Mallorca in Three Hotels, and a Farm on Menorca
A 17th-century mansion in Santanyí, a farm estate near Artà, a hotel on the coast at Peguera, and on Menorca a restored farmhouse near Alaior.
Where you stay on Mallorca shapes the trip. In Santanyí, in the south-east, you are in a small town with a market, and the coast is a short drive away. Near Artà, in the north-east, you stay on a farm estate at the edge of a natural park. Aethos Mallorca, at Peguera in the south-west, puts you by the sea. Menorca, a ferry or short flight away, adds a quieter island.
Can Ferrereta: a mansion in the centre of Santanyí
Santanyí is a small town built of local sandstone, with a market on the Plaça Major on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Can Ferrereta is a 17th-century mansion in Santanyí’s old town, restored and opened as a hotel in 2021. It has 32 rooms and suites in the old house and two new buildings, a garden pool, and the Sa Calma spa with a heated indoor pool, hammam and sauna. The art comes from the owners’ collection and includes works by Joan Miró. The restaurant, Ocre, is in the former wine cellar.
Can Ferrereta offers a garden retreat in the centre of Santanyí: the market and cafés are a few steps away, and the coves of Mondragó Natural Park are 7 to 12 kilometres from the hotel. Guests must be 14 or over.
Es Racó d’Artà: a farm estate near Artà
A few kilometres outside Artà, the architect Toni Esteva and the builder Jaume Danús first brought an old estate’s land back into farming, then turned its buildings into a hotel, which opened in 2020. There are eight rooms and suites in the main house, Sa Possessió, 21 casitas in the woods, five of them with their own pool, and two houses for families or groups. Guests leave the car at the entrance, and an electric buggy takes them to their rooms.
The kitchen cooks from the estate’s organic garden and from local producers. The spa has indoor and outdoor saltwater pools, and meditation and yoga take place every morning. Three marked trails cross the estate, the Llevant Natural Park begins at its edge, and the undeveloped coves of Cala Torta and Cala Mitjana are about eight kilometres away. Guests must be 14 or over.
Aethos Mallorca: by the sea at Peguera
The third hotel is on the other side of the island. Aethos Mallorca stands on the coast at Peguera, in the south-west, with rooms looking out to the sea or the mountains.
Of the three, it is the one for a stay by the sea, and it is the closest to Palma.
Menorca: Son Blanc Farmhouse
Menorca is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and quieter than Mallorca. Son Blanc Farmhouse lies near Alaior, in the interior of the island, on some 130 hectares of protected farmland. Its 14 rooms are in a restored stone farmhouse. The farm keeps animals and grows vegetables, fruit and olives, and the kitchen cooks from what it produces.
It makes sense as a second stop if, after Mallorca’s towns and coves, you want a few days on a working farm. From a stay near Artà, the ferry from Alcúdia is the nearer crossing.
Practical
Palma airport is about 50 km by road from Santanyí and about 74 km from Artà; Santanyí and Artà are about 55 km apart. April to June and mid-September to October are good months for walking and are quieter than high summer, though not empty. For Menorca, ferries run between Alcúdia and Ciutadella, and there are flights from Palma to Menorca; check current timetables with the operators.
