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Review: The St Regis Mardavall hotel in Mallorca, Spain

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HfP in the Balearics

This is our review of the St Regis Mardavall hotel in Mallorca, Spain.

It is the first review in our ‘HfP in the Balearics’ series in partnership with Marriott Bonvoy, who very kindly provided the stay. We paid for all other expenses, including flights. We also reviewed the Sheraton Mallorca, Castillo Hotel Son Vida (Mallorca) as well as the W Ibiza (review here).

St Regis is one of Marriott Bonvoy’s smaller brands, with around 50 hotels worldwide. It became part of Bonvoy when Marriott bought Starwood in 2016.

St Regis Mardavall sign

There are a few defining features about the St Regis brand which set it apart from The Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott, which Marriott categorises as ‘classic luxury’. These include butler service and the ‘Evening Ritual’, which is usually the sabring of a bottle of champagne.

The hotel website is here.

Location

The St Regis Mardavall Resort is nestled on Mallorca’s southwest coastline between Palma and Magaluf, about 20 minutes drive from Palma Airport. It is fairly new and opened in 2002.

The hotel is spread across four buildings, each with five floors, and all 125 guest rooms and suites look out onto the Mediterranean:

St Regis Mardavall Resort overview

It is not as imposing as this aerial photo makes it look. The hotel feels fairly compact – I didn’t actually realise there were four buildings until someone told me!

Underground valet parking is available for €19.50 per day, or you can self park down the side of the hotel for free. Most people seem to arrive by taxi, however. Several porters are always on hand to help you with your bags.

Check in

At the centre of the hotel is an impressive full-height atrium with skylight and spectacular chandelier:

St Regis Mardavall lobby

Whilst a small reception desk is tucked away to the left of the entrance, check in is actually carried out whilst you sit out on the terrace and enjoy the views.

St Regis Mardavall lobby terrace

You are offered a drink whilst you wait – I went for the signature frozen smoothie, which was refreshing and delicious:

St Regis Mardavall welcome drnk

Once all the paperwork has been completed you are escorted to your room.

Suites at the St Regis Mardavall Resort

I was given a Junior Suite in the main building with sea view on the top (5th) floor. You enter into a short corridor with mirror, shelf and wardrobe:

St Regis Mardavall suite entrance

A sliding door with frosted glass in a very Japanese style separates the bedroom from the rest of the suite:

St Regis Mardavall Junior Suite

The room itself is very large. To the right is the bed:

St Regis Mardavall bed

…. which is probably the comfiest hotel bed I have ever slept in. The bedding is lovely and the pillows are sublime. I think I may need to buy myself the St Regis pillow for home.

Two deep blue armchairs make up the corner. Across from these is a large desk, including a welcome amenity of fruit and Lindt chocolate, hygiene kits with a mask and hand sanitiser and more:

St Regis Mardavall welcome amenity

You’ll also find the mini bar and tea and coffee facilities in this corner:

St Regis Mardavall room amenities

A Nespresso machine is in the drawer below:

St Regis Mardavall coffee kettle

Plus a couple of magazines, in this case Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. I imagine these can be requested:

St Regis Mardavall room magazines

…. whilst a fully stocked mini-fridge opens in the cupboard above:

St Regis Mardavall mini bar

Opposite the bed you’ll find a TV plus a bench in the same velvety blue fabric as the armchairs, just under an internal window between bedroom and bathroom:

St Regis Mardavall bench

Don’t worry, this can be closed from the bedroom side!

Almost everything in the room can be remotely controlled from the bedside console. You can close the curtains electronically and adjust all the lights in the suite, which is very convenient. Both sides also have USB sockets for charging your devices.

I should also add that the room had one of the simplest and easiest thermostatic controllers for the air conditioning. No need to have a PhD – there are just two settings, temperature and strength. If only all thermostats were so simple.

There is also a large balcony:

St Regis Mardavall balcony

…. with magnificent views:

St Regis Mardavall balcony view

Bathrooms at St Regis Mardavall

The bathroom is accessed via two small doors and features beautiful dark green marble counter tops.

St Regis Mardavall bathroom

Immediately to the right is a lovely big corner bath tub:

St Regis Mardavall bath

Then there is the double sink:

St Regis Mardavall sinks

The toilet is behind another door, and includes a bidet:

St Regis Mardavall toilet

A separate shower is opposite the bath, clad in the same green marble which made it very difficult to photograph.

