Nakar Hotel

Passeig de la Rambla / Born, Mallorca · heritage

Nakar Hotel

THE VIBE

Hotel Nakar takes its name from the Arabic word for mother-of-pearl — 57 rooms in a converted 1950s building on Palma's luxury retail axis, designed by architect Magi Marqués and interior designer Marga Rotger: light oak, natural stone and black-lacquered iron.

THE BACKSTORY

The building at Avenida Jaume III 21 originally housed Pension Nacar, a family-run guesthouse that owner Toni Ramis had taken over as the third generation. In 2016, Ramis commissioned architect Magi Marqués and interior designer Marga Rotger to transform the structure into a design hotel — the result honours the house name in new materials: oak, natural stone, copper details.

WHY NOW

Nakar opened in 2016 but hasn't aged — TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice 2025 and placing 9th out of 98 hotels in Palma confirms standards are maintained. September and October offer the 12-metre rooftop pool on the ninth floor in peace, without the high-season queues for sun loungers.

THE ROOM

Request a Deluxe room with terrace and jacuzzi — five such rooms exist, all with private terrace space. Avoid the innermost rooms without windows onto the street.

WELLNESS

The subterranean Nakar Spa houses a heated indoor pool, steam bath, sauna and two treatment rooms — hospitalitynet described it in 2016 as the only indoor spa with a pool near Palma's old town. Direct booking includes complimentary entry.

THE TABLE

Seasonal Mallorcan cooking with local produce — CUIT (hotel restaurant, 8th floor). Chef Miquel Calent — eight consecutive years with a Repsol Sol award for Ca'nCalent in Campos — runs CUIT as his first independent project in Palma. The kitchen is rooted in Mallorcan tradition, adapted to seasonal availability.

THE SERVICE

Design Hotels member since opening in 2016: the breakfast buffet is served on the eighth floor with views of the cathedral La Seu, and direct booking via the hotel's own website includes complimentary access to the spa.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Avenida Jaume III is Palma's primary luxury retail axis, directly west of the historic city centre. Passeig del Born is reachable on foot heading east; the Santa Catalina food market is a short walk west along Carrer de Sant Jaume.

HONEST CAVEAT

The ninth-floor rooftop pool opens to non-guests from 19:30 during high season — the pool area is shared with outside visitors during the evening hours.

THE VERDICT

Nakar delivers Palma's strongest combination of design integrity and location: 57 rooms in a carefully converted 1950s building, a rooftop pool with La Seu views and a hotel-driven kitchen worth a separate reservation. Book direct for complimentary spa access.

THE FULL PICTURE

You can walk past the entrance to Nakar twice. Set among the international brand storefronts of Avenida Jaume III, its doorway is a study in discretion, a portal between Palma's commercial artery and something else entirely. Inside, the noise of shoppers and scooters fades, replaced by the hushed tones of a reception defined by natural stone and the clean grain of wood. The hotel doesn't shout; it waits for you to adjust your frequency. This is a place for those who have moved beyond conspicuous luxury and come to see Palma from a precise, elevated vantage point.

The ascent to your room is a deliberate decompression. The interiors, by Mallorcan designer Marga Rotger, are a tactile conversation between materials, warm and matte, designed to quiet the mind before you re-engage with the city. There are 57 rooms. Open the window and the sounds of Jaume III return, a reminder of your position at the centre of the city. It's a trade-off you knowingly make: this is not a silent retreat but an immersion in Palma.

The hotel's narrative culminates on the roof. In the late afternoon, as the sun begins its slow descent, the terrace fills. The narrow rooftop pool is not for athletic laps; it is a turquoise stage for the main event: the view. Before you, the tiled rooftops of Palma cascade down towards the bay, anchored by the colossal, honey-coloured sandstone of La Seu Cathedral. You are close enough to feel its gravitational pull, and to understand it not as a tourist attraction but as a centuries-long argument with God.

Around the pool, the conversation turns to plans: Es Baluard's contemporary collection a short walk away, a stroll down the tree-lined Passeig del Born before dinner, a table at one of the city's Michelin-starred restaurants. A Negroni sweats beside you; the ice cracks. The terrace is a social place, and if you seek solitude, the small underground spa, with its sauna, steam bath and pool, is the antidote.

Dinner can be at CUIT, the hotel's restaurant on the eighth floor, where Mallorcan chef Miquel Calent draws on the island's traditional recipes and produce. To dismiss this as one more hotel restaurant is to miss the point: it is Mallorcan cooking with a view of the city it comes from, rooted in the earth but reaching for the sky, like the hotel itself.

The next morning, Palma feels different, and the hotel's position becomes a strategic advantage. Turn west, and in ten minutes you are amid the clamour of the Santa Catalina market, a world of glistening fish and hanging *sobrassada*. Turn east, and you are tracing the old city, passing the Royal Palace of La Almudaina on your way to confront the cathedral's staggering scale up close. Or make the pilgrimage to Ca'n Joan de s'Aigo, an institution since 1700, for an *ensaïmada* and thick hot chocolate, a breakfast that scoffs at contemporary wellness trends.

Leaving Nakar is less a checkout than a gentle re-entry. You step back out onto Avenida Jaume III and the city's noise hits you again, but it's no longer just noise. You have been given a perspective from which to understand Palma's complex machinery: the interplay of ancient history, agricultural pride and a thoroughly modern, pan-European confidence.

FACTS

FAQ

When is the best time to visit?

Nakar opened in 2016 but hasn't aged — TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice 2025 and placing 9th out of 98 hotels in Palma confirms standards are maintained. September and October offer the 12-metre rooftop pool on the ninth floor in peace, without the high-season queues for sun loungers.

Anything I should know before booking?

The ninth-floor rooftop pool opens to non-guests from 19:30 during high season — the pool area is shared with outside visitors during the evening hours.

What is the neighbourhood like around Nakar Hotel?

Avenida Jaume III is Palma's primary luxury retail axis, directly west of the historic city centre. Passeig del Born is reachable on foot heading east; the Santa Catalina food market is a short walk west along Carrer de Sant Jaume.

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