Review: Park Hyatt Mallorca

The Park Hyatt Mallorca is a shining city on the hill…literally.  As you wind your way through the island of Mallorca your first glimpse of the hotel is a glistening pink village set against a picturesque backdrop of green mountains and blue sea.

^{The Park Hyatt Mallorca is a shining pink city on a hill}

The hotel is not close to Palma Mallorca International Airport (PMI), the island’s main commercial airport, so be prepared for a 75km journey to get from the airport to the hotel. Renting a car is your best option, at least for now, as the hotel currently does not charge for parking. Car rentals are as cheap as 15EUR/day and although the drive covers a sizable distance, you will encounter only limited traffic. Other transport options include shuttle busses (cost about 12EUR one-way) or the hotel will pick you up for 90EUR.

^{Long Driveway to Hotel} 

Building the hotel was no easy effort, as part of the mountain surrounding it was carved up to make room for the property. Up until last week, the hotel was so new that the Google Maps satelite imagery still showed open land — this week the image has been udpated to include the hotel.

The result, though, is an extremely secluded property that is quiet…very quiet all day long. You can sit out on your patio or ground floor garden deck (a feature of each room) and enjoy the ambience of silence.

I arrived around noon, about nine hours prior to my brother. I wasn’t worried about the room not being ready because I figured the hotel probably had pretty low occupancy in just its first month of operation and that even if not I could find somewhere to enjoy a cappuccino and get some work done.

Check-in is in a cozy room that resembles a library, with two desks offering a more personalized experience than a check-in counter. I was offered a room upgrade to a deluxe room but Makato suggested that I stick with a regular room because it would have two beds and be on a higher level with a better view. No problem, I stated.

But having read Charlie’s review just a week before, I thought it would not hurt to ask, “Do you have any better rooms available?” Makato understood my polite request for a suite and began typing on his computer, finally stopping nearly two minutes later and stating that he could offer me a Park Suite for my stay. The catch was it was not ready yet, but I could wait in the Living Room next door until it was.

It always pays to ask. I assume the upgrade came because I asked nicely, the hotel was lightly filled, and I had Diamond status. I certainly did not alert the hotel in advance that I was coming to write a review about it.

The hotel, by the way, runs about 700-800EUR a night which is simply not worth it. The hotel has 168 rooms so is a larger Park Hyatt property and I think that the value of the hotel is closer to 300-400EUR/night. In the Gold Passport program, the hotel is a Category 5 property, meaning 20,000 points per night for the room. There was no question that I would use points for this stay. I hate spending that many points and I need the stay credit to requalify for Diamond, but 700EUR/night? Sorry, no.

I start the review off with that preface so that you can understand that unless you are eligible for a good corporate rate or have the points, you might want to monitor this property to see if prices drop before booking. I cannot in good conscience recommend it at that price if you are traveling from far-distant places.

Nevertheless, the hotel is simply wonderful. There are a few kinks to work out, which I will address below, but in terms of luxury and comfort I truly loved it and would not hesitate to return. For those living in Continental Europe, it makes a wonderful weekend getaway. It seemed that most of the staff was trilingual in Spanish, English, and German (Mallorca is a very popular destination for German holidaymakers). 

Returning to Makato, while I was waiting for my room to be prepared he invited me to make myself comfortable in the Living Room, which is across a breezeway from the check-in room. With floor to ceiling book cases and dark wood, the room has a very attractive look to it. He asked me if he could offer me a drink and I requested cappuccino, noticing there was an Nspresso machine in the room.

Apparently the machine did not foam milk but Makato did not bat an eye, telling me he would be right back and hustling up to one of the restaurants to make a cappuccino for me. That was going the extra mile and that superb level of service must define the property if really wants to price it as high as it does now.

Park Hyatt Mallorca Room

Presently the room was ready and I was brought up in a golf cart to the top of the hill where my building, Limoneto, was. Guest rooms are housed in a series of buildings rather than one large building, each named after a tree. My room was on the ground floor of a three-story building.

