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Hotel La Residencia, Mallorca, Spain

Mallorca From a Local’s Perspective

Want to see Mallorca, Spain from a local’s perspective? Ask for Pancho, Lluna or Alba during your visit to the Hotel La Residencia, a luxury hotel and spa in Mallorca, Spain. Any of these three guides will take you to the mountains, offering stunning views of the Mediterranean sea below. While they may not speak your language, the guides will carry a gourmet  picnic up into the hillside above the historic Mallorcan manor house.

Mallorca from a local's perspective - Hotel La Residencia Tour Guides Pancho, Alba and Lluna

Gourmet Picnic in Mallorca, Spain

That’s right, three donkeys, Pancho and his sisters Lluna and Alba, will carry a gourmet picnic, up the newly constructed nature trial for guests to take in the views of the Tramuntana mountains and the Mediterranean Sea while enjoying lunch above Hotel La Residencia in Mallorca, Spain. Don’t act so surprised; donkeys have played an important role in Mallorcan life. The sturdy, sure-footed mules have been used to carry goods, as well as cart children,  from the villages to the mountain homes on the island of Mallorca.

Like many of the Balearic islands,  Mallorca is a small Mediterranean island, yet it offers luxury lodging, dining and spa services.

Gourmet Picnic To Go

For a truly Mallorcan experience, the Hotel La Residencia staff will prepare a picnic of local bread, olive oil, tomatoes, cheese and Mallorca’s cold meats and island sausages. The price of the gourmet picnic, including  guide and donkey, is 65 euros, (approximately $88 United States dollars.)  Hotel La Residencia is a traditional Mallorcan country manor house designed to combine elegance with romantic seclusion. Overlooking the village of Deia, the 67 room luxury hotel also includes a spa. Room rates at Hotel La Residencia range fro Euro 355 (approximately $478 USD) to Euro 570 (approximately $768 USD) for a standard double room.

From Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip

If You Go:

Hotel La Residencia

Mallorca, Spain

Related Posts: Island Camping in the Mediterranean

Read’s Hotel Mallorca, Spain

Warm Mediterranean Waters...ahhhh

With all the rains and heavy snow hitting the west coast and east coast (Hey Boston!), I have been dreaming of Spain again, specifically Southern Spain and the Costa del Sol.  This part of Spain is one of the most popular destinations for Spaniards and tourists alike.  It is also one of my new favorite winter getaways!

We stayed close to the town of Marbella, with its great seafood restaurants, for a week in November.  This resort town reminded me of Carmel and Monterey in California, only better.  Why?  First of all, Marbella boasts that they enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine every year!  During our week there we had only sunshine filled days and temperatures in the mid-70s.  Heaven.

The benefit to going to this area in November is the lack of crowds too.  You have mostly locals who live there year round or like that cabin in Lake Tahoe, people who come for the weekend and holidays to stay in their vacation home.  We loved the low key atmosphere and I have to say there were plenty of restaurants and shops open to satisfy us. No lines and no reservations were needed everywhere we went.

Being in Spain, even in a really nice spa town, there were bargains to be had.  Hitting up the local supermarkets like SuperSol uncovered lots of amazing $5 wines that were clearly more top shelf Robert Mondavi than Two Buck Chuck.  We also had delicious DIY meals like the chicken dinner we got at the strip mall.

Empty but still gloriously warm Spanish sands

Getting there was a straight inexpensive direct flight on EasyJet from Gatwick in London.  Until the snow melts and the rains dry up, I guess I will just have to wait to feel warm again.  I have to be content to look at my photos of the Mediterranean while I sit on my couch here, sipping Trader Joe’s imported $5 wines, bundled up in my Snuggie.

Photos by Sharon Castellanos

Warm Mediterranean Waters...ahhhh

With all the rains and heavy snow hitting the west coast and east coast (Hey Boston!), I have been dreaming of Spain again, specifically Southern Spain and the Costa del Sol.  This part of Spain is one of the most popular destinations for Spaniards and tourists alike.  It is also one of my new favorite winter getaways!

