The Best New Sustainable Hotels in the World: 2021 Hot List
"Architect and designer Antoni Esteva and his long-time builder and associate Jaume Dalmau are behind some of Mallorca’s most fascinating hotel projects, but this is their best yet. The traditional possessió, or estate, sprawls over 568 acres of glorious countryside in the island’s pristine, out-of-the-way northeast corner, with elements of monastic refuge, farm stay, nature reserve, and exclusive rural hideaway. The property’s core building, a fine Mallorcan mansion whose foundations date from the 13th century, has a fortress-like air. “Rustic minimalism” is Esteva’s stock-in-trade. This strikes first in the whitewashed interior, the predominant use of wood and natural fibers, and the total absence of clutter. Fine contemporary art hangs on the walls and locally-made craft objects are artfully positioned (a hat on a hook, a basket in a corner)—but the rest is silence. All-around wellness is the root of a stay. There is no computer screen on the plain wooden slab that serves as a reception desk, and, perhaps controversially, the mobile phone signal is deliberately blocked in all public spaces. Esteva knows that lip-service to green values simply won’t do anymore—the commitment to sustainability is across the board, and almost everything is biodegradable, locally-sourced, and organic, while the estate has its own biomass plant, solar and geothermal energy, and ecological water-treatment system. Fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, and wine comes from its vineyard. Commercial fizzy drinks are banned from the property; natural infusions and kombuchas are offered instead. If all this might sound too worthy and austere to be truly comfortable, the effect of a few days here is one of deep, transformative relaxation. Es Racó is somewhere, hopes its creator, from which you’ll emerge a changed person. From $630 per night. —Paul Richardson" - CNT Editors
