Palma’s Saunt Jaume Design Hotel: A Moody, Modernist City Pad Surrounded By Terracotta Tiles And Dreamy Spires

Palma is a sun-drenched Med city in miniature. It’s got the honey-hued architecture of Montpellier; the shady boulevards of Nice. Its culinary scene rivals Rome’s, and that all sits alongside a distinctly Spanish zest for life. It’s a wonder the city itself – rather than the admittedly glorious coastal idylls of the rest of Mallorca – doesn’t draw more attention. It should. It’s the perfect summer city break destination: all sunshine, culture, historic sites, incredible food and drink and salty sea breezes blowing through leafy little streets, with a whole island of beaches, mountains and all manner of other day trips no more than half an hour’s drive away.

And for a city break, you need a city pad – somewhere stylish, central and easy to navigate to and from. Enter, Sant Jaume, a design-forward hotel from the IT Mallorca group. One of six properties in the brand’s boutique portfolio (three within walking distance), this streetside townhouse is the brand’s sleekest address, and a polished bolthole for city adventurers. Behind its discreet historic facade, the interiors are surprisingly urban and sultry: a deep marine blue reception area features strikingly modern furnishings in soft-to-the-touch fabrics and a dramatic installation by Spanish artist Robert Ferrer i Martorell, which rises through a bright, multi-height atrium. Other artworks, including a mind-bending broken-glass sculpture by Jordi Alcaraz Tarradas, whose dimension-twisting art was also commissioned for the hotel group’s pastoral mountain property, Hotel Valldemossa, and vibrant watercolours capturing summer scenes in the city are dotted about between low-leather footstools and moon-like orb lighting.

Sant Jaume’s reception

The hotel sits just down the street from a beautiful gothic church and the Santa Magdalena Convent, where cloistered nuns still serve up traditional Mallorcan pastries from a small wooden hatch. Being based in Palma’s historic quarter – on the atmospheric Carrer Sant Jaume, hence the name – you’ve got chic boutiques, local restaurants and the city’s own mellow version of La Rambla just around the corner.

But it’s the juxtaposition between old and new that really makes Sant Jaume stand out: sultry and sophisticated though it is, guests in search of solitude and sun can follow the streaming rays that light the central atrium up to the top of the historic building, where a rooftop terrace offers jaw-dropping views of nearby church spires, old town terracotta roofs and the elegant, sky-tickling aspect of the elaborate Palma de Mallorca Cathedral.

A Junior Suite

Rooms

Modern and minimalist, the rooms are designed in a soft, sand-toned palette that highlights the distinctive artworks commissioned from a curated selection of artists. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of natural light, and some rooms come with Juliet balconies overlooking the narrow streets below.

There are 36 rooms in total, including several suites. Junior Suites come with private terraces, while the seductively luxurious Suite Sant Jaume boasts its own plunge pool.

All room categories come with smart TVs, music systems, kettles with complimentary coffee and tea, safes and minibars. Bathrooms are cleverly lit, natural-stone sanctuaries, with plush white towels and vast walk-in showers. They’re stocked with amber-glass bottles of IT Mallorca’s signature rosemary-and-mint-scented toiletries – a fragrant delight – along with hairdryers and straighteners.

The standout touch? A thoughtful turn-down service that includes a selection of herbal teas and a travel-size vial of the hotel’s bespoke scent to take home.

A Standard guest room

What’s for breakfast?

Breakfast is a bountiful buffet, complemented by à la carte options. Start with house-made jams and creamy yoghurt, before grazing on local cheeses and charcuterie, seasonal salads, cereals and pastries. To drink, you have coffee, kombuchas and fresh juices. Hot dishes – eggs, any style, porridge and pancakes – can be ordered to your table.

Lunch and dinner

The menu at El Colmado, the hotel’s relaxed all-day diner, offers a selection of tapas – Iberian ham, oil-doused anchovies, Caesar salads, chilled gazpacho and generously heaped cheese boards – alongside more substantial mains – mushroom-stuffed pasta in a cacio e pepe sauce, seafood cannelloni and octopus with a potato and cabbage purée. Guests can dine in the ground-floor restaurant beside reception or upstairs by the pool, but wherever you choose to eat, you’ll find local ingredients at the fore.

The hotel, as seen from Carrer Sant Jaume

Is there a bar?

The restaurant can sort you out with drinks, including cocktails.

Amenities

A highlight of the hotel is the spa concept: you can book out the sauna and pool – which sits in a low-lit, stone subterranean cellar – for an hour and enjoy it all to yourself. Treatments can be arranged separately. All products used are made in Spain and are ethically sourced. There’s also a (very) small gym – we’d suggest asking reception for some good running routes along the scenic coastline or through Palma’s historic streets.

Take the elevator all the way up and you’ll discover Sant Jaume’s biggest drawcard: a serene roof terrace with plunge pool, shaded seating and the odd olive tree. Order cocktails and snacks while you gaze out over the dreamy vista of church spires and tiled red rooftops.

What are the hotel’s eco-credentials like?

Food – where possible – is sourced as locally as can be, giving guests plenty of opportunities to taste Mallorcan-made cheeses, meats and spirits. Pastries and breads are soon to be made in-house. Toiletries are full-size.

What about accessibility?

There’s a ramp for entering the building, a lift to access all floors and some rooms are wheelchair-friendly. Cars can easily pull up outside the hotel entrance.

What’s the crowd like?

Couples in breezy linen co-ords, espadrilles and dark sunglasses. One duo we spoke to said they were staying for a few days in town before renting a car to explore the rest of the island.

Within a short walk I can find…

Ask at reception and the team will gladly point you in the right direction for just about any activity you fancy. For something hands-on, try a Mallorcan cookery class at Moltak, which is set inside a beautifully restored windmill, and you’ll take home the secrets behind Spanish staples like tortilla, paella and creme catalana.

As for nearby sights, Palma Cathedral and the royal Almudaina Palace are a short, sun-drenched walk away, while the city’s beaches are about five minutes’ by car.

The roof terrace

Things I should know

The hotel’s parent group – IT Mallorca – has three other boutique properties in the city, all of which welcome non-guests for coffee, cocktails and dining (and Sant Jaume’s concierge can arrange bookings if required). Down by the waterfront, the wave-gazing Calatrava has a sunny rooftop bar with sweeping views over the Bay of Palma. In the heart of the city, Can Alomar offers a leafy, orange blossom-scented terrace set above one of Palma’s most sophisticated shopping streets, making it ideal for a coffee break with some prime people-watching. Come evening, stroll over to Can Cera, a 17th-century noble’s house turned aesthete’s fantasy home. Take a seat in the cool, tranquil covered courtyard for a pre-prandial cocktail, before diving into a menu of tapas – the same menu as is available at Sant Jaume.