La Residencia

Set into the lower slopes of the Tramuntana Mountains, above the artists' village of Deià, La Residencia occupies two manor houses joined by gardens of olive and citrus trees. The sea is close but not visible from every room; the mountains are. It is a compact hotel by design, with 66 rooms and suites and one villa, spread across low terracotta-roofed buildings rather than a single tower. Rooms start at 25 square metres, with white walls, beamed ceilings and tiled floors; junior suites add antique Mallorcan furniture and private balconies, while the largest suites open onto their own terraces, gardens or plunge pools. Three restaurants work the same terrain from different angles: El Olivo, set in a former olive mill, runs an eight-course tasting menu by candlelight; Restaurante Miró hangs 33 original paintings by Joan Miró over its dining room; Tramuntana Grill serves grilled fish and Sóller prawns by the pool. A spa, gym, tennis courts and both indoor and outdoor pools round out the grounds. Guests can walk a mountain path lined with granite columns naming poets from Robert Graves to Pablo Neruda, part of one of Europe's larger sculpture gardens. Deià itself, a short walk down the hill, has drawn painters and writers for decades. The airport at Palma lies 35km away.