Park Hyatt Mallorca King Suite

As I opened the door and stepped into my room, my first thought was…wow…this is beautiful. Indeed, the suite was beautiful. On the far side was a round dining table followed by a modern sculpture, a work area with a desk and two chairs, a couch, large coffee table, and two more chairs, followed by a door leading into the bedroom. An iPad on the desk contained hotel information and an app to order room service.

The bedroom was large and featured a walk-in closet on one side, a desk and table adjacent to the bed, which had a large chaise in front of it, and a bathroom on the other side that featured a huge mirror above a double sink, bath tub, water closet with toilet and bidet, and a shower.

The bath amenities were specially made for the hotel (as opposed to the usual Bergamo soaps and shampoos found at Park Hyatts) and had a magnificent scent, so good I took home the leftovers.

The first thing the bellhop told me was, “Sir, you have three TVs in here. Let me show you.” A small push-button device that resembled car keys was sitting at the based of the bed. Pressing it brought up a TV that had was stored inside the bed frame.

The bathroom also had a TV built into the mirror and a huge big screen TV was mounted to the wall in the living room.

While we are on the subject of the TV, let me note that the late-model Samsung in the main room and bedroom were so “hotel safe” there were not any buttons and most of the buttons on the remote control were disabled. The hotel had a HDMI cable for connecting a laptop, but the “source” button was disabled so it was impossible to make it work (without hacking it).

A word on the internet. It worked very well in the main room but did not function in the bedroom. Perhaps the wall was concrete, but this was the only very serious problem I encountered during the stay and is totally unacceptable. I mentioned it upon check-out and it was indicated that I was not the only one who had experienced issues with the internet. This is a problem this hotel must nip in the bud – even if it means adding extra routers inside each suite bedroom.

But a beautiful room, isn’t it? I forgot to point out the guest bathroom just to the left of the entrance.

But that was not all. There was also a beautiful terrace outisde stretching the length of the suite:

There was also a door at the far end of the room near the dining room table that was left unlocked and led to a hallway connecting my room with the room next door. At first I thought our room was just bigger, but then realized upon stepping into another hallway that I was in the guest room next door. Thankfully there were no guests next door – I would have felt very awkward walking in on someone.

I did note step in again, but I figured I might as well photograph it.

For your reference, this is what a standard room looks with two twin beds looks like—

Park Hyatt Mallorca Twin Room

Park Hyatt Mallorca Dining

Having arrived around midday and not been offered much onboard my Iberia flight from Madrid, I went to Café Sa Plaça for lunch. I’ll be honest – I wanted a hamburger, but there was not one on the menu (there is one on the poolside and room service menu). Instead, I ordered a “chorizo hot dog” with another cappuccino.

I love chorizo and so I must force myself never really to think about what chorizo actually is. But for 8EUR I was pleasantly surprised at what a substantial meal this turned out to be and it by far the cheapest meal available in the resort.

Approaching my 30^th birthday, I’m pretty set in my ways but for whatever reason I have grown to like olives over the last year after shunning them for the previous 28. Served with the sandwich was a delicious combination of black and green olives. French fries were also thrown in it.

My brother arrived at the hotel late from Hamburg, around 9:30pm, and had not eaten. I had been napping for several hours. The hotel restaurants close at 10pm but we noticed the Tapas Bar – which has a really swanky look to it – was open late and opted to eat there for dinner. 

We arrived, were directed to sit where we liked, and waited. And waited. And waited. 15 minutes. Finally, an extremely friendly waitress came up with drink menus. Though we had arrived at 9:57p, she informed us that the kitchen was closed and that we could only order drinks or a few cold tapas items (cheese, cold cuts, olives…). We indicated, gently and without demand, that we had not eaten and she immediately said she would check and see if hot tapas could still be prepared. She returned moments later and said yes. We ordered drinks and a few hot tapas items (scallops, meatballs, potato wedges).

