La Residencia, A Belmond Hotel – which features several times in my novel Daughter of Deià – re-opens today for the 2024 season.
The iconic village hotel celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and has plenty of interesting activities and developments lined up.
Art
This has long been a hotel for lovers of art and, for the third consecutive year, Belmond continues its collaboration with the international art gallery Galleria Continua. As part of the art series MITICO, the French conceptual artist Daniel Buren’s work ‘Descanso Colorado para La Residencia, trabajo in situ, 2024′ will be exhibited at La Residencia from late April.
Following the success of the first edition of ‘Artists in Residencia’ last year, La Residencia and Galleria Continua have launched the second edition. A prestigious committee will select three artists to take part in this programme and create a work of art to be exhibited in the hotel. The winners of three scholarships will be announced on March 31st. The residency programme will include accommodation and a studio on the premises for two months. Now, where’s my easel and paintbrush?
Gastronomy
Last year La Residencia launched its new Tramuntana Grill, which became a guest favourite during the season (I loved the food cooked in the Josper oven). The second phase of the development has enhanced the area around the pool, which is now surrounded by local, white stone terracing and colourful new parasols.
In 2023, the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant El Olivo introduced its new chef, Pablo Armando Aranda, who has previously worked with the renowned Marc Fosh (whose Michelin-starred restaurant is in Palma). For this season, the traditional menu is replaced by a tasting menu of 12 dishes (the Mayurqa Menu) or the reduced version of six plates in the Deià Menu, taking diners on a journey through history to rediscover Mallorcan and Mediterranean flavours. El Olivo also offers vegan menus.
Sustainability
La Residencia is continuing its collaboration with Viti Vinci, the Palma-based atelier that develops aromatic formulas from essential oils of wild plants. That delicious fragrance in the air in the hotel? It was designed exclusively by Viti Vinci and is known as ‘The Essence of La Residencia’. Last year, Viti Vinci created a line of natural bath amenities for the hotel. This year the hotel is offering a tailor-made activity for guests to create their own perfume in the Palma workshop of fragrance maestro, Victor Alarcón,
Honey is another project: in collaboration with the local honey producer Mel Vici, five beehives have been installed in the hotel’s olive grove. The honey is expected to be produced between June and November.
And finally, La Residencia has achieved EarthCheck Silver certification, in recognition of its efforts in implementing sustainable initiatives and strategies. EarthCheck is the leading certification group for sustainable tourism destinations and organisations.
On Your Bike
To celebrate the hotel’s 40th anniversary, a special cycling route will be implemented leading through the Tramuntana mountains and featuring 40 stops at iconic locations on the island. After the effort of a day’s cycling, returning to the comfort and luxury of La Residencia will be bliss.
Congratulations on the 40th, La Residencia! Have a great season.
Jan Edwards ©2024
Cycling photo courtesy of bedrck on Pixabay.
