Luxe hotels and restaurants is changing the image of the island
A narrow road, barely wide enough for a small car, curves sharply away from the main road along the northern coast of the island of Mallorca Spain. It twists upward through the gnarled olive groves and almond trees in full bloom. The scene falls far below this is a wild and pure.
Half a mile sits a small hotel, Ca's Xorc, like a diamond stuck in the stone, with a sweeping view of Mallorca's jagged mountains, the port city of Sóller colors, and the Mediterranean beyond. A stone patio gives way to feed a tropical garden. Only the birds singing and the bells of distant sheep midday calm stressed. On the other side of the hotel and down a few green porch, deep in the pool that was built on a sharp slope seems to pour the contents into the valley below.
Mallorca, long-known as a cheap destination for those who can not afford anything better, has a beautiful new face. During the six to eight years, investors - betting that the abundant beauty of the island can attract affluent tourists - a plant leading five star resort, small luxury hotels and leading restaurants. A turmoil of Northern European vacation-home buyers also help create a better service for industrial class. With a population of 640,000, Mallorca now offers six Michelin-starred restaurants serving innovative Mediterranean cuisine.
Yes, overbuilt beach resorts such as dotting Alcudia and Pollenca, with ugly concrete hotels, still attract tourists gang discount. But since only 5% of the 1400-square-mile island is developed, it is easy to avoid these positions. In 1838, French writer George Sand, who sojourned there for a year with a friend of composer Frédéric Chopin, wrote of Mallorca, the largest of the four Balearic Islands: "This is as green as Switzerland Calabria under the sky, the solemn silence of the East." In many parts of the island, her description still fits.
The local government worked hard smart facelift for the port and the historic center of Palma, Mallorca's main city of 300,000 residents, just under half the population of the island. The streets in Palma lined with graceful palms, boutiques, and cafes that lend urban energy and style all provincial towns. Only 15 minutes, you're in the countryside.
CULINARY HOT SPOTS
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the feverish culinary competition took place. More and more talented European chefs and sommeliers are gravitating to Mallorca to ply their trade. They opened restaurants serving inventive. And although the premium food, the tab for the tasting menu, or menu dégustation, on the one-star Michelin restaurant run 21-60 euros (U.S. $ 26 - $ 75), only a fraction of the cost of fines are also agencies in major European capitals.
Addresses one of the Michelin-starred restaurant at Read's Hotel, outside the small town of Santa Maria. Chef Marc Fosh pleased with the dish away rich sauces and butter, cook delicious meals with natural juices and fresh herbs. His roast duck with eucalyptus and caramel sauce pineapple was a hit run.
Another hot spot is the restaurant Refectori in the 17th century Convent de la Missio in Palma old town. Refectori interior looks like a modern art museum, with black and white decor and pale wood floors, and walls of water flow. Of course, taste a variety of six weekly menu and includes two starters, fish, meat, and dessert 57 euros (about $ 72).
To ensure that you landed in Mallorca part that suits you best, do a little research. The options range from luxury golf resorts to hip urban inns and hotels perched on remote cliffs. My priorities were relaxing, swimming, and bicycling, near Palma.
Who helped me zero in on Read, a small country hotel with indoor pool and outdoor massage long menu, and mountain bikes for touring the countryside. Vivian Read, a British lawyer who was fascinated by the natural beauty of Mallorca and sell the practice of law to live there, invested in 1988 in the ruins of a once elegant villa. Current five-star hotel located in the middle of the almond orchard, with 22 rooms and inspiring Tramuntana mountain view. Large, eclectic rooms and suites combine contemporary, Arabic, and Asian accents. I appreciate the little touch of: Reading is located in the parking lot of a good 200 meters from the hotel, ensuring that the elegant villas and guests remain undisturbed by the car and slammed the door. Depending on room and season, prices range from $ 240 to $ 800 per night.
Weekend visitors may prefer a designer hotel on the beach on the outskirts of Palma, as Hospes Maricel, which opened in 2002. It has 29 rooms, some of them have a beautiful terrace where it will be easy to pass two days leisurely reading a good book. The Maricel overlooking the sea, although the bottom face of the concrete expanse that many dislike about Palma. (It's no worse than many coastal cities in southern France, Italy, or Florida.) The Maricel's dramatic pool, which looks as if it were dropped into the sea, is a highlight, such as outdoor spa is beautiful. Individual therapy stalls are built into the sea wall; treatment took place in the open air like waves washing on a rocky bay.
That have not been let down by a vacation in a beautiful place but it should not? In the 18 years of vacationing in Europe, from St Tropez to Portofino and beyond, the reality of commercial tourism too often sent crashing fantasy. Being "discovered" is a fatal blow for many resorts. So Mallorca reputation as the last place on earth to go to an exclusive retreat can help preserve the pristine parts of the island, at least for a while. www.businessweek.com
A narrow road, barely wide enough for a small car, curves sharply away from the main road along the northern coast of the island of Mallorca Spain. It twists upward through the gnarled olive groves and almond trees in full bloom. The scene falls far below this is a wild and pure.
