Review: Park Hyatt Mallorca

I recently spent nine nights at the brand new Park Hyatt Mallorca using Gold Passport points to pay for the room.
Ever since this property became available to book, they have charged fairly steep cash rates during the peak summer months, starting at about EUR700 a night. Later in the year, in the quieter months, prices fall significantly but I’m not sure how appealing a trip to Mallorca would be for most people during the European winter.

As a Hyatt category 5 property, the nightly rate for an award stay is only 20k points, which is excellent value for such an incredible resort. I don’t imagine that rate will last beyond the next award rate shake up at Hyatt and I’m actually pretty surprised it made it through the last one as a category 5.

I’d been to Mallorca a few times before but always stayed closer to Palma and had never been to the North East corner of the island. The Park Hyatt is about an hour’s drive from the airport and the city of Palma and about a 5 minute drive from the town of Canyamel. One of the things I was most apprehensive about prior to my stay was the location but it turned out to be a massive plus for the property. Within a 15-20min drive from the hotel, there are some amazing beaches and villages that I most likely would never have visited had I not stayed at the Park Hyatt.

Getting to the Park Hyatt

After travelling from Bangkok to Mallorca via Doha and Munich, we were keen to grab our rental car and get to the resort as quickly as possible. Palma airport was, and during summer usually is, crazy busy and chaotic. Trying to be as quick out the door as possible, one of us waited for our luggage and the other went to join the queue at Sixt. This was a stroke of genius. By the time the bags had come off the plane, the line at Sixt would have been another hour but we were already right at the front.

The drive to the Park Hyatt is very scenic and we really enjoyed our hour in the car, just pointing out views to each other and laughing about how many roundabouts there are on the island. The Audi we’d hired had a very polite GPS system, so we were constantly being requested to “Please take the second exit to continue on ….”

The property is set against a backdrop of the Cap Vermel national park and has breathtaking views from just about everywhere. The grounds are entered via a long driveway from the main road and approaching the entrance we were getting some great views of the resort, which is modeled on a hilltop Mallorquian village.

Check-in

At check-in we were offered a drink and got through all the formalities pretty quickly. As a diamond Hyatt member, I was offered a choice between a Park View King and a Park Deluxe King. I was advised to accept the Park View King even though the Park Deluxe is a higher category and I agreed that a great view trumped a small garden.

As soon as check-in was complete we were taken up to the room in a golf buggy and were very happy with our choice in room category. The view was fantastic from the balcony and after seeing the Park Deluxe rooms on the way up, we would definitely have had less privacy had we gone the other way.

Room and grounds

The room was 50sqm and decorated with luxurious modern finishes, as you would expect at a new Park Hyatt resort. The bathroom had a heated floor, Japanese style toilet and Bottega Veneta toiletries. Nice.

The grounds of the property are spread up the hill from the area around reception, where the pools, restaurants and “village square” are all located.

Every time we were walking back to our room during our stay we were asked if we wanted a lift back up in a buggy but we enjoyed walking around the property too much and kept finding new routes up through the maze of stairs and gardens.

There are three pools at the resort. The main pool is located next to the pool bar and has a separate children’s pool area.

The second pool is smaller and up a ramp from the main pool and bar and the third is more like a jacuzzi. The jacuzzi had cold water when I stuck my foot in but there is a sign that has some warnings regarding hot water so maybe during the cooler months it’s heated. We mostly opted to hang out in the second pool as it was quieter and even though it was a bit further from the bar, that didn’t matter at all as we were given a button that we pressed for service whenever we wanted a drink. Amazing touch.

Restaurants

Breakfast was exceptional every day with a cold buffet section which included Spanish hams and cheeses, breads and fruit as well as a hot buffet section with Spanish tortillas, bacon, sausages, potatoes etc. Each morning we also ordered eggs with sides, cappuccinos and mimosas. Everything was incredible and I’m struggling to think of a hotel breakfast better anywhere I’ve stayed.

For lunch we were usually out and we never got around to trying the Asia restaurant but we did have dinner at Balearic once and at Tapas several times. At Balearic, we had the seafood paella, which was delicious and massive! We did our best but didn’t come close to finishing it.

At Tapas we tried just about everything on the menu and can honestly say it’s impossible to order a bad dish. Without exception, every single item on the menu is spot on. They also have a fantastic wine and drinks menu that we had a good crack at getting through and loved it all. The Mallorquian beer called Nau and the rose from Felanitx were our favourites.

Service

At the time of our stay, the property had only been open for a few weeks and I was blown away with how polished the service was from every member of staff we encountered. I’ve stayed at a handful of hotels in their infancy and have always experienced varying degrees of teething problems but that just didn’t happen here. I guess that justifies the lack of much in the way of any soft opening rates. There were a few staff who had come from other Hyatt properties but the majority were from Mallorca and they were all just fantastic.

Getting around the island

There is no way I would visit this resort without a car. The surrounding beaches such as Cala Mesquida and Cala Agulla as well as the beautiful towns of Arta and Capdepera are stunning and it would be a massive shame to come to this part of the island without visiting them.

We also went much further exploring towns like Soller and beaches such as Cala Llombards and Es Trenc and it would not have been the same holiday without having had the freedom to get around the island.

The roads are all in great condition and it’s really scenic, easy driving. Very enjoyable in a convertible as well!

Would I go back?

We loved every second of our stay and will definitely be back, particularly if it remains a category 5 property long enough for me to build up my Gold Passport balance. Nine nights was a good amount of time but I would have been happy to never leave.