The catch at Es Princep
Four things stand between the rooftop photographs and the stay. None of them is a reason to skip a hotel with the Bay of Palma in front of it, but each one decides something: which room to book, when to go up to the roof, where to eat and how to arrive.
On our shortlists
- Best spa hotels in MallorcaAn 18-metre indoor pool with every room, and open all year
- Best central hotels in MallorcaParc de la Mar 3 minutes, the city beach 9, the cathedral 11
- Best hotels with a view in MallorcaThe sea from the windows, the bay and the cathedral from the roof
- Best hotels for food and drink in MallorcaZaranda's starred tasting menus downstairs, the bay from the roof bar
The sea is not in every room, and the first room that faces it costs about 290 euros a night more
The hotel sells seven room categories, and the window decides them. The 22-square-metre Standard is on the lower floors facing a narrow old-town lane, the Superior looks over the city, and the Deluxe Lateral Sea View sees the sea from the side, over the old walls. The Premium Sea View, at 30 square metres, is the first category sold on a full view of the sea. For Tuesday 11 May 2027 the Standard was 511 euros a night and the Premium Sea View 801. Even then the room looks across the bastion, a belt of pines and the coast road to water about 200 metres off, and some guests hear the road by day. The open bay is the view from the roof.
What to do. Book a Premium Sea View or one of the two sea-view suites, and have the category confirmed in writing. Skip the Junior Suite if you came for the sea: it costs more than the Premium Sea View and faces the old town or the walls.
The rooftop pool is small, and the terrace around it belongs to Palma at sunset
The roof is the best room in the building, and every guest shares it. The pool up there is kept for hotel guests, but it is small, and the terrace around it is a bar open to everyone from 10.30 in the morning until sunset. By day it is calm. Towards evening the music goes up and Palma comes up for the sunset, so the terrace fills with people who are not staying. It is the only outdoor pool. For lengths, use the 18-metre indoor pool in the spa downstairs, which comes with a sauna, a Turkish bath and a hot tub and is open to every guest from 9am to 9pm.
What to do. Swim and take a lounger in the morning, when the roof is quiet, and book a table if you want to watch the sunset from it.
Zaranda keeps a short week, publishes hours only for March to October and takes no one under 16
Zaranda holds one MICHELIN star and keeps restaurant hours, not hotel hours. Its published season runs from March to October: Wednesday to Saturday in spring, Tuesday to Saturday in June, September and October, and Tuesday to Sunday only in July and August, from 7pm to 9pm. It publishes no hours for November to February, and it takes no one under 16. Dinner is one of two tasting menus, 190 euros a head for the shorter and 220 for the longer, before wine. DINS Santi Taura, the other starred kitchen in La Calatrava, five minutes away, also takes no one under 16 and closes on Sunday and Monday.
What to do. If dinner is part of the reason for the trip, book the table when you book the room. With children under 16, or on a Monday, or a Sunday outside July and August, plan to eat in the old town: Quadrat, nine minutes on foot, serves dinner from Thursday to Monday.
It is a city hotel, so the beach is a city one and arriving by car takes planning
The nearest sand is Can Pere Antoni, a city beach 9 minutes' walk east along the front, and the island's other beaches are a drive away. Arriving by car is possible but takes some planning. The old town's streets are closed to general traffic; the hotel has an agreement to use them, and its own directions take you past the no-entry signs to the door, where staff take the car down to an underground car park with a height limit of 1.80 metres. Parking is charged on top of the room. The airport is about 12 minutes away by taxi.
What to do. Arrive by taxi and hire a car only for the days you want beaches. If you do drive in, follow the hotel's directions, check that the car is under 1.80 metres high and ask the parking charge when you book.
Who should skip it
Anyone who wants a beach on the doorstep or a big pool to spend the day by. Families with children under 16 who want the starred dinner, because Zaranda will not seat them. And anyone booking the Standard for the view: it faces a lane, which is the easiest mistake to make here.
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants Palma rather than a resort: the cathedral 11 minutes away on foot, the old town behind the door, a roof facing the bay for a late breakfast and the sunset, an 18-metre pool downstairs and a starred kitchen in the building. Book a Premium Sea View, take the roof in the morning and book Zaranda with the room, and everything above is the price of a city hotel with the sea in the window.
The catch elsewhere in Mallorca
- Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at FormentorFormentor peninsula
The building is new: the 1929 hotel was gutted in 2021, its last walls came down in 2022 and it was rebuilt to look from the bay much as it did, so the history is in the name, the site and the old garden steps rather than the rooms.
- La Residencia, A Belmond HotelDeià
Built into a hillside, with steps between buildings and sometimes more than one lift to reach your room
- Castell Son ClaretEs Capdellà
The hotel closes from mid-November to mid-March, Sa Clastra stops serving at the end of October, and the 2027 calendar sells stays of three nights or more.
- Cap Vermell Grand HotelCanyamel, east coast
Not on the beach: Canyamel's sand is 1.8 km down the hill, 25 minutes on foot and a climb back
- Can FerreretaSantanyí
It is in the village, not on the sea: the nearest beach, Cala Santanyí, is a 7-minute drive, and parking at the hotel is charged by the day.
- Can CeraPalma, old town
No pool: the water here is a hot tub in the spa, and the nearest beach, Can Pere Antoni, is a 16-minute walk.
- L'Avenida HotelSóller
Closed from November to the end of February, with a three-night minimum stay from May to September.
- Maristel Hotel & SpaEstellencs
The basic Cosy Rooms are twins whose window may face a courtyard or a wall, and the sea view costs extra.
- Fornalutx Petit HotelFornalutx
Stairs and no lift in the old convent, in a village of stepped, cobbled lanes: hard work with heavy bags or bad knees.
Compared with
Questions people ask
Good questions about Es Princep
What are the downsides of Es Princep?
Four things stand between the rooftop photographs and the stay. None of them is a reason to skip a hotel with the Bay of Palma in front of it, but each one decides something: which room to book, when to go up to the roof, where to eat and how to arrive. The sea is not in every room, and the first room that faces it costs about 290 euros a night more The rooftop pool is small, and the terrace around it belongs to Palma at sunset Zaranda keeps a short week, publishes hours only for March to October and takes no one under 16 It is a city hotel, so the beach is a city one and arriving by car takes planning
Who should not book Es Princep?
Anyone who wants a beach on the doorstep or a big pool to spend the day by. Families with children under 16 who want the starred dinner, because Zaranda will not seat them. And anyone booking the Standard for the view: it faces a lane, which is the easiest mistake to make here.
Our verdict
Es Princep earns its place on the roof and the windows: the Bay of Palma in front, the cathedral along the walls and a starred dinner downstairs. Pay for a Premium Sea View, because the view is the reason to come and the entry room does not have it.
Last checked: October 2026