Palma Riad

Palma Riad

Carrer Sant Jaume runs quiet through Palma's old town, and Palma Riad gives almost nothing away from the street: no large windows, no open views, just a discreet frontage a short walk from Plaza del Rey Juan Carlos I and the Círculo de Bellas Artes. Behind that reserve sit eleven suites built around the idea of a Moroccan riad, a house that opens inward rather than out, each one named for a city (Essaouira, Marrakech, Asilah) and finished with cave-style bathtubs, Egyptian cotton sheets and Nespresso machines. Rooms run from the 31 square metre Suite Kabila with its street-view balcony to the 70 square metre Suite Sultán, which separates bedroom from living room and sleeps up to four. It is an adults-only address, which sorts the traveller quickly: couples and solo guests after quiet and privacy will find it, families will not. What sets it apart from other addresses in Palma's old town is the Cocktail Bar, pouring from 6pm to 1am after serving breakfast each morning from 8, a proper drinks programme rather than a lobby afterthought. Elsewhere the hotel covers the practical ground without fuss: concierge, laundry and dry-cleaning, room service, a safe-deposit box, a garden terrace, and a nightclub for later still. Pets are welcome for a 50 euro fee plus a 50 euro deposit, airport transfers run 65 euros one way, and nearby public parking costs 25 euros a day, all arranged rather than included. Check-in opens at 3pm, checkout closes at noon. With only eleven rooms and a design built to shut the city out rather than frame it, this suits travellers looking for retreat over spectacle, not those wanting a view with their breakfast. Eleven suites behind a facade that gives nothing away on Carrer Sant Jaume, built inward like a Moroccan riad rather than out toward a view. Adults only, with a Cocktail Bar running 6pm to 1am, so anyone after scale or spectacle should look elsewhere.