Review: Sant Francesc Hotel Singular, Palma

Published Apr 28 2025, 10:03 AM, Updated Apr 28 2025, 11:57 AMSant Francesc Hotel Singular is Palma, Mallorca’s most luxurious boutique hotel. Hidden in the old town, this historic and beautifully maintained hotel is completely unique and utterly charming, and is situated in the best bit of unwieldy Palma.

Location

Sant Francesc Hotel Singular is a stunning historic hotel tucked away on a beautiful square in the old town of Palma in Mallorca. A huge church dominates one side of the square, and across the cobbled street from this church is the entrance of this delicious boutique hotel.

Palma may or may not be what you expect. I was imagining a hilltop village in my head, but Palma is most definitely a city. The waterfront is largely made up of a busy road leading to and from the airport, and much of the city lacks the charm and beauty I was hoping for.

Along the side of the main road along the waterfront, grotesque modernity is embraced in many of the buildings. Visionary concrete structures that must have looked great in an architectural magazine in the 1970s and 1980s, stand proudly overlooking the beautiful bay, sticking their fingers up at the more historic parts of the city.

And it’s all this modernity, and mish-mash of high rises that makes Sant Francesc Hotel Singular so special, because Hotel Singular is the opposite of what you will see on the sea front. It’s the opposite of what makes up much of this city. This hotel sits in the most beautiful, unspoiled part of the city.

Its stunning interior embraces its history with original design. It’s a chance to appreciate what Palma was many years ago, and to immerse yourself in the best bits of Palma as it is today, as this hotel and the old town that surrounds it is every bit as picturesque as your mind might want it to be.

You can walk all the pretty streets of the old town directly from the hotel as they are on your doorstep. Little restaurants spill out onto the cobblestones here, and cute little shops, lively bars. and restaurants line these ever-so-pretty streets.

In fact, if you kept your eyes shut on your 20-minute transfer from Palma airport to the hotel, you could imagine that you had arrived in that pretty hilltop village in my head, that Palma was all cobbled streets and majestic churches, and that today’s world hadn’t arrived here at all.

Style & Character

As described above, while much of Palma is not beautiful, but the old town part of the city is. The old town in Palma is the perfect place to while away the days in little cafes or by the rooftop pool as the adjacent church bell tolls.

Sant Francesc Hotel Singular has clasped its historic beauty and enhanced it. You enter the hotel through arched glass doors, and the reception area is huge, airy, and relaxing with a chessboard black and white flagstone floor.

To one side is a grand staircase which leads you up to some of the hotel rooms, past a modern bobbly chandelier, and into an upper foyer decorated with works of art.

To the other, the flagstone floor merges with a wooden parquet that hosts a group of comfy cream sofa seats, and beyond, through more arched glass doorways, is a cobblestone courtyard with more seating and backlit plants and trees.

Keep going and you reach a stunning bar area, once again edged by huge glass doors fitted in the archways of this historic building, and beyond the bar are numerous windy staircases leading to the gym in the cellar and a restaurant which hosts breakfast with its own charming terrace. The restaurant is encased within vaulted ceilings, which feels like you’re dining in a historic wine cellar.

Service & Facilities

While this hotel is very much in the boutique size, it’s packed with fun things to do and places to sit beyond its arched glass doorways.

For starters, and probably the highlight, is the rooftop pool bar and pool, which is probably the most stunning area of the hotel and certainly the most airy. As the hotel sits next to a church, the church bell tower looms above the pool on one side, chiming its historic tolls.

On the other side of the rooftop, the whole of Palma’s rooftops fill the horizon, with yet more churches, and the sandstone buildings of the city spread out in front of you.

Plants and bushes surround the pool area, and the loungers and deckchairs are a mix of bottle green and crisp white, giving this city rooftop a verdant and natural feel.

If you sit on the edge of the rooftop, you can look down over the square and watch the cars and people milling about.

The pool itself is small but perfectly formed and ideal for a dip to cool down. It’s flanked with loungers and a bar to provide food and refreshments on one side. It’s the best place to catch the sunshine in the hotel and possibly in the city.

The interior of the hotel is much darker by comparison, which is a blessed relief in the heat of the day. While all the historic walls and archways are lined with huge glass windows, the courtyards are intimate inside and have high walls around them, which means you can sit out without being fried by the blazing sun, as they are in shade for a large part of the day. It’s a clever design in a hot country!