Toiletries are by Laboratoire Remède and come in little mini bottles. I particularly liked the shower gel, which includes exfoliating particles, although I do wonder if St Regis and Remède need to freshen up the range. With the trend these days for more naturally derived ingredients the bright blue colour of the products feels a little dated.

Butler service at the St Regis Mardavall

The signature St Regis Butler Service is available in all rooms and suites at the St Regis Mardavall. (This is not always the case – at some St Regis hotels only certain room categories get Butler Service).

There are generally three things the Butler can help you with:

  • Beverage service: you can ask the butler to bring you tea or coffee on your arrival, and to come after your wake up call to open your curtains, deliver your tea or coffee and bring the day’s papers and weather forecast
  • Unpacking service: you can ask the butler to unpack (and repack, at the end of your stay) your luggage
  • Pressing service: you can ask the butler to press up to two items of clothing per person per day, free of charge. This is done promptly.

I will admit to being a terrible unpacker when staying at hotels and normally just live out of my suitcase, so I made full use of the unpacking service. The butler did a fantastic job of unpacking my bag and it was delightful to have everything hanging and waiting in my wardrobe.

St Regis Mardavall butler unpacking

It was actually neater than this but I had already ruffled things up by the time I took the photo ….

They repacked my bag with some lovely tissue paper:

St Regis Mardavall Butler packing service

I also had several bits and pieces pressed and in every case the Butlers were able to do it whilst I was out or very quickly, if I needed something urgently.

I want to give a particular shout out to one of the butlers, Vincens, who was absolutely incredible during our stay. Nothing was too much trouble for him and he also arranged a dinner reservation at a restaurant in Port d’Andratx.

As you would expect from a five star resort you also get a turndown service. This includes provision of bottled water, a little 70% cacao Lindt chocolate square as well as bringing ice to the room and laying out slippers. You also get a printed daily briefing which includes a few notes from the general manager, tomorrow’s forecast plus any special events etc, which was a lovely touch.

Bizarrely, the turndown service doesn’t close the curtains, although this isn’t such a problem since you can control them from your bed.

Part 2 of our review of St Regis Mardavall is also published today and is here.

The St Regis Mardavall website is here if you want to find out more or book.

Looking for a hotel in Mallorca?

We have reviewed several hotels in Mallorca, including:

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Comments (27)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Blenz101 says:
    13 Jul13 July 06:21

    Great review as always. I have to stay what stood out for me is why the hotel feels the need to charge for valet parking and at such a rate on their own property.

    To me it would make a really poor impression if on arrival with luggage in either a hire car with luggage or the beginning of a Michelin star experience to be directed to self park in the sun rather than just be welcomed at the door and car taken care of. It’s also welcome in the heat having the car brought up and the AC having been run.

    Fees pretty cheap to add a cost onto a room costing €600+ a night where parking space isn’t at a premium. I know if I stayed here I would be wondering after that first impression where else the hotel is going to try and extract as much cash from me as possible.

    I put this in the same box as charging for WiFi, resort fees and mandatory service charges not retained by staff.

    • Erico1875 says:
      13 Jul13 July 08:07

      Rich people like to be gouged for things that ordinary people think should be included. Makes them feel exclusive.
      Like the £200 haircut in the fancy salon that the Turkish barber will do for a tenner etc etc

    • Ambient says:
      13 Jul13 July 08:33

      American chain…..

      • Blenz101 says:
        13 Jul13 July 09:20

        St Regis Dubai offers free valet parking for all guests as I went for lunch there last week. It isn’t chain specific.

        Nobody rich or poor likes to feel they are being gouged for extra charges from the second they arrive. It’s about expectations. I will pay for over priced drinks and food but facilities which have no incremental cost to the hotel such as parking my car in their garage should be included. Sets a terrible first impression in my opinion.

        • Sean says:
          13 Jul13 July 15:37

          so your happy to pay to stay in a purpose built room, which once built has little to no incremental cost , but not the purpose built car park in the basement?

          • Blenz101 says:
            13 Jul13 July 20:26

            I am saying that in a hotel that offers a butler service and free daily garment pressing it feels cheap to want to gouge an extra €20 per night for people to have the convenience of pulling up at the hotel door and having their hire car parked out of the sun.

            I would also expect the hotel room to come with free bedding and towels in the bathroom. It isn’t a hostel trying to add on as many extras as possible to keep the headline rate low. Nor is it in an urban city centre location where parking is at a premium.

