Hotel De Mar, the « Chocolate Palace » Di Mallorca with all the sea view rooms (and a boat)
Designed in the 1960s by the Catalan architect Coderech, the Gran Melià – 5 stars on the Coast of Illetes – has now inaugurated a Riva Lounge
« The chocolate palace », as the taxi drivers also call it. Because in the midst of many white and beige buildings, all built close to the sea south of Palma di Mallorca, theHotel De Mar – Gran Melià Di Mallorca It is the only different: it is entirely covered with brown rectangular ceramic tiles that resemble, in fact, to chocolate tablets.
It was 1962 when the hotelier Bartomeu Joan Boadas Mayor commissioned The Catalan architect José Antonio Coderech to design a 5 star on the Coast of Ilesfront: a building came out with a « V » shape, to remember the bow of a boat with the corner directed towards the sea. Balanced and clean linesall in the shades of brown, in the coating but also in the flooring of the external areas: which is then the same color that is found in the garden and on the beach, together with the green and blue of the sea. Coderech brought his simple style here and combined it with the natural atmospheres of the Balearics with whom he had fallen in love on a trip to Ibiza, in the 1940s: the idea is to create the least detachment possible between the built building and the Mediterranean landscape around.
Inaugurated in 1964, from the Hotel de Mar they passed Mirò, of which several works are hung in the common spaces, but also Gio Ponti and the American architect Frank Lloyd Wrightthat leaving a comment to the hotel underlined the ability of « integration ».
And now, upon reopening for the 2025 season, the combination with the new works well Riva Lounge inaugurated in April, which remarks the same colors: inspired by the style of the shore boats, The counter and tables in a strict mahogany They recall the top of the bow blankets of the brand’s motorboats. The Hotel De Mar – 5 Stars « Adults Only » (the boys are accepted from 15 years of age) – is the only hotel in Spain to host a Riva Lounge, which is added to the Yacht Club de Monaco in Montecarlo, the Gritti Palace in Venice and the Jeddah Yacht Club in Saudi Arabia: the lounge is part of a more collected inner dying area, a more collected Rivée space and an outdoor terrace.
And for those who want a Revamare motorboat It is available to guests (internal and also external): you can rent for one day or half day trips, to reach for example some of the best beaches and coves of Majorca, many reachable only by sea. An idea could also be to make a stop on the terrace of the other Gran Melià, theVictoria hotelright on the tourist port, or you can naturally opt for an aperitif on the boat.
Of the Hotel de Mar – with Rooms All Sea View (from bed) and linear design, almost Nordic – also include a spa, with yoga space by the sea, the Bonbon Beach Club Signed Alberta Ferretti e The gourmet restaurant Because (which means « roots »), reported by the Michelin guide, where the chef Marga Coll Prepare dishes inspired by typical Maiorarchina cuisine using fresh and seasonal raw materials in a room overlooking the sea, with cushions and « ikat » decoration curtains, traditional design typical of the island in bright colors and « blowing » lines. A curiosity: the cutlery are placed on the table in a cloth case with various compartments, as many as the courses, with the indication of using « from left to right ». No doubts to the Pretty Woman.
