor pool at the spa, which offers treatments with local olive oil and herbs. Tennis courts, a gym and a programme of guided walks and mountain-bike routes into the Tramuntana complete the picture. The cove below the village, Cala Deià, is a 20-minute walk down.

Weddings and events

La Residencia hosts weddings on its terraces and in the gardens, with dinners at El Olivo or under the olives, and the two houses can be reserved for a private party. Meetings use a small number of rooms inside the houses, suited to boards and retreats rather than conferences. The hotel closes for part of the winter.

Location

Deià is 30 kilometres from Palma, about 45 minutes by road over the mountains or along the coast through Valldemossa. Palma de Mallorca airport is around 40 kilometres away. The nearest railway is the Sóller line from Palma, ten kilometres along the coast at Sóller. The village has a church, a few restaurants and the Graves museum, and the coast path runs to Sóller and Valldemossa.