Portella is a noble hotel in Palma de Mallorca’s old town

After founding Casa Bonay in Barcelona, Inés Miró-Sans has teamed up with brother Enrique to open the doors of a second property in the heart of Palma’s old town. Housed inside a 17th-century former palace, Portella most recently served as a museum dedicated to the Spanish painter Joaquín Torrents Lladó, who lived in the property until his death in 1993.

Escape to Portella, next to Palma’s storied Arab baths

The brother and sister team called upon French design studio Festen and the Mallorca-based Gras Reynés Architects to reimagine the historic property, and as a former private residence, creating a homely feel was central to Festen’s moodboard. Case in point, ten of the 14 guest rooms come with their own kitchen, dressed with creamy limestone walls jazzed up with mustard yellow tiles and coloured glass kitchenware from the family-run Mallorcan glassmakers Gordiola.

The muted colour palette continues into the bedrooms, where layers of natural materials such as wood, stone, and iron have been intentionally chosen to give each room a rich patina over time. To respect local craftsmanship, hand-cut Santanyí stone flooring has been laid in a pattern inspired by the flooring at the next-door Arab baths, and Festen once again tapped into the 400 years of expertise at Gordiola, who have carefully hand-blown the bespoke line of light fixtures.

To add the finishing touches, the design duo drew from their Parisian address book to choose a collection of bedside tables from sculptor and ceramist Séverine Duparcq and a series of abstract paintings from Galerie Française, which still pay homage to Mallorca through their depictions of the island.

Outside of the rooms, guests can gather in the salon on an electric blue sofa designed by Festen and made by local carpenters Decorvasco, which sits surrounded by antique Moroccan chairs and under a Joan Miró lithograph. In the Artist’s Corner, where Torrents Lladó chose to paint due to the light, guests can enjoy the tranquillity once appreciated by the artist to read, relax or meditate.

Alternatively, quiet moments can be spent in the traditional Mallorcan courtyard, up on the rooftop terrace or underground in the former pottery ovens, now transformed into a dedicated wellness area.

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