By morning, spa manager Melanie is dispensing caviar collagen
treatments to pampered human guests at
Belmond’s La Residencia but, come afternoon, it’s the hotel’s
resident donkeys that are receiving the five-star treatment. Beauty
expert and donkey whisperer in seemingly equal parts, Melanie
feeds, grooms and cuddles her four-legged charges daily.

The five VIP residents were originally brought to the hotel as
living, breathing lawnmowers and, with endless pastures on the
estate, they must have felt as if they were in an edible
palace.

Visitors can book to explore a hiking trail across the Belmond
estate with the loveable beasts every Thursday. In the summer
months, if the heat is too intense, meet-and-greet sessions are
laid on instead. Armed with grooming brushes, guests are invited to
muck in and can expect a dense tangle of fur to fly off each donkey
as toasty winter coats are shed.

However, it’s the trail that represents the best adventure.
Strolling through the Unesco-designated hilltops, you’ll find few
views more breathtaking than your first of Deià. The village’s
gardens are a whirlwind of colour, while the skyline more closely
resembles a watercolour painting than real life. At the end of a
trek through mountain olive groves, taste buds will be tempted by a
picnic lunch in a traditional stone shepherd’s hut, before you’ll
follow in the trusty donkeys’ footsteps back to the hotel.

Animal lovers need not fear – hikes take place only once per
week to avoid overtiring the donkeys, while the rest of their
working week entails little more than grazing. That seems much
easier – and, in the donkey world, more delicious – than the work
of the on-site gardening team.

If your brand of reality show is more The Simple Life than Love
Island and you were one of the many laughing along with hapless
Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie in the era when they took on the
farm lifestyle without a single credit card or creature comfort in
sight, then finca tourism might just be for you. However, unlike
heiress Paris’s fate on the show, there are no TV cameras rolling
and guests can retreat to the shade of an air-conditioned hotel
room after a hike to enjoy a chilled sangria.

Farms – or, in Spanish, “fincas” – are dotted around the many
fertile parts of the island, producing olives, oranges, lemons and
many more delights besides. Farm stays are offered for a variety of
budgets, although one of the top options for overnighters is Ca’s
Xorc. At the summit of a bumpy rural track are a handful of
friendly sheep from neighbouring fields, who will trot over and
surround your car in welcome, the bells around their necks jangling
wildly as they do. Nature is constantly audible here, even if just
the chirping of cicadas, although it’s the visual panoramas that
impress the most, presenting nature in the raw.

For those preferring a day trip, Artestruz is a working farm
deep in the Campos countryside that offers guests the opportunity
to feed and cuddle ostriches. The on-site café serves up the birds’
eggs – typically so huge that just one of them is equivalent to two
dozen chicken eggs.

The show-stopping views of Deià have inspired many creatives.
For example, erotic novelist Anaïs Nin wrote a story based here –
no doubt the literary equivalent of a Love Island tryst, albeit
more poetic. Travellers can also visit the former house of poet
Robert Graves. However, perhaps the best literary connection of all
can be found in the sleepy but scenic village of Valldemossa, home
to the monastery where novelist George Sand stayed with her pianist
lover, Frédéric Chopin. According to legend, her daughter, Solange
– enraged that Chopin had replaced her father – disguised herself
as the ghost of a monk and sinisterly appeared when he was alone in
bed one morning. Terrified that his desires had angered the souls
of the dead, the superstitious Chopin begged monastery staff for
absolution, but was told he could only achieve it if he abstained
from sex. While in Mallorca at least, Solange, the manipulative
mistress of cunning, had succeeded in tearing her mother’s
relationship apart. The Carthusian monastery where they lived in
1838-9 is open to visitors.

Other pleasures that await include the remote town of Artà and
its preserved 14th-century walled fortress, Santuari de Sant
Salvador. Offering astonishing views, its summit could be described
as “beauty for all budgets”. Plus, as the location where locals
would climb to escape pirate attacks, it’s rich in history, too.
The sweeping vistas arguably put Nice’s Castle Hill and Barcelona’s
Montjuïc to shame, but minus the crowds – here, even in mid-summer,
it’s possible to find yourself totally alone.

The nearby Caves d’Artà, once a hiding place for Arabs during
Christian conquests, offer a sound-and-light display with
depictions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. Jules Verne – an author
whose work has been translated more times than William
Shakespeare’s – once visited, and was inspired to write his 1864
novel Journey To The Centre of The Earth.

The ascent up the cliff road to the luxurious Jumeirah Port
Soller hotel is an attraction in its own right. Once you’ve
dispensed with your luggage, walk this steep stretch by foot at
least once – it’s an exhilarating experience. Your efforts will be
rewarded with perhaps the best views of the island that it’s
possible to get outside of Deià. Ensconced in this hilltop
paradise, guests can choose from an array of activities, both
offbeat and conventional. It’s possible to visit an 18,000sq m
orange orchard and taste some organic juice, or to indulge in some
wine-tasting at a family-run vineyard. Capitalising on the island’s
Rafa Nadal connection, the hotel will also be happy to book guests
onto training sessions at the tennis legend’s prestigious academy.
After all the exercise, relax in one of the hotel restaurants and
linger over a meal while enjoying panoramic views of the island. We
recommend the mouth-watering Soller prawns with black rice.

Elsewhere, continuing the theme of dramatic coastal roads, Sa
Calobra – one filled with so many suspenseful hairpin bends that it
has been described as “Trollsteigen on steroids” – is also sure to
satisfy.