UPDATE July 2020. Hotel Mama has rebranded as Hotel Cappuccino—a move which makes great sense to me, as the Cappuccino name has a reputation and good presence in Mallorca. The following review was written in 2018, after our stay, but I have updated it to show the hotel’s new name.
2021 update: The hotel’s Tahini restaurant is no longer located here.
Palma de Mallorca’s most central boutique hotel is in the most important square in the heart of the city’s old quarter: Hotel Cappuccino is in Plaza de Cort.
The 32-room 5-star hotel is opposite the distinctive town hall building and close to the iconic ancient olive tree known as Olivera de Cort. With its huge trunk sculpted by nature, this magnificent tree is a well-known meeting point in the city and most visitors to Palma probably pass through Plaza de Cort during their stay.
Grupo Cappuccino’s First Hotel
I’d watched the development of this hotel from a 19th-century building with interest, knowing that it was to be the first hotel for the Mallorcan Grupo Cappuccino, which has high-quality restaurants and cafes in several locations in Mallorca and in Ibiza, Madrid, Valencia, Marbella, Jeddah, and Beirut.
Cappuccino cafes are known for their unique architecture and design and for high standards; prices for drinks and food reflect the quality of the brand, but it’s worth splashing a little extra cash to appreciate the setting, surroundings, and smart service of these unique places. For years, we have been taking our visitors to the rear courtyard garden of Cappuccino Grand Café—a former palacio in Palma’s C/ San Miguel; that oasis in the city, with its central fountain and colourful bougainvillea, never fails to impress.
A Cappuccino Grand Café is just one of the attractions of the new Hotel Cappuccino, where we spent one night last week in a superior room (room number 37 on the third floor). The hotel offers eight suites facing Plaza de Cort, eight deluxe rooms, eight superior rooms, and eight standard rooms.
On arrival
When we arrived late afternoon, the terrace of Hotel Cappuccino’s Grand Café was busy with people enjoying the best-possible spot for some serious people watching as they sipped drinks and ate their food.
As we entered the hotel, smiling reception staff greeted us from behind the desk. We noticed an impressive and colourful display of Mexican fighting masks behind them. These unusual features hinted that we were in for a treat in terms of interior design.
While check-in formalities were being completed, we were invited to have a complimentary coffee, tea, or iced tea in the Grand Café—where we happily sat taking in our surroundings. Art is everywhere and reflects the artistic tastes of Juan Picornell, the Grupo Cappuccino owner.
Picornell’s eye for the aesthetic can be seen in all of the group’s properties, but it’s writ large here at Hotel Cappuccino, where the Parisian interior designer Jacques Grange could express his bold vision and attention to detail over five floors and a basement.
Design by Jacques Grange
Jacques Grange is considered one of the world’s best interior designers and decorators: his clients include actress Isabelle Adjani, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Alain Ducasse, Francis Ford Coppola, and Karl Lagerfeld. He was responsible for New York projects such as the decoration of Paloma Picasso’s jewellery store, the Mark Hotel on Madison Avenue, and the Barbizon Hotel.
As Grange had already designed a Cappuccino Grand Cafe (in Madrid), it was not surprising that Picornell wanted Grange to design his first Cappuccino hotel in Palma. The hotel’s director, Cati Crespi, told me the two men respect each other’s work.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2019: Jacques Grange has been included in the Architectural Digest magazine’s AD100 Hall of Fame 2019.
Room 37
Our superior room was spacious, comfortable, and with plenty of natural light from two sides of the room. One window looked down over the central courtyard, the other had views across rooftops, giving us a different aspect of Palma—a city we know well.
The facilities and features of the room are as you would expect in a 5-star hotel, but there’s a lot of attention to detail and Grange’s design made the room feel homely and luxurious. We loved the attractive tiled floor and the shutters on the courtyard-side windows.
We particularly liked the bathroom, which had a large walk-in shower (with logical controls) and a large white traditional-style sink. Although some of the contemporary shallow sinks often found in new hotels look wonderful, they can sometimes be impractical for wet-shaving (I’m told). We loved the Floris toiletries and the attention to detail: a small glass ring tree on the bathroom shelf—for keep rings safe when you’re washing your hands—is something I don’t remember seeing before in a hotel here. And some people will appreciate the fact that the door to the bathroom is solid and not frosted glass.
The room safe was in a low drawer with the controls on the top. Easy to operate, it had a top-opening lid which made it easy to see what we had stored inside. There’s an Illy coffee maker (capsule machine) in the room too.
Other little details included a pale-green leather-clad waste bin and a round coaster-size trays in the same leather on each bedside table. The do-not-disturb signs here are written with ‘Siesta’ on one side and ‘Fiesta’ on the other. Sounds like the perfect holiday.
Hotel Cappuccino’s Other Facilities
The Cappuccino Grand Café is not the only place to eat at Hotel Cappuccino: the hotel also has a Japanese restaurant called Tahini (another Tahini is located in Mallorca’s smart Puerto Portals marina). We didn’t eat here as we weren’t in the mood for Japanese that particular evening but shall check out the special lunch menu they offer for 27€ on a future visit to Palma.
The hotel is the only one I know in Palma to have its own private cinema—CappuCine—where up to 30 people can sit in comfort, enjoying one of the hotel’s collection of classic movies. Screenings take place twice a day and the facility is free for hotel guests and Tahini customers.
CappuCine
Hotel Cappuccino also has a health club and spa. Guests can be assisted by the hotel’s personal trainer and wellness expert Ivan Toscano (who will, if you wish, take you for a jog around Palma. No. We didn’t wish, but plenty of guests would!).
Treatments include a choice of massages (including couples’), treatments, and rituals – for women and men. The spa—like CappuCine—is in the basement. Oh, and do check out the unusual wall clock in the spa area. Never seen one like it before!
Seating in the basement area near the spa
Like quite a few luxury hotels in Palma de Mallorca, Hotel Cappuccino has a roof terrace, with small pool. It offers stunning views of the centre of Palma and is open only to hotel guests—to respect their privacy.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the central courtyard. It’s gorgeous in there. Look up and beyond the walls of the tall building that surround you is the sky. It will be a glorious place to sit in the heat of summer and, at night, a canopy is pulled across to make the area feel a little cosier. And imagine what must have been involved in planting the palm trees in there!
What we particularly liked about the delicious generous breakfast was that everything is served to you. There’s no getting up and down from your table to go to the buffet table. It made a relaxing start to the day. And I loved my spelt bread toast and generous helping of perfect avocado (I asked for mine without the poached egg usually included).
Now that’s what I call breakfast!
Our verdict of Hotel Mamá
We loved Hotel Cappuccino in Palma de Mallorca and had only one small issue: in the evening, housekeeping delivered two bottles of Evian water to the room (which was much appreciated). However, the bottles were plastic and we hope that they—and other hotels—will find an alternative to offering water in single-use plastic bottles. Juan Picornell—Grupo Cappuccino’s owner and founder—will, I am sure, be looking for a way to address this issue.
©Jan Edwards 2018
Eat Drink Sleep Mallorca 