All posts tagged: travel

Escape the Crowds in a Rural Hotel Restaurant – Part One

August 19, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Eat / Hotels

I’ve become such a country girl since we moved to rural Mallorca in 2004. Although I love the buzz of eating out in Palma and the pleasures of a seaside restaurant, sometimes I crave the tranquillity of eating in a rural restaurant. There’s something about hearing birdsong and cicadas along with the soft buzz of conversation and gentle sounds of cutlery meeting crockery that soothes my soul. Here are some of my recommended rural restaurants […]

Where to Eat in Felanitx: My Top 3 Places

August 7, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Eat

When we moved to Mallorca in 2004, the previous owners of our finca left us a helpful list of their favourite eateries in the area. Most of these have since closed, but Estragon in Felanitx became one of our go-to places. Estragon After Anna and her chef husband sold Estragon, a German couple briefly took over the place. Since November 2023, Felix Passow and his wife Vivien, have owned it, after moving from Berlin to […]

Seek out Sanctuary in Valldemossa

August 1, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Spas

For anyone who’s visited this famous village, finding sanctuary when the streets are crowded with tourists sounds a little unlikely. But the sanctuary I’m thinking of is in a place of tranquillity and natural beauty on the edge of Valldemossa. Hotel Valldemossa describes itself as a natural sanctuary. This adults-only 5-star hotel reopened last summer after the IT Mallorca group of hotels acquired and renovated it. Five-star hotels with spa facilities are in abundance in […]

What’s New at Rotana La Reserva in 2025?

June 24, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Eat / Sleep

For a start, the change of name to Rotana La Reserva from La Reserva Rotana. It’s subtle but significant: the 5-star hotel with a nine-hole golf course and vineyards near Manacor has new owners (a family from Singapore). New management is also in place, led by experienced hotelier Giovanni Merello – whom I first met when he opened Palma’s 5-star Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden. He’s directed eight new openings and managed projects in […]

Slow Luxury at Mallorca’s La Residencia Hotel

March 25, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Eat / Sleep

Mallorca’s 2025 season has begun for La Residencia, a Belmond Hotel, in the mountain village of Deià. Although the hotel is closed in the winter months, plenty goes on behind the closed gates to ensure that the 5-star hotel continues to meet the increasing demands of its discerning – and well-travelled – guests. Art, wellness, cuisine, and sustainability have all been under the microscope and further enhanced during Deià’s quietest months. Art The hotel’s ‘Artists […]

2025 Season Starts in Mallorca

March 19, 2025
by Jan Edwards
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Eat / General / Sleep

Mallorca’s weather has been a little ‘off’ recently (at least in the northeast of the island, where I live), but wildflowers are appearing in fields and verges, with the promise of better weather to come as we approach the official start of spring. Seasonal restaurants and hotels are starting to re-open and, if you’re a Mallorca resident, you may find some special hotel deals for residents during this early part of the season. One hotel […]

A Festive Feast or Getaway in Rural Mallorca

November 25, 2024
by Jan Edwards
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Sleep

I make no apologies for writing again about Finca Can Beneït, a rural hotel in Mallorca that captured our hearts on our first visit. Every time we’ve stayed overnight – and I think we’ve now stayed five times here – I fall a little more in love with the hotel, the staff, and Binibona itself. And what’s not to love about the hamlet of Binibona, where this enchanting hotel is located? Arriving here you feel […]

Feast on Fish in Cala Rajada

October 8, 2024
by Jan Edwards
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Eat

It’s known as lightning fish, dolphinfish, mahi mahi, and the local name, llampuga. Call it what you will, this seasonal, migratory fish is so named locally because its arrival in the seas around Mallorca coincides with the end-of-summer thunderstorms. Llamp is the Catalan word for lightning. This white fish is delicious grilled or fried simply in olive oil with garlic and red peppers, but creative home cooks and professional chefs can find plenty of ways […]

Lunch in Palma: Basic Bar Restaurante

September 23, 2024
by Jan Edwards
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Eat

Basic Bar Restaurante in Palma is a hidden gem in Mallorca’s capital. You’re not likely to stumble across the place on a sightseeing wander because it’s in a side street off the busy Carrer Aragó. This isn’t an area usually frequented by visitors to the city, although the large El Corté Inglés department store is only a few minutes’ walk away. We’ve eaten many times at Basic since it opened in 2009, because the food […]

A Vegan Restaurant in Rural Mallorca: Plat a Plat

June 3, 2024
by Jan Edwards
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Eat

Last year we discovered Plat a Plat, a vegan restaurant in Maria de la Salut. This small town in the Mallorcan countryside wasn’t a place where we expected to find such an eatery. We’re not vegans (although we often eat vegetarian) but wanted to try Plat a Plat because I’m sometimes asked for restaurant recommendations for vegans. We hot-footed over one evening last autumn and had a delicious and creative dinner. Alas, our plans to […]