Chasing the September sun…

Chasing the September sun, myself and my boyfriend and two friends headed off to Palma in Mallorca. I had lots of questions about where we stayed, what we got up to, where we ate etc, so I thought I would pop a round up on my blog as I know it’s a popular destination! I had never been to Mallorca before, and I fully fell in love with Palma, so much so that I think I’d love to get married there one day!

We caught a late flight on Thursday evening, and arrived into Palma at around 10pm. We checked into Hotel San Francesc, and our friends checked in to Hotel Mama.

Hotel San Francesc

This hotel has to be one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed at. The attention to detail is absolutely incredible, and the decor is just out of this world. I took so many photos as inspiration for when we start to decorate our new house. It’s in an old manor house and they have kept so many original features. The staff were amazing, so helpful and friendly. The rooms were beautiful, maybe a tad small but we didn’t mind. Ours had a terrace outside which was lovely to sit at on an evening. Breakfast was delicious with lots of choice and the pool… the roof top pool absolutely made it. It is surrounded by stunning architecture and churches and had such a lovely chilled vibe there. I would 100% recommend you stay here.

The rooftop pool/bar area at Hotel San Francesc

More of the interior decor of Hotel San Francesc

Hotel Mama

As I mentioned, our friends stayed at Hotel Mama, which equally they absolutely loved. It is a more traditional hotel, less modern but still amazing decor, and it overlooks a lovely square and the main library of Palma which is a beautiful building. The rooms were more spacious than at Hotel San Francesc, but the pool was much smaller and the rooftop area not quite as nice. Hotel Mama does have a spa though too.

Thursday evening

The first night, it was so late so we just grabbed some tapas in Cappucino, which is a restaurant within Hotel Mama. The food was lovely and it was just what we needed.

We headed to bed and got up early the next morning as we had booked a boat trip.

Friday: Boat Trip

View of the Marina in Palma from the boat we hired.

This break was a last minute decision, only booking it a few days beforehand so we didn't have anything pre planned. One thing we really wanted to do was go on a boat trip though. We asked the hotel to organise one and they came back with a crazy expensive price, so I decided to do a little research and I came across a website called samboat.com - it was essentially like an air b&b for boats, you can see pictures, availability, prices, reviews and you can book it straight through the website. I managed to find a lovely looking boat on Thursday at around 5pm, and managed to book it for the following day at 10am. It was much more reasonably priced too. Moments after I booked, (you have to put your card details in, but they only take payment if the owner of the boat confirms your booking), the owner had confirmed and had whatsapped me to tell me the location of the boat and what time we had to be there.

The boat itself was lovely, the captain Benjamin and his crew member were so helpful too. He had paddle boards and snorkels we could use too. You can rent the same boat here: https://www.samboat.com/boat-rental/palma/yacht/46325

After the boat trip, we went for lunch at El Pesquero - a fish and seafood restaurant that overlooks the marina. The food was amazing, and it had a lovely atmosphere. We had tapas and a paella - we were recommended this place by the boat captain and also a Spanish friend of mine and it definitely lived up to the recommendations!

Friday evening: Dinner and Jazz

In the evening we headed out for a few drinks, to Bar Abaco - an amazing bar which is so cool inside - I don’t want to spoil it for you too much but I would definitely recommend taking a visit, it was a highlight of the trip! For dinner, we walked a few steps down the road and ate at La Paloma. This was a mix of tapas and main dishes - I had the ribs which were delicious. After dinner, we headed into the opposite bar called Jazz Voyeux - a jazz bar. This was fun for one or two drinks, but its pretty cramped in there and only one man working on the bar.

Saturday: Beach Club

On Saturday we headed to a beach club, La Gran Folie Beach Club, about 30 mins out of Palma. The setting was absolutely beautiful. The pool was gorgeous and you could go into the sea too. It was 50 euro each for a bed on the front. Only thing is there was no music which was kinda strange for a beach club. This beach club was very very chilled and mostly just people relaxing - there were a few children around too. The downside was the terrible service. We went up to the restaurant for our food, it took over an hour to come, the waiters were really rude, only three meals showed up, mine didn't come until everyone was finished and the food wasn’t good at all. The pizza tasted like cardboard and it just wasn’t a good meal at all. It’s such a shame because I loved the setting but I wouldn’t go again because of how rudely we were spoken to. I speak Spanish too so it wasn’t an issue of translation problems. I complained about my burger coming after everyone else was finished and the waitress said back to me “but you still ate it though”, which I thought was really rude.

If you just wanna come for drinks and the nice views, do it. But otherwise, there are others out there. I was recommended UM Beach Portal which is meant to be amazing but we couldn't get a bed there!

Another lovely thing to do on a Saturday is just head to the beach, like Illetes or Es Trenc.

Saturday evening: Dinner in a fortress

The one thing I had booked for this trip was dinner at Cap Rocat hotel. This was absolutely stunning - I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ll let the pictures speak here, because words really couldn't do it justice. There was a wedding going on here too which was magical. This is somewhere I would love to get married!

The dinner was beautiful, it was 90 euro per person for a 7 course tasting menu and all the courses were fab. Would definitely recommend for a special evening. It was around 15 mins outside of Palma.

A wedding that was on when we were at Cap Rocat

Sunday: Shopping and Tapas

On Sunday we chilled by the pool in the morning, then headed into Palma for the rest of the day. Palma is a bit of a maze and every street you walk down takes you to somewhere new and beautiful. The cathedral was stunning, all of the stone buildings were gorgeous and I loved the little tiny side streets with pink and orange buildings with quaint little balconies. We took a trip to ZARA of course, because it’s a right of passage when you’re in Spain. Then headed for lunch at a little tapas place in one of the squares. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, eating ice cream and having a few drinks. Then we headed to the airport to catch our flight home.

Overall, I absolutely loved Palma, and I’m someone who would always go to Ibiza any opportunity I get, but Palma also may have a little place in my heart now too. It’s a beautiful city with so much to do and see. I would probably only spend a weekend here and then if you have longer head into the other parts of Mallorca. I’ve heard Deia is beautiful as is places in the North of Mallorca.

Hope you enjoyed reading what we got up to, and hope it helps you plan your trip!

How to spend a weekend in Palma