  • Chris Heyes says:
    13 Jul13 July 06:38

    Rhys Wow I do like your reviews very impressed more so if you took the photos and arranged them yourself.
    Not somewhere I would be staying, as I’ve already been Mallorca, and all the other Islands a long while a go I admit.
    A place has to be really special for us to revisit (or my partner says its happening)
    Nevertheless read your excellent review twice keep up the good work lol

  • 1ATL says:
    13 Jul13 July 06:51

    Laboratoire Remède is on the way out at St Regis apparently. You must have gotten the the old stuff before the new brand makes an appearance.

  • J says:
    13 Jul13 July 10:14

    All I now want to know is HfP’s mini bar expenses policy! I’m kind of hoping it involves restocking from the local supermarket before anyone notices.

  • Rich says:
    13 Jul13 July 13:57

    I never use these kinds of services as 1. I feel embarrassed, but 2. Never know if I should tip etc. What does everyone else do?

    • Blenz101 says:
      13 Jul13 July 14:51

      Depends on the location but I would be looking at around €20 minimum a day for what Rhys described above. More if they had gone out of their way to secure something I couldn’t do alone or I had given advance preferences that made the stay more seamless and memorable.

      In the US there is an expectation of percentage of room rate and in SE Asia / Middle East rates would once again vary by the service. A true butler is going to get more of a tip than someone who is just a room waiter by another name.

      • 1ATL says:
        13 Jul13 July 18:24

        If this is really what people tip staff in 5* establishments then on the occasions where I have done so, I must have really offended some people over the years as I have never considered tipping any member of hotel staff €20 per day. If I want to tip someone then I’ll give them what I feel I want to give…. so far nobody has snarked or suggested that it’s not been enough. At least not to my face.

        • Aristeides says:
          13 Jul13 July 19:14

          I agree with you. Tipping is total hell: never have the right cash at the right moment, no idea what is appropriate, can’t think why bringing luggage to room, for example, which takes five mins and is presumably paid for in salary, should be paid for at a rate of £/€/$1 per minute. America is ten times worse than Europe though.

          • Bagoly says:
            13 Jul13 July 20:03

            I empathise with that, but here is one practical point I realised to reduce the stress about having the right cash: it’s fine to give USD in nearly all the world, and EUR in most places. So in many places there’s no need to draw local cash at all (even in Switzerland I tip in EUR).

          • Blenz101 says:
            13 Jul13 July 20:36

            Agree with luggage to the room! Almost have to fight to keep my wheely case in some locations as it’s a service I really don’t need.

            I don’t think anybody outside of the US would snark at a below average tip. I’ve not had a butler in the US but from American friends 5% of the room rate there is the expected rate. Would rather be giving my €20 to the person unpacking my underwear, getting me into the best restaurants, having my evening cocktails ready and bring me my morning coffee than to the hotel for the use of their car park.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          13 Jul13 July 23:17

          I don’t leave a % of the room rate but rather just 5/10 EUR depending on when it is and what for.

          Ie 5 for luggage but 10 to the cleaner. I’d only then tip staff at the bar/dinner etc if there’s no service fee. Tbf I’ve been bad at it in the U.K. compared to abroad as I’m highly unlikely to have £ notes compared to EUR / USD.

          I don’t think anyone’s ever offended as always get extra water / chocolate left behind and sometimes even a little note saying thanks 🙂

    • Colin MacKinnon says:
      13 Jul13 July 19:21

      “Do you take contactless?”

      Sorry, don’t have cash!

  • Keely says:
    14 Jul14 July 07:36

    Genuinely interested …..Is it just me who’d be embarrassed to use someone to unpack my stuff? I’m
    not criticising Rhys for doing it at all , clearly he had to use every service to review – I’d just be mortified to ask someone to do something like that …maybe it’s my upbringing but I really struggle with other people doing menial things when I could do it myself . Don’t suppose it matters as I’ll never be able to afford this anyway …..

    • PB says:
      16 Jul16 July 07:06

      I’m only talking from a holiday perspective but we also like to do the unpacking etc and we generally try and leave the room tidyish before going out . The biggest tip is often left for the cleaner .

    • cinereus says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:14

      100%

  • @mkcol says:
    14 Jul14 July 12:00

    Think I’d only use the unpacking/repacking service if I was seriously pushed for time & wanted to be out and about ASAP.

    Plus with unpacking, do you not end up moving it to where you really would use it anyway?!

  • cinereus says:
    16 Jul16 July 10:12

    Bit odd that you always mention the location of the USB sockets but not the useful information such as wattage and whether they are QC or PD compatible.

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