You could call it squaring the circle. Or just plain serendipity. Sir Richard Branson — sitting in the inner courtyard of his latest creation, ebullient as ever — describes it as ‘a dream come true’ and vindication for adhering to his favourite motto: ‘Screw it, just do it.’
Mind you, this particular project has required unrelenting patience, something for which Branson, now approaching his 73rd birthday, is not universally known.
Some 25 years ago, the Virgin boss was alerted via an ex-girlfriend (who a long time ago had dumped him and run off with a man from Majorca) to a ruined 16th-century finca in the Tramuntana Mountains, north-west of Palma, within a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Son Bunyola estate, as it is now called, is set in 1,300 acres of largely abandoned land with access to three miles of craggy coast, much of it only accessible from the sea.
He bought it — and over the next ten years tried, and repeatedly failed, to get planning consent to turn the derelict farmhouse into a hotel. He sold it.
Excellent service: Mark Palmer checks into Son Bunyola, Sir Richard Branson’s new 26-room Majorcan escape
The Son Bunyola estate is set in 1,300 acres of largely abandoned land with access to three miles of craggy coast
It was a blow, but by then he had acquired La Residencia in nearby Deia, maintaining a foothold on the island where he had spent holidays with his parents in the 1960s.
But, reluctantly in 2002, he was forced to sell La Residencia to bolster other frontiers of his empire.
‘Then, out of the blue the man to whom I had sold Son Bunyola got in touch,’ says Sir Richard. ‘He had experienced the same planning difficulties and was offering to sell it back to me for the price I had paid him.’
Fortunately, the unyielding planning officers had moved on — and Sir Richard gained permission to move the builders in.
The result, unveiled this week amid a certain amount of Bransonesque fanfare, is a fabulous 26-room hotel, perched on a ridge, with possibly the most spectacular views of any hotel in Majorca.
It will be even more spectacular once thousands of vines are planted on a series of terraces that stagger down the hill towards a gorgeous little cove, with the Sa Foradada rock standing imperiously in the distance.
Mark learns that the hotel is a ‘dream come true’ for Sir Richard who has long had a connection to Majorca, since holidaying on the island with his parents in the 1960s
The new retreat offers ‘possibly the most spectacular views of any hotel in Majorca’, Mark reveals
The rooms mainly are built around the courtyard, with a circular tower in one corner, a medieval one in another.
At times, it feels like a Moroccan riad, albeit with soft Mediterranean colours (pink, greens, powder blues), exquisite textiles, cheery cushions and outlandishly pretty parasols.
A huge painting of an olive tree hangs on the wall by the marble staircase, the work of Sir Richard’s sister, Lindy.
It doesn’t feel like a hotel, in part because the Palma-based interior designers, Rialto Living, don’t take on corporate work. The result is unstuffy, upbeat, stylish, happy.
The outdoor pool stretches the length of the building — and I count 52 retro sun beds dotted about, each with its own immaculately placed green and white towel rolled up like a delicious Swiss roll.
Staff, most of them from the island, are unfailingly friendly. And the food, overseen by Spanish chef Samuel Galdon (who, in another example of squaring the gilded circle, used to work at La Residencia) is exceptional.
The outdoor pool stretches the length of the building — Mark counts 52 retro sun beds dotted about
Guests dine on ‘exceptional’ dishes – such as burrata and tomato salad – prepared by the Spanish chef Samuel Galdon
‘At times, it feels like a Moroccan riad, albeit with soft Mediterranean colours (pink, greens, powder blues),’ says Mark
Mark writes: ‘It doesn’t feel like a hotel, in part because the Palma-based interior designers, Rialto Living, don’t take on corporate work. The result is unstuffy, upbeat, stylish, happy’
During his stay, Mark joins Sir Richard for some tennis
Perhaps due to the sharp contrast with the apologetic slice of tomato lurking in my cheese sandwich at Gatwick a few hours earlier, Signor Galdon’s burrata and tomato salad, eaten on the sunny terrace shortly after arriving, comes from a parallel universe.
Sir Richard’s pride in Son Bunyola is understandable, his enthusiasm all-encompassing. At one point, he leads a group of us on a two-hour bicycle ride, which starts with a long, steep climb up to the main road.
But here’s the thing. We’re all on e-bikes and hardly break sweat — except, of course, for Sir Richard, who powers his way to the summit entirely under his own steam.
In the evening, the action moves on to tennis, with the former world number two, Tommy Haas, joining Sir Richard for an exhibition doubles match, while a courtside DJ mixes sounds and a barman mixes drinks.
One can almost imagine Boris Becker, who used to own a home on the island, sauntering in with his girlfriend to check it all out.
And, sure enough, that’s exactly what happens.
‘I’m not doing Wimbledon this year,’ says Boris. But at least he won’t be watching it in HMP Huntercombe, where he served part of his prison sentence for hiding £2.5million of assets and loans.
Son Bunyola is less than 20 minutes from Valldemossa, one of Mallorca’s big attractions largely due to its Royal Carthusian Monastery, where the republican polemicist George Sand lived for four months in 1838 with composer Frederic Chopin. In her memoir, A Winter in Majorca, Sand writes witheringly about the island’s ossified structures and class system.
If only she was still with us. A few days at down-to-earth, but uplifting, Son Bunyola would disabuse her of any such grievances.
TRAVEL FACTS
Double rooms at Son Bunyola from £520 b&b, including complimentary minibar, (virginlimitededition.com/sonbunyola, 0800 716 919). EasyJet flies to Palma from £20.99, based on two people flying on the same booking (easyjet.com).
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