Inside The Balearics’ Most Beautiful Agriturismo

Just outside Palma, Son Molí Country House is redefining slow luxury in the Balearics, says Jessica Harris.

Hotel Review: Son Molí Country House, Mallorca

Some hotels you visit. Others you sink into – like a deckchair you didn’t know you needed until you sat down and felt every muscle unclench. Son Molí Country House, just outside Palma, is firmly in the latter camp. It’s the kind of place you arrive at with a neatly folded itinerary only to find yourself re-writing it. Read: breakfast, olive oil, pool, nap. 

But beneath that sun-drunk ease is a property with serious intent. Built in 1897 as a working farm, Son Molí spent decades in private hands before becoming a hotel in the 1990s. Following a meticulous restoration led personally by its owner, Mikael Hall (who also helms Palma’s acclaimed Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden), Son Molí Country House finally reopened in 2025, and I am one of the first UK journalists to pay it a visit. ‘We didn’t hire a designer,’ Mikael tells me, smiling. ‘Every decision – lighting, textures, layout – was made to preserve what Son Molí already had: timeless beauty. We added comfort, yes, but never noise. Nothing forced, nothing flashy. Just the right things in the right place.’

I find that ethos everywhere I look: pale lime-washed walls, weathered timber, terracotta underfoot, and soft furnishings woven from the wool of sheep that graze in the Tramuntana mountains all create a quiet harmony. The thick limestone walls and original windmills aren’t architectural gimmicks – they are anchors around which the rest of the design orbits. Modern interventions such as underfloor heating and discreet air-conditioning are folded into the configuration so gently you barely register them, yet they transform the experience.

Mikael is clear about why these details matter. ‘Stone, timber, lime wash… They belong here. They age with grace, breathe with the seasons, and connect you to the land. This isn’t about nostalgia, it’s about grounding the guest in something honest and enduring.’ In other words, these materials aren’t Son Molí’s décor, they’re the DNA of the building.

That same DNA threads through Son Molí’s partnership with the Sonmo estate a 30-minute drive away in the craggy folds of the Tramuntana, which is on a mission to restore Mallorca’s agricultural backbone: producing olive oil from centuries-old trees, using reservoir water to sustain crops through the island’s parched summers, and transforming what was once considered waste (like sheep’s wool) into beautiful, useful objects on restored British looms from the 1920s. The estate also cultivates herbs, almonds and seasonal vegetables, some of which make their way onto Son Molí’s menus. It’s a living example of what Mikael means when he says, ‘Luxury is shifting.’

Premium Suite

‘People want meaning, not marble,’ Mikael says. ‘At Son Molí, the olive oil is local, the air smells of rosemary, and the orange juice and lemonade come from our own trees. Guests can get their hands dirty in the best way. We’re aiming for a future that’s intimate, immersive, and as self-sustaining as possible.’

Guests of Son Molí can visit Sonmo for an afternoon, tasting oil under the shade of gnarled olive branches, learning how water and soil are carefully managed, and meeting the people who coax life from this rocky land. It’s not a staged experience – rather it feels as if you’ve been welcomed into a project mid-story, the pages still being written. ‘No staged folkloric nonsense,’ Mikael concurs. ‘We collaborate with local people we trust – beekeepers, artisans, herbalists. It’s not theatre. It’s a doorway into the real Mallorca.’

Back at Son Molí, the cultural immersion continues. Local artist Pilar Garcia holds open-air painting classes where guests use an easel, a palette of ochres and greens and the space to notice how the light changes as the day unfolds. There’s also a quiet but deliberate integration with the local community: produce sourced from nearby growers, furniture crafted by Mallorcan artisans, evenings where local winemakers pour their bottles under the stars. The result is a hotel that feels woven into the island’s fabric rather than floating above it.

And the kitchen is equally committed to this guiding philosophy. Overseen by a chef who once worked at Mikael’s renowned Palma hotel Can Bordoy, the menu is seasonal and instinctive. Dishes such as confit red mullet with fennel pollen or a chilled almond soup with grapes and marinated aubergine, feel deeply tied to the land and the season. Many of the herbs and vegetables come from the hotel’s own garden or nearby farms, creating a tangible connection between the plate and the place.

Over in the island’s capital, Can Bordoy offers a very different setting but a shared philosophy. Nestled in Palma’s old town within a 16th-century manor that once served as a nunnery, it is lush and inward-looking: a walled garden of arches, ivy and antique furniture. Son Molí, by contrast, is open to the horizon – sunlit, outward, surrounded by the slow pulse of the countryside. Both are masterclasses in sympathetic design, preserving the bones of their buildings while layering in comfort and elegance that never jar.

As Mikael puts it, the goal isn’t simply to give guests a pleasant stay. ‘We hope they slow down. We hope they breathe deeper. We hope they reconnect – with nature, with food, with themselves,’ he says. ‘We want them grounded, barefoot in the grass, feeling the quiet strength of the earth. That’s the real luxury today. And if they leave with a lighter step and a bigger smile than when they arrived, then Son Molí did its job.’

And that’s the magic of this place. You don’t just leave with photographs and a tan: you leave with the scent of rosemary still in your hair, a craving for oil fresh from the press, and the rare sensation of having spent a day without looking at the time. Which, in a world that moves too fast, might just be the most valuable souvenir of all.

BOOK IT

Rooms at Son Moli Country House start from £257 per night, based on two guests sharing a Deluxe Room on a B&B basis. Son Moli is offering guests 25 percent off stays until 15 November 2025, at the new rate of £193 per night. From 2026 rates will start from £290 per night.

Address: Son Moli Country House, Camí de Son Fangos, Llevant, Es Pilarí, Illes Balears, Spain

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Round trip flights from London to Palma generate 434.1kg CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com