Cap Rocat

A sandstone sea fortress on the Bay of Palma turned hotel, inside a 30-hectare nature reserve, with rooms cut into the old cannon positions and a spa 12 metres below ground.

At Cap Rocat, the Sentinel rooms are dug out of the rock where the cannons once stood. Each has a small private pool, hammocks and a terrace at the cliff edge. The fortress around them was carved out of sandstone at Cap Enderrocat to defend the Bay of Palma, and it was never used for that job.

It is now listed as a Heritage Asset (Bien de Interés Cultural) and a National Monument. The studio of the architect Antonio Obrador turned it into a hotel, and the project won awards from Europa Nostra and the Fortress Study Group. Around it lies a 30-hectare nature reserve with 2 km of protected coastline. The water below is a marine reserve for Posidonia seagrass, and the land is a special protection area for birds.

The other rooms keep the fort’s bones. Double Fortaleza rooms are by the main gate and the old defensive moat, with vaulted ceilings and stone floors. Suite El Cabo joins three vaulted sections, with three terraces, a private pool and a gazebo looking across the bay. Suite del Mar is a small Mallorcan-style house with its own garden and pool.

La Fortaleza seats 30 for dinner under chef Víctor García, and it has held two Soles Repsol since 2019. In spring and autumn it uses the old troops’ mess hall. In summer it moves up to the roof, into a pavilion that reproduces a seaplane hangar that once stood on the bay. Down at the water’s edge on the Caló de la Reina, the Sea Club cooks in a wood-fired oven and on the grill.

The spa is carved 12 metres below ground, and natural light still reaches it and its saltwater pool. Mobile phones are not allowed in the bar and restaurants. Restaurant bookings with children are accepted only for children over 15.