In the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, to the southwest of the island of calm, an almost virgin vegetation recalls what this part of the map was like in the year 1450, when the current Castell Son Claret hotel was mentioned for the first time in a document. At that time, the farm was made up of five properties and occupied 132 hectares run by the Santjust family. Today this old Majorcan possession has been converted into a hotel that offers what (almost) nobody else: silence, careful architecture and a unique ecosystem where there is room for gastronomy, the rural and, also, luxury.
It is with the arrival of spring when this old castle shines in all its splendor. At the foot of the Puig de Galatzó (1,027 metres) and very close to the sea, the establishment exudes an atmosphere halfway between the traditional Mallorcan environment and avant-garde design. Despite the fact that the hotel stretches as far as the eye can see, even further (there are marked hiking trails of 3 and 5 kilometres), it only has 43 rooms, 21 of them in the main building (the old castle) and the rest between palm trees, ponds and bougainvillea.
One hundred years ago, one hundred people (almost the same as now) worked on this farm, cultivating the land and taking care of marketing its fruits. Currently, the goal is for customers to savor the charms of the place with their five senses: from the smell of rosemary to the possibility of immersing themselves in the island's Arab past inside the spa.
The immersion begins when guests walk along the avenue of palm trees that leads to the castle and continues through the Mediterranean gardens that give way to the rooms, enveloped in a silence that borders on excellence and decorated with unpretentious luxury.
In this world apart, chef Jordi Cantó is in charge of sending palates on a journey to Sa Clastra. After passing through kitchens such as Nerua (Bilbao), Diverxo (Madrid), Casa Solla (Galicia) and Casa Marcial (Asturias), all of them with Michelin stars, Cantó offers culinary delights that come from very close (such as the fish that arrives de Andratx), although without closing any door.
Sa Clastra owes its name to the central patio, cloister or clastra of the old possessions of Majorca, from where life once flowed into the interior. At Sa Clastra diners are received in the heart of the house, in an open patio. The Balearic lobster, the limpuga (a fish used to prepare traditional seafood recipes), the island's lamb, the Royal pigeon or the sea urchin and king crab sabayons are obligatory stops when traveling to new ports. Without forgetting, vegetarian proposals such as ricotta cappelletti or Mallorcan four-spice rice.
Just below the restaurant is the spa of Arab descent. In 1229, Jaime I's troops surrounded Madina Mayurqa, today's Palma, and thousands of Muslims died, except for a handful of survivors who took refuge in the mountainous area of the island, where they remained hidden.
It is said that a Muslim pilgrim who was heading to Mecca in 902 was blown by the wind to the then unknown Balearic Islands. Some time later, the Emir of Córdoba stormed the five islands, renaming them the Eastern Islands of Al-Andalus. Thanks to this, they became an independent taifa until the invasion of Jaime I put an end to Muslim rule.
The Arab baths are part of this past that the Castell Son Claret hotel vindicates with its Hamman ritual, which includes exfoliating peels with products from La Sultane de Saba. When the massage with almond oil (or with green tea or with orange blossom or with shea butter) begins to take effect, the back, the respiratory tract and the entire body discover other worlds.
The Castell Son Claret hotel is located near Es Capdellà, a town of about 900 inhabitants in the heart of the Serra Tramuntana, in an area declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in the Cultural Landscape category. Cycling fans have a paradise here, especially if they love to use the small plate to ascend to Galilee on a steep, narrow and zigzagging road, with few cars and views from above.
From the hotel it is also possible to go hiking. The most seasoned tend to dare the Puig de Galatzó, a 1,027-meter summit and one of the best viewpoints on the island, as it allows you to see Estellenchs, Puigpunyent, Calvià, even Palma.
However, if the Castell Son Claret hotel stands out for something, named after Gabriel Claret (who inhabited the mansion in the 18th century and gave it his name), it is for its spacious rooms surrounded by nature. Also because of the pool, flanked by the mountains of "the other Mallorca", the one in the interior, the one with the marjades or terraces (terraces cultivated by the Arabs thanks to dry stone retaining walls), the one with the centenary olive trees and the Cobbled streets.
