Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor

The 1929 Hotel Formentor, now run by Four Seasons, on a 486-hectare estate at Mallorca's northern tip with a staircase down to a kilometre of Blue Flag beach, and a vineyard.

Adan Diehl, an Argentinian art patron, wanted a hotel on the Formentor peninsula that would read as a simple “white line in the landscape”. The idea began in the 1920s, and the Hotel Formentor opened in 1929 at the northern tip of Mallorca. Winston Churchill, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn and Plácido Domingo have all stayed. Four Seasons runs it now.

A grand staircase leads down to Formentor Beach, a kilometre of golden sand with a Blue Flag. The estate covers 486 hectares inside the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana. The Cap de Formentor lighthouse, built in 1857, stands at the end of the same peninsula.

Every room faces the front of the building and has a furnished terrace. Pine-View and Sea-View rooms start at 40 m², some Garden-View rooms and suites have plunge pools, and the top-floor Royal Suite is 126 m² with panoramic sea views. Families get suites of up to three bedrooms and the complimentary Kids For All Seasons club for ages 4 to 12. Three century-old olive trees frame the children’s area of the family pool. Adults have their own pool in the gardens, and the spa has a vitality pool.

MEL serves Mediterranean food from breakfast to late at night. SHIMA cooks Nikkei on a terrace over the coast, and Llum i Sal is on the beach itself. The Finca Table is set in a country house among the resort’s vineyards, and those vines make wine under the Vinyes de Formentor label. The spa uses Biologique Recherche facials and has a sauna, a steam room and a cold plunge.

Getting there takes planning. Palma Airport is 76 km away, about an hour by car. From 15 May to 18 October, vehicle access to the peninsula is restricted between 10:00 and 22:00, so arrange advance authorisation with your licence plate before you drive up.