Half a mile sits a small hotel, Ca's Xorc, like a diamond stuck in the stone, with a sweeping view of Mallorca's jagged mountains, the port city of Sóller colors, and the Mediterranean beyond. A stone patio gives way to feed a tropical garden. Only the birds singing and the bells of distant sheep midday calm stressed. On the other side of the hotel and down a few green porch, deep in the pool that was built on a sharp slope seems to pour the contents into the valley below.
Mallorca, long-known as a cheap destination for those who can not afford anything better, has a beautiful new face. During the six to eight years, investors - betting that the abundant beauty of the island can attract affluent tourists - a plant leading five star resort, small luxury hotels and leading restaurants. A turmoil of Northern European vacation-home buyers also help create a better service for industrial class. With a population of 640,000, Mallorca now offers six Michelin-starred restaurants serving innovative Mediterranean cuisine.
Yes, overbuilt beach resorts such as dotting Alcudia and Pollenca, with ugly concrete hotels, still attract tourists gang discount. But since only 5% of the 1400-square-mile island is developed, it is easy to avoid these positions. In 1838, French writer George Sand, who sojourned there for a year with a friend of composer Frédéric Chopin, wrote of Mallorca, the largest of the four Balearic Islands: "This is as green as Switzerland Calabria under the sky, the solemn silence of the East." In many parts of the island, her description still fits.
The local government worked hard smart facelift for the port and the historic center of Palma, Mallorca's main city of 300,000 residents, just under half the population of the island. The streets in Palma lined with graceful palms, boutiques, and cafes that lend urban energy and style all provincial towns. Only 15 minutes, you're in the countryside.
CULINARY HOT SPOTS
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the feverish culinary competition took place. More and more talented European chefs and sommeliers are gravitating to Mallorca to ply their trade. They opened restaurants serving inventive. And although the premium food, the tab for the tasting menu, or menu dégustation, on the one-star Michelin restaurant run 21-60 euros (U.S. $ 26 - $ 75), only a fraction of the cost of fines are also agencies in major European capitals.
Addresses one of the Michelin-starred restaurant at Read's Hotel, outside the small town of Santa Maria. Chef Marc Fosh pleased with the dish away rich sauces and butter, cook delicious meals with natural juices and fresh herbs. His roast duck with eucalyptus and caramel sauce pineapple was a hit run.
Another hot spot is the restaurant Refectori in the 17th century Convent de la Missio in Palma old town. Refectori interior looks like a modern art museum, with black and white decor and pale wood floors, and walls of water flow. Of course, taste a variety of six weekly menu and includes two starters, fish, meat, and dessert 57 euros (about $ 72).
To ensure that you landed in Mallorca part that suits you best, do a little research. The options range from luxury golf resorts to hip urban inns and hotels perched on remote cliffs. My priorities were relaxing, swimming, and bicycling, near Palma.
Who helped me zero in on Read, a small country hotel with indoor pool and outdoor massage long menu, and mountain bikes for touring the countryside. Vivian Read, a British lawyer who was fascinated by the natural beauty of Mallorca and sell the practice of law to live there, invested in 1988 in the ruins of a once elegant villa. Current five-star hotel located in the middle of the almond orchard, with 22 rooms and inspiring Tramuntana mountain view. Large, eclectic rooms and suites combine contemporary, Arabic, and Asian accents. I appreciate the little touch of: Reading is located in the parking lot of a good 200 meters from the hotel, ensuring that the elegant villas and guests remain undisturbed by the car and slammed the door. Depending on room and season, prices range from $ 240 to $ 800 per night.
Weekend visitors may prefer a designer hotel on the beach on the outskirts of Palma, as Hospes Maricel, which opened in 2002. It has 29 rooms, some of them have a beautiful terrace where it will be easy to pass two days leisurely reading a good book. The Maricel overlooking the sea, although the bottom face of the concrete expanse that many dislike about Palma. (It's no worse than many coastal cities in southern France, Italy, or Florida.) The Maricel's dramatic pool, which looks as if it were dropped into the sea, is a highlight, such as outdoor spa is beautiful. Individual therapy stalls are built into the sea wall; treatment took place in the open air like waves washing on a rocky bay.
That have not been let down by a vacation in a beautiful place but it should not? In the 18 years of vacationing in Europe, from St Tropez to Portofino and beyond, the reality of commercial tourism too often sent crashing fantasy. Being "discovered" is a fatal blow for many resorts. So Mallorca reputation as the last place on earth to go to an exclusive retreat can help preserve the pristine parts of the island, at least for a while. www.businessweek.com
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