Menorca Experimental: Summer Is Just Getting Going at this Chic New Island Resort

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For the many of us with late-August blues: summer has barely begun at Menorca Experimental, a resort designed by Remodelista favorite Dorothée Meilichzon that officially just debuted. Set on a former finca, or agricultural estate, on the Spanish island of Menorca, the appealingly low-key alternative to neighboring Mallorca and Ibiza, the hotel was created from a Palladian-style, cliff-top house and cluster of whitewashed farm villas.

All were reconceived by Meilichzon, who runs her own Paris design studio, Chzon, as a dream agroturismo retreat: the sort of place Picasso, Miró, and cronies would go to live it up in the sun. The results are both grand and playful—and filled with happiness-inducing details and earthy colors we want to apply at home. Join us for a tour.

Photography by Karel Balas, courtesy of Menorca Experimental.

The Hotel

built for a military captain at the turn of the \19th century, the main structu 14 — Above: Built for a military captain at the turn of the 19th century, the main structure sits amid groves of pine and juniper on nearly 75 acres overlooking the Mediterranean (the beach is a 10 minute walk down the hill). It’s now home to indoor and outdoor restaurants, a cocktail lounge, and 34 guest rooms.

Menorca Experimental is the sixth hotel created by the Paris-based Experimental Group; Meilichzon is married to one of its three founders—they all met as students—and she herself, at 36, has seven top-to-bottom hotel designs to her credit (see Paris’s Hotel des Grands Boulevards and The Henrietta in London), plus a new Experimental Group property about to open in Venice.

in the lobby, portuguese tiles line a dividing wall with a seating ensemble tha 15 — Above: In the lobby, Portuguese tiles line a dividing wall with a seating ensemble that includes Borge Mogensen Spanish Chairs and a concrete banquette that echoes the lines of the surrounding archways. Meilichzon put teams of local craftsmen to work on the custom furnishings.

She also turned to makers around the world for accessories. The circular wood sconces, the Concentric 20″ and Concentric 15″, are an American import: they’re by Allied Maker of Long Island, NY. (Read the workshop’s creation story here.)

meilichzon says her use of archways, alcoves, and curves throughout was &a 16 — Above: Meilichzon says her use of archways, alcoves, and curves throughout was “inspired by the sunset on the sea.”

bring friends: this communal table seats \20. 17 — Above: Bring friends: this communal table seats 20. $bring friends: this communal table seats \20. 18$

Above: Bring friends: this communal table seats 20. $bring friends: this communal table seats \20. 18$

Above: Most of the boldly patterned ceramic tableware is by Casa Cubista of Portugal.

for those who want to bring home a piece of the hotel, there&#8\2\17;s an i 19 — Above: For those who want to bring home a piece of the hotel, there’s an in-house shop. The straw hats, however, are not for sale—they’re for guests to borrow.

Admiring the rattan column? It’s the Medici Pedestal and Vase by Atelier Vime: see our post Rattan Revival from Provence. The faceted celadon tiles are from Portugal.