Maribel, I hope you will report back on your meal at LOS MARINOS JOSE.
I took another look at FINCA CORTESIN. Prices now are over 1000 euro per night; I had not realized it was so pricey and so “elite.”. But I’ll take another look for early March, later on…
I’ve done more reading and I am now thinking of leaving Mallorca for another trip maybe when partner can go along.
And for this one, visit Malaga and Ronda… and anywhere else that you guys are positive about…
Thanks to all of you…Mallorca will remain on the list for sometime in the near future…
What about northern Spain? Bilbao, Santander etc? Not sure if you’ve ever been.
Or Menorca?
@PedroPero any recommendations for places to go or to eat outside of Palma? We are staying for a few days so very open to exploring other parts of the island.
I’ve never been to Palma, you might have tagged the wrong person.
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Worth a trip to Alcudia to eat the tasting menu at Maca de Castro (mentioned upthread). Very seasonal, very local and often with twists on traditional Mallorcan dishes.
For more plays on the traditional, I also like 365 in Pollensa (at the Son Brull hotel). And in Port de Pollensa, there’s top notch seafood at La Llonja
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Appreciate the recs @Harters and sorry for the mistag @PedroPero
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In summer, be aware that it is really hot outside. I can do maybe 1-2 hours tops visiting a small city, but otherwise I’m more likely to be found at a beach or the hotel’s pool. Ca’s sants pool is gorgeous by the way, set between the mountains, you can look at nearby gardens and horses. And the hotel brings drinks and food if you wish so. For me the perfect time to visit Mallorca would be May/June or September: warm, but less tourists.
Yes, this is essential! But I’d guess most rental cars these days have a bluetooth connection to an iphone. On my trip, around 5 years ago, we rented a basic Volkswagen Golf which had CarPlay: it’s a system that makes it very easy to connect an iphone and the car’s screen basically displays your phone’s screen.
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No apology necessary 
Agreed. May and September are the months we’d usually visit.
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For us it was a sure bet to seek dining recommendations from our hosts at The Salvia, as they are the owners with a vested interest in their guests’ dining well.a
All of their suggestions were spot on, and they advised us well in advance of the necessity of advance reservations in early June and made them for us.
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We divided our Serra de Tramuntana vacation into two 4 night stays in Sóller the village (not Port de Sóller, the beach resort) and Pollença (not the beach resort of Port de Pollença).
In Pollença (included in the collection “the most beautiful villages in Spain”, we enjoyed R3espira and on the square, Q11.
In Port Alcúdia the eponymous Maca de Castro sports 3 Repsol suns and 2 Michelin stars.
In Port Pollença we had a lovely bayside lunch (rice dish) at the La Terrassa panoramic restaurant of the Hotel Illa d’Or, at the end of the Pine Walk.
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@erica1
Yes, I’ll report back on Los Marinos José.
And yes, Finca Cortesín is quite “elite”, more so than other country house hotels, such as Pueblo Astur and Abadía Retuerta, which we both know.
Another elite nearby property is Anantara Villa Padierna, catering to the world’ s movers and shakers and Saudi sheiks. It’ where Michele Obama stayed. My BFF also takes her clients there (it is also a golf heaven).
@Hungryhungryhippos
The Sunday NY Times travel section carried an article about the Serra de Tramontana.
I’ve gifted it:
Although the focus is on cycling and hiking, there are dining recommendations as well for Sóller, Port de Sóller (including Els Canyis), and Port de Pollença.
According to the writer, the best times to visit the Serra de Tramontana are April-May, then late September to early November, although…
several locals and non, in the comments section, advise NOT to visit during Holy Week and certainly NOT in the summer.
We visited in early June, the only time we could visit, and yes, Sóller filled up with day trippers from Palma via the historic train. Valdemossa was also packed with tour bus groups (primarily German) during the day. And the road from Sóller to Deià was jammed with cyclists.
We found Pollença, Alcúdia and Port de Pollença less busy in the northern section.
Although in Spanish, these are the villages that the Diario de Mallorca declares the “most beautiful” on the island.
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“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” 
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One of Yogi’s finest quotations!
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We were last in the area in September 2023, staying in the Pollensa area as we usually do. The weather was perfect over the whole fortnight - hot (but not too hot) during the day and still shorts & T-shirt weather in the evening. It used to be the case that hotels would regard the end of September as the closing of the holiday season but, with climate change, many in the Port are extending their opening into October.
The Hotel Illa d’or at the end of the Pine Walk in the Port has extended its opening until Nov. 9.
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Wow! What a beautiful hotel!