There are two outdoor areas beyond the rooftop. One is connected to the vaulted ceilinged restaurant so when you take your breakfast or have an evening meal, you have the choice of sitting inside or outside. The other courtyard sits between the reception area and the bar, and you can enjoy drinks outside on the cobblestones surrounded by backlit greenery. It’s quite magical at night.

There are a number of cellar rooms reached by a windy staircase with all the gym equipment you could want, although I imagine most guests get their exercise by walking around the old town, which you can do for many hours.

Rooms

Most rooms at Sant Francesc Hotel Singular accommodate two people and are contemporary while embracing all the stone walls, archways, and history that make up this hotel. Our room was one of two rooms that could accommodate three people, and it was split into three levels.

The entry level housed a stunning contemporary bathroom with a stand-alone bath, a long trough-like basin, and a separate shower and toilet. The tiling was a lovely matt sandstone, and a curtain separating off the space made it feel really stylish.

On the second floor was a beautiful four-poster bed with a table and chair, storage space, a coffee maker, and very high ceilings.

Then, up another level was a mezzanine level which overlooked the main bed in the bedroom and sat above the bathroom. This mezzanine accommodated a single bed or a sofa and a TV, making this a great option if three of you are travelling or if you are travelling with one child.

The room felt beautifully refurbished with stunning furniture, a well-thought-out design, dark wood flooring, and a sandstone bathroom. We loved it. The designer had made the most of the space, and the high ceilings in the main part of the room made it feel airy.

Food & Drink

We did not have an evening meal at Sant Francesc Hotel Singular, but the evening and morning dining areas are in the same area. To reach the restaurant, you must walk down a maze of impressive stone stairways.

At the bottom of the stairs are two interlinked rooms with vaulted ceilings and lots of glasswork and curtains creating a very intimate dining space, of creamy walls and lots of petite tables. It’s a really classy and intimate space.

There’s also an alfresco terrace and courtyard where you can dine outside in the fresh air and under the stars or the morning sky.

The breakfast spread was excellent, and a complimentary breakfast for two people is included if you book your stay via our luxury travel concierge (you also get a prioritized room upgrade, welcome amenity, hotel credit, and more when you book with us).

The breakfast includes a well-thought-out buffet set up on one side of the internal breakfast area, and an à la carte breakfast menu which includes a very good avocado toast and eggs any way you like them. The waiter who served us was completely charming and really helped us with our breakfast choices.

The buffet was a nice addition with fresh whole fruit, cut fruit, breads, cakes, juices, yoghurts, cereal, nuts, fresh tomatoes, salsas, and more. You can also indulge in complimentary sparkling Cava should you wish.

If you eat inside, the restaurant where the buffet is delivered is historic and pretty. But in warmer months, you can also eat outside on the terrace.

The restaurant terrace is a decked area with pergolas. While not as pretty as the hotel’s central courtyard, this space is still a lovely outdoor space offering fresh air in the city’s center, and it is prettily lit at night so has a great atmosphere whenever you sit out.

The bar at Hotel Singular is incredibly classy and boutique. An internal area is hugely stylish and set under archways and beamed ceilings, with a long colourful bar at one end.

You can relax here on deeply cushioned sofas and sip a drink while people meander through to the restaurant and gym. This space feels very exclusive.

Just outside the bar, through vast walls of glass windows, there is an external courtyard area where you can sit on the cobbles surrounded by greenery and enjoy a drink and nibbles alfresco.

The courtyard is prettily lit and is surrounded by the hotel on all sides. It adjoins the reception building on one side and the bar, restaurant, and gym on the other, so if you sit out there during an evening, you will enjoy a throughflow of people going from one side of the hotel to the other.

Conclusion

Sant Francesc Hotel Singular is a slice of Mallorcan History set in the best bit of Palma, Mallorca, in the Old Town. We loved its rooftop pool and terrace, the superb breakfast, both the vaulted cellar room and out on the terrace. The courtyard and stylish bar provide an utterly exclusive place to enjoy a nightcap or cocktail, and the hotel’s contemporary design incorporates historic features brilliantly.

This is a deeply cared about and incredibly classy boutique hotel with lovely staff. If you even have an inkling of curiosity about staying in Palma, or want to twin centre one of the luxury coastal resorts like Four Seasons Mallorca or St. Regis Mallorca with a night or two in the city, we would pick Hotel Singular every time.

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