A gorgeous spot of serenity
We have just had a lovely time with our godson Matty and his girlfriend Jass. A few years have quickly passed by with Covid right in the middle so it was great to share some of our favourite parts of this little corner of Mallorca we call home. As always food and drink played a big part of the highlights. We enjoyed as always Bar Alhambra, Claudio always serves up some tasty Galician tapas but so I am told my paella cooked over wood (aka pizza oven!) just about stole the food show. This was despite a very good effort by our great friend Phil who can do amazing things with his green egg…those ribs and chicken were delicous 😊
So after a busy few days of work and play with Matty and Jass we decided to head over to the other side of the island for some ‘us’ time. We had read about a place called Ratxo, near Puigypunyet. It calls itself an eco luxury retreat, so where better for us to recharge our batteries than laying by a pool at the foot of the Puig del Galatzó for a long weekend.
It’s an exciting start to the stay as once you turn off the main road it’s a bit of a bumpy ride down to the hotel, but the views take your mind off the pot holes, although occasionally I also took my eyes off them which led to a slightly nervous yelp from Samantha!
It was opening week at the hotel so things were just getting up and running but we couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome as Luis came down to the gate with a broad smile to help with our luggage - so clearly pleased to be sharing this rather lovely historical estate with us. It is breathtakingly beautiful and as you nestle into the Tramuntana mountains for your stay, you are struck by the silence with just the occasional hello from a passing goat.
There were some small parts of the stay that could have been a bit better but the staff were all so lovely and helpful with anything you needed that these areas could be forgiven. To be honest we didn’t really need a great deal and this doesn’t feel the type of hotel where there will be a high ratio of staff to guests. There are only 25 rooms and it is all about finding your own quiet corner of the estate, by the pool, contemplating life in the gardens, reading a book on your terrace or just relaxing in the spa.
For us the only disappointment was that the restaurant experience wasn’t as we had hoped. One of the reasons we picked the hotel was because we wanted to experience local chef Maria Salenas. We had read lots about her approach to sustainable cooking, featuring the best of Mallorcas' produce, lots of it grown in the hotels gardens. Maria has recently left the hotel but we didn’t know this until we checked out and we shared our experience with Luis of the rather soulless experience we had in the vast dining room. The food was tasty but the atmosphere for us and the four other people having dinner was a little bit sterile.
We hear a new restaurant experience is on its way so we will definitely return…it really is a great spot to kick back, even go digitalless (not sure if I have just made that up) and leave the phone and tablet in the drawer, pick up a book and breathe some wonderful fresh air. We had a wonderful time and the lunch at Mirabona on the way home was the perfect end to our recovery 😊
Comments