Read's Hotel & Vespasian Spa

Staying at Read's is like staying at a favourite uncle's stately home- it is an elegant and formal

luxury hotel yet still inviting and seductive

. Leave your car in the car park hidden around the corner and walk through landscaped gardens

up to the beautiful house. Better yet, catch the little train from Palma

to Santa Maria

; allowing you to arrive in style and conveniently without the means to leave again, until your homeward flight beckons.

The facilities


The manor dates back to the 16th-century

and had fallen into disrepair when ex-lawyer Vivian Read bought it fifteen years ago. He and his family have personally brought the place

back to life and at least one of them is always to be found around the luxury hotel, getting to know their guests and ensuring that everything is running as it should. The ground floor houses a number of impressive salons

such as the aEUR˜blue room' which is painted like a summer's day, hot air balloons drifting through the clouds around your head. The furniture is overstuffed and formal

, the rooms and corridors decorated with antiques

and display cabinets of porcelain. There are also a number of sculptures

around the place, all for sale to those of you with the odd EUR 4000 spending money burning a hole in your pocket.

The use of colour is eye-catching throughout the house, most notably in the magnificent dining room

. Eating here is an experience in itself, and certainly worth doing once even if you are not staying here. The large room features soaring arches and fantastical trompe l'oeil paintings on the walls in the style of the 17th-century Italian masters. The much-celebrated food

comes from chef Marc Fosh who has devised a menu which is "a blend of traditional French, modern Mediterranean and Asian minimalism". His aEUR˜culinary philosophy' involves using only the best fresh local produce

and no butter and cream, which makes for rather a lot of frothy sauces but is, in general, extremely good (Michelin gave him a star

so he must be doing something right).

The dining room is an overly-formal setting for breakfast the next morning, which would be much better served in the lighter Olive Press room, otherwise seemingly unused. There is a twenty-four hour bar

in the light and airy adjoining conservatory which is relaxed and very English

(Gordon's G&T anyone?). Outside you will find a pool planted round with palm trees, an upstairs terrace where you can dine in the summer (but not breakfast in the spring, which is a shame) and an outbuilding which houses the magnificent indoor pool

. Although too warm and steamy for comfortable use, it's great for a quick midnight dip and there's a Jacuzzi alongside it, as well as a sauna and small gym.

The rooms


The 23 rooms and suites are all individual, some looking over the gardens to the front, others back to the pool. Go for the best room you can - having a private terrace

is well worth it. Double number 20 is a charming feminine room

with pink walls and a huge tiled bathroom. For those feeling regal, there is the dark purple King Suite with its grand bed positioned for best views out of the window. Even better is the soon-to-be-finished Moroccan Suite, painted a fabulous colour blue

and with a private terrace.

Jenny Pidgeon

In 1988, London lawyer Vivian Read bought the derelict Ca'n Moragues estate manor house in Santa MarA­a, Mallorca and took on the challenge of converting it into a small, luxury hotel. Six years and a lot of effort later the project was finally completed. Vivian Read, his wife, son and daughter have made the house into something very personal, maintaining the charm of a small country house hotel while providing all the comfort you'd expect from a luxury hotel.

Only a 15 minute drive from Palma, just outside the small town of Santa Maria and right in the heart of the most beautiful countryside, you will find Read's a genuine luxury hotel. Surrounded by 20,000m2 of landscaped gardens with heated 100m2 indoor pool with sauna, solarium, small gymnasium and Jacuzzi and 200m2 outdoor pool, terraces and one of the finest restaurants in the whole of Spain. Read's is the perfect combination of fantasy and luxury.

Read's Hotel & Spa also boasts two restaurants both of which are open to non residents. The A¡ la carte restaurant, awarded it's first Michelin star in 2002 under the auspices of Head Chef Marc Fosh, and the Bistro33 which offers a daily changing menu.