20 Best Hotels in Ibiza and the Balearic Islands, Spain

A countryside setting on a hillside overlooking a valley makes this lovely late-19th-century manor house a quiet escape in a lively destination, with photo-ready views of Ibiza's highest mountain (1,567-foot Sa Talaiassa). Open year-round, this intimate hotel is only about 11 km (7 miles) from the beach and main attractions, but it places a premium on privacy—which is why celebrities like Richard Gere and Claudia Schiffer have been known to vacation here. There's a monitored gate at the driveway, and the Mediterranean-style restaurant (which uses homegrown organic products) and spa (offering a mix of Eastern and Western therapies) are available exclusively for guests. The airy, rustic guest rooms with wood-beam ceilings are gracefully furnished, each in a different style, and bathrooms have Moroccan-style tiling. Bicycle tours and sailing charters can be arranged if you're up for leaving the idyllic grounds.

Built in 1811 by a Spanish ship captain, this casa señorial (town house) in the heart of Mahón was lovingly restored by architect and co-owner Fernando Pons as a boutique hotel. The restoration preserved even the original tower and its widow's walk. Rooms have queen-size beds, high ceilings with exposed beams, working fireplaces and wood-burning stoves (a plus in Menorca's blustery winters), original tile floors and antique furniture, ample stall showers, and deep oval tubs. Luxurious extras include robes and slippers, towel warmers, and huge mirrors. Dinner is served from Thursday to Sunday, and the café offers breakfast, brunch, and afternoon tea daily. The best room is No. 1, with a private terrace overlooking the interior patio.

Santi Marí Ferrer remade his family's finca (farmhouse), with its massive stone walls and native savina wood beams, into one of the island's friendliest and most comfortable country inns. Rooms are enormous, with original stone arches separating sleeping and bathroom areas—and at sunset, you can relax on the patio, with a view of the mountains, and nurse a glass of homemade five-year-old hierbas (herb liqueur). Oranges, lemons, olives, meat, and eggs all come from the family farm. The 25-meter pool has an access ramp for guests with disabilities.

Situated not too far from Palma near the UNESCO-protected Tramuntana Mountains, Castell Son Claret is a paradise. Rooms here are expensive, but they are entirely worth it. Most have a cottage-like feel where you can spend your entire holiday in one and not want to leave. The on-site Michelin-starred restaurant, Sa Clastra, is a treat. Make sure to grab a reservation before it gets full. Book a table during summer months to sit in the outdoor patio and have a perfect alfresco dining moment.

A favorite way station for groups of cyclists touring the island, the Son Sant Jordi is a small, family-friendly gem of a boutique hotel, formerly the convent of the adjacent Church of Sant Jordi. The palm-shaded patio garden in back is a delight, with orange and lemon trees, a small pool, and a fishpond. Guest rooms have antique furniture, king-size four-poster canopy beds, ceramic-tile floors, exposed-stone walls, and ceiling beams. Full amenities include robes and slippers. The best room in the house is No. 4, "Les Aguilas." Book for a week, and the hotel will arrange free transfers from and to the airport.

This chic boutique hotel is in the heart of Ciutadella, on a narrow cobblestone street behind the cathedral, and has killer views from the rooftop terrace, extending over the old city and (in good weather) across the ocean as far as Mallorca. The building was Menorca's first shoe factory, built on the site of a 4th-century Roman temple. It has cozy common rooms with plump sofas, marble floors, and a huge vaulted atrium, and the whitewashed walls are accented with resin-and-pigment panels in gold, rose, and Mediterranean blue. The best room is the romantic No. 8, which has a sunken bath. Breakfast is served at a long common table. Belowstairs is a Turkish bath and a single-lane swimming pool.

Antique embroidered bed linens, shelves with knickknacks, and comfy chairs—this is an English vision of a peaceful and secluded rural retreat, and its glory is the garden of irises, lavender, and flowering trees. The hotel's fine little restaurant, open to the public at lunch and dinner, features classics like beef Wellington and innovative dishes such as sea bass and teriyaki-frosted seasonal vegetables and basil oil.

About a minute's walk from the main square, this family-friendly boutique hotel is an oasis of quiet in summer, when Sóller gets most of its tourist traffic. Rooms are simply furnished (some have four-poster canopy beds), with hardwood floors and good lighting; bathrooms are modern, with standard amenities. The palm-shaded interior patio is a particular delight.

Just across the tram tracks from the train station, this former home still feels much like a family hideaway. The lobby is a cheerful clutter of bric-a-brac (sconces, candelabra, bronze heads, novelty teapots); guest rooms are light and airy, with antique furniture, walls in white or Mediterranean blue, exposed beams on the ceilings, and original terra-cotta floors. The bathrooms are ample, with robes and standard amenities. Ask for the Terrace Room, which overlooks the garden.