We stayed close to the town of Marbella, with its great seafood restaurants, for a week in November.  This resort town reminded me of Carmel and Monterey in California, only better.  Why?  First of all, Marbella boasts that they enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine every year!  During our week there we had only sunshine filled days and temperatures in the mid-70s.  Heaven.

The benefit to going to this area in November is the lack of crowds too.  You have mostly locals who live there year round or like that cabin in Lake Tahoe, people who come for the weekend and holidays to stay in their vacation home.  We loved the low key atmosphere and I have to say there were plenty of restaurants and shops open to satisfy us. No lines and no reservations were needed everywhere we went.

Being in Spain, even in a really nice spa town, there were bargains to be had.  Hitting up the local supermarkets like SuperSol uncovered lots of amazing $5 wines that were clearly more top shelf Robert Mondavi than Two Buck Chuck.  We also had delicious DIY meals like the chicken dinner we got at the strip mall.

Empty but still gloriously warm Spanish sands

Getting there was a straight inexpensive direct flight on EasyJet from Gatwick in London.  Until the snow melts and the rains dry up, I guess I will just have to wait to feel warm again.  I have to be content to look at my photos of the Mediterranean while I sit on my couch here, sipping Trader Joe’s imported $5 wines, bundled up in my Snuggie.

Photos by Sharon Castellanos

Kadir's Tree Houses in Olympos, Turkey: Yes, this is what a backpacker's resort looks like.

I think I was in Prague (does anyone really remember their time in the Czech capitol) when fellow travelers in the hostel first told me of a backpacker’s paradise in Olympos, Turkey: tree house hostels, ancient ruins and roadside chickens near a secluded spot on the Mediterranean coast. Visions of Ewok’s danced in my head, but I decided to extend my trip further south and east than I’d originally intended anyway. After all, it was February, I was in Prague (I think) and when I didn’t have a belly full of absinthe, Czechvar and goulash, I was really cold. Plus, I’d always wanted to pummel an Ewok.

As P. Ling notes  in “When in Olympos, Head for the Trees,” the area has several tree house hostels from which to chose. I went with Kadir’s as the word from other backpackers was that it was the original tree house hostel and still the best. And after a 15-hour bus trip from Istanbul, it was also the first hostel I encountered and I really needed a shower and clean toilet.

You'll walk by these ancient ruins on your way to swim in the Mediterranean Sea from Kadir's Tree Houses.

The trip was worth it though: after two-plus months of churches, castles, museums and drinking, it was nice to cut out the churches, castles and museums. Breakfast and dinner are included at Kadir’s and there’s a bar there too, which left me with little else to worry about. For the next five days I relaxed, hiked to the Chimera Flames, read, sat on the beach, had delicious lunches at the nearby Bayram’s Tree Houses, over indulged in Turkish wine by the fire at night and danced my butt off at Kadir’s bar. In the warmer months, Kadir’s also offers rock climbing, diving, sea kayaking, canyoning and mountain biking. Kadir’s and Olympos is one of those destinations where a planned four-day stay easily turns into a week or two.

If you’re visiting Kadir’s in the colder months, shell out the extra money for a bungalow with an attached bathroom. Sticking with my policy of only staying in the cheapest room available, I slept in one of the five-bed tree house rooms. I only had one roommate, which gave me ample room to spread out my gear in the clean room. But I gladly would have traded that luxury not to have to put on my jacket and beanie in the middle of the night when I went to use the bathroom.

One other piece of advice: cheap Turkish wine is cheap for a reason (not that my tip will stop you).

Rooms range from 15 yo 60 YTL depending on the size and season.

Olympus, Turkey offers a pleasing view of the fine Mediterranean Sea.

Kadir’s Tree Houses
Olympos, Turkey
90 242 892 12 50
treehouse@superonline.com

Photos: Zach Everson