Two comments on the food. One, it was delicious. Two, it was expensive. I’ve commented on pricing already and note that this is a very luxurious hotel on a beautiful part of Mallorca – just be prepared to pay if you eat your meals at the hotel (unless you eat a lot of chorizo hot dogs…) 

Another example: I had a glass of fresh squeezed apple juice at the Poolside bar – 8EUR. Delicious, but 8EUR for a glass of juice that was 1/2 ice?

3km away is the village of Canyamel and that is filled with reasonably-priced eateries. My brother and I ate at a little restaurant our second night for 48EUR—

Two sangrias, two appetizers, two salads, and two main courses were cheaper than the tapas bill. Was the quality compromised? Absolutely. Would I eat at the hotel? Yes, but not every meal.

Breakfast was another paradox, served at Balearic. A cold buffet with hot items available by request: that’s fairly standard. Quality was great and there was even a selection of fresh berries. Good coffee and juices, nice breads and cereals, and the hot items were all good.

But the hotel needs some work on service delivery – I would not say the restaurant was understaffed, but we often had to flag down wait staff to order coffee or hot items. On the first morning, we were totally ignored until we waved someone to come over. Coffee came out very slowly and there was not coordination among staff – rather than an assigned waiter or waitress, everyone seems to roam. So when one came to remove plates, we ordered another coffee. Five minutes later a different waitress came over to check on us and we stated that we had ordered more coffee. Ten minutes later, four cups of coffee arrived.

The good news is that the quality of food is great, the staff is exceedingly kind, and these service shortfalls will probably quickly work themselves out. The hotel has been open for less than a month. I noticed that a Hyatt corporate auditor was present (at one point she rudely barked orders to the staff) and I would not let this imperfect service deter you – I would return even if the service does not improve.

We had afternoon coffee back at Café Sa Plaça on Saturday (and Sunday) and Sandy cajoled me into ordering “the best croissant in Spain” with my cappuccino. Wow, she was right. Absolutely delicious. But the macaroons my brother ordered were even better. A delicious afternoon snack.

Park Hyatt Mallorca Pool

The hotel has two pools (one is geared toward children) and an outdoor (cold) jacuzzi. Two pool attendants roam the pool area offering food and beverage. When you arrive, you are given a little buzzer that you can press whenever you want to order food or need something.

As I mentioned above, I had fresh apple juice by the pool that was quite delicious. My brother had a beer. The pool menu features a full beverage menu and many hot and cold items. The pool attendants also came around frequently with cold towels and at one point came around with a tray of cups filled with a very refreshing ice tea.

Park Hyatt Mallorca Serinitas Spa

I used the Serinitas Spa all three days at the property and all three days I was the only guest in the spa. It was my little hidden oasis! Inside each locker room is a gender-segregated sauna, relaxing area, lockers, and showers. A single steam room is available in one of the treatment rooms, which I used each day…because I was the only one there.

Outside is a jacuzzi and relaxing area.

The staff was absolutely wonderful in the lounge – very kind eager to help. On the second day there was a power outage in the spa and the sauna and steam room were turned off when I arrived. The staff apologized profusely and offered to call me as soon as the sauna had heated up.

Park Hyatt Mallorca Fitness Center

Separate from the spa building is a fitness center, located near the pool area. It is not a large gym, but it is more than adequate. Sadly, I’ve had some excruciating lower back pain lately (seems like a pinch nerved) so have been on a regimen of Advil rather than free weights.

CONCLUSION

I love the quality of this hotel – the stonework, the details, the artwork, and the landscaping. I think this hotel is going to age very well. The price of the hotel is steep and there were a few service issues that need to be resolved in the restaurants and with internet, but in terms of facilities and room, the hotel exceeded my expectations and is a great addition to the Park Hyatt portfolio. June weather was beautiful in Mallorca and I would certainly return. The complimentary upgrade to suite will not happen again, I suspect, once the hotel starts filling up, but was a nice treat. Well done Hyatt.