With only five apartments and one two-bedroom villa, this converted stone farmhouse can feel like a family compound, mainly when everyone is gathered on the sundeck or around the communal barbecue. Rooms are spacious and furnished in a laid-back, modern style with a touch of luxury. Can Aisha be an oasis of calm within reach of Formentera's most popular beaches? Book early.

The traditional architecture here, reminiscent of a Greek island village, features a cluster of low, whitewashed buildings—and each room has one of these buildings to itself, with a private patio artfully separated from its neighbors. Rooms have deep, comfortable sofas upholstered in warm tones, built-in pine closets, and red-brown tile floors, and the overall effect is very soothing. Suites have fireplaces and jetted tubs. Can Curreu has its own stables and orange and lemon groves. The restaurant, open to the public, serves an excellent five-course tasting menu.

In an ideal location in the old part of Palma, a minute's walk to the cathedral, this town house, dating back to the 15th century, was the Sancho Moragues home until 2001, when the family opened it as a hotel. Most of the furniture, paintings, and decoration were their own, handed down for generations, but with modernization came enormous whirlpool tubs in the tile bathrooms and a pleasant rooftop terrace with a knockout view of the cathedral. Weather permitting, a basic breakfast is served in the lovely interior garden, overgrown with bougainvillea and orange and lemon trees.

The six-room town house of couple Barbara Martí and Martin Lucas, minutes’ walk from Sòller center, is an example of homely hospitality at its finest, as well as green policies—all food is plant-based, and every Saturday there’s a cooking class using ingredients you pick from the garden. Décor varies per room, but statement artworks by Mallorcan artist Francesca Martí (coincidentally, Barbara’s mom) are a constant throughout, alongside upcycled furniture. The backdrop to the peaceful rear patio looks like an artwork in its own right—an entire canvas of Tramuntana mountains. Facilities include yoga and meditation classes and a small pool.

This family-run "hotel on the hill" has a back terrace with a lemon-tree garden and a fantastic view of the mountains. The simply furnished balcony rooms, with exposed beams, share the view. Six refurbished apartments in the nearby annex building (minimum booking: two nights) make D'es Puig an excellent family-friendly choice for extended stays. The hotel gets a lot of repeat business from British visitors, so book early. There's a four-night minimum stay in high season.

This traditional little hotel opened in 1907 and is on Pollença's main square, making it a good choice for a weekend stay because of the Sunday market there. It has small but comfortably furnished rooms with traditional Mallorcan pieces and hand-embroidered linens. Nearby is L'Hostal ( Carrer Mercat 18), an old stable converted to a modern boutique hotel run by the same owners.

About 10 minutes by car from the central square and set in a centuries-old oak forest, this comfortable manor house dates to 1777 and is a favorite with young Spanish families. Rooms have stone arches, cupboard closets, and English and Menorcan antiques—ask for a ground-floor double with a private garden terrace, or opt for one of the five large suites in the original barn. Sant Ignasi, the hotel's excellent restaurant (now run by the former chef from acclaimed local eatery Smoix), specializes in Menorcan produce; in summer, meals are served on the tree-shaded poolside terrace.

Inside the medieval walls, this intimate hillside hotel has fine views of the old town and the harbor from some rooms. Painted in soothing pastel blues and yellows and accented with exciting art and antiques, all have four-poster beds draped in white canopies; ask for a third-floor room to get the view. The little roof terrace offers a chill-out space with Moroccan-style sofas.

Owner Toni Oliver obviously put a lot of work into this lovingly restored town house on Sóller's central square. Rooms—four on the square, four facing the interior—are plainly furnished, but the public spaces keep much of the original lush Moderniste detail: coffered ceilings, alabaster walls cut in floral patterns, arches in carved and painted plaster, and a three-story central staircase with a cupola. The terrace gourmet restaurant takes full advantage of the palm-shaded garden. Book well in advance.

Warm Mediterranean tones and crisp, clean lines give this boutique hotel in the center of the shopping district an atmosphere very different from anything else in the city. Occupying a 16th-century former Episcopal palace, it has rooms with linen curtains and plump comforters, and bathrooms with posh amenities. From the terrace in the tower, you have a 360-degree view of Palma's old quarter.

An avenue lined with chinaberry and fig trees leads to this lovely restored farmhouse with environmental credentials, including some solar power and organic produce from the farm. Inside, it has retained many old features—an excellent upstairs suite has an oratory—and a row of adjoining stables has been converted to additional accommodation with individual terraces. The family proprietors are opera aficionados, so all rooms are named after composers. On the first floor, public spaces feel calm and relaxing thanks to modern blond-wood furnishings, while the excellent restaurant (also open to the public) serves meals on the deck in good weather: reserve ahead.