Introducing Son Vell

January 5, 2024 by Hidden Doorways

Set on the mellower of the Balearic Islands where you’ll uncover sun-splashed shores with golden sands, whitewashed villages and rolling countryside peppered with pine forests and edged with dramatic cliff faces, welcome to Menorca’s crown jewel resort, Son Vell.

This extensive 200-hectare estate is home to a majestically restored manor house that’s been breathtakingly transformed into a place to call home for guests from far and wide. Just 34 bedrooms — six in the main house and the remaining suites nestled in Son Vell’s landscaped gardens — means intimacy is a constant here. Its quarters, its meandering pathways and its two pools promise a sense of atmosphere but never at the sacrifice of your peace and privacy. Everything at Son Vell is balanced finely, precisely, perfectly in fact.

Part of the Vestige Collection, a family-owned business known for rescuing remarkable historical buildings and reimagining them into destinations for the discerning traveler, Son Vell has kind intentions baked into its very foundations. Vestige prides itself on using the highest quality architectural restoration methods to delicately bring properties back to life so that they can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come. During Son Vell’s restoration specifically, they uncovered two original lime kiln chimneys — both now impressive features in the hotel’s bar and lounge. This is sustainable tourism from the ground-up but also a historical passage through time.

The story specific to Son Vell’s past life takes you back to the 18th-century. Son Vell’s principal building is its arched window, terracotta-topped, marés sandstone-lime-and-clay manor, though ancient outbuildings, a working farm, fertile fields and countless fruit-bearing citrus trees, rose gardens and olive groves are just as important in its character profile. Features such as these are yours to soak up and savor during your stay, enjoying cobbled courtyard cortados by day, garden suite siestas post-lunch and inspiring Menorcan cuisine and bespoke cocktails served by Son Vell’s talented mixologists when the stars come out to play.

When bed beckons, there’s a word or two more to say on Son Vell’s accommodations. Just as the rest of the hotel has been decorated to honor the past with traditional and natural materials alongside a combination of salvaged antiques and modern comforts, so are its tranquil suites and bedrooms. All supremely luxurious, all immediately restful, and all with captivating views be it of the glittering coast from the main house bedrooms or the island’s flora from the garden suites, rooms and suites don’t do them justice. Son Vell has carved out healing sanctuaries for each of its guests. We especially appreciate its Garden Junior Suite Sunset though, named so for its well-positioned private terrace where you can observe endless skies from your own double canopied Balinese day bed night after night.

Moving away from talk of rest and onto matters of play, Son Vell’s team have curated a wealth of island activities to keep you entertained during your stay. The aim? To connect you to the land and its waters to take you on a conscious journey of discovery. Go on a guided hike to secret locations, roam the island on horseback, by bike, or by jeep and leave no stone unturned, or pad 10 minutes to the estate border where you’ll meet the Camí de Cavalls. Follow its snaking path and walk to your heart’s content as it ribbons its way around the island, leading you to some of Menorca’s most ravishing hidden beaches. 

And to keep you sustained throughout your days of discovery is the mouthwatering menu served at Son Vell. Local specialties created using the freshest produce are served at its two restaurants — the more relaxed Sa Clarisa where dishes are enjoyed in dappled shade and gentle sun and the finer Vermell that opens in the evening.  Remembering Son Vell’s estate kitchen garden, much of its ingredients are cultivated on its own vegetable patches, favoring food steps rather than food miles wherever possible.

The best of all worlds gifted to you in a setting that is in fact other-worldly, Son Vell is calling…

Contact:

Son Vell

Email: reservations-sonvell@vestigecollection.com

Website: www.vestigecollection.com/son-vell