Of all the Balearic islands, Menorca tends to be the one most overlooked. The upside, though, is that its sun-kissed charms have retained an untrammelled freshness that’s unmarred by the tourist hordes that tend to descend on neighbouring Mallorca and Ibiza.
The Experimental group’s new outpost on the island’s southern edge capitalises on this bucolic quality by tapping the French interior designer Dorothée Meilichzon to convert a 19th-century finca into a light-bathed 43-room retreat.
The result is a soothing swathe of pastel hues washed over a mix of rustic farm furniture, hand-glazed terracotta tiles, timber floor planks and modernist wall panels, the latter a particularly effective motif in the bedrooms.
The sensation of the countryside is reinforced by the capacious 30-hectare grounds, which include the original vegetable gardens, their borders faithfully restored from antique aerial maps. The best rooms in the house are the nine private bungalows which feature plunge pools. §
