The hotel of the stars turns 90
The Hotel Formentor was born 90 years ago, in a climate of unrest; the same year of the financial crash that gave way to a serious global economic crisis. Precisely within this halo of generalized pessimism, a humanist and lover of German-Argentine art and culture, Adan Diehl, decides to provide a ray of hope and opens in Majorca Formentor, a Royal Hideaway Hotel.
Diehl was quite a visionary , because far from what we can believe, 90 years ago Mallorca was not a travel epicenter, and even less so the Formentor area. It was rather a little explored terrain with difficult access.
But it had to be there . In that hidden place, where they were going to meet the greatest thinkers, artists or personalities of the 20th century . A place that was to become haven of the arts and a space in which to chat, debate and, of course, rest and dedicate yourself to the purest joie de vivre.
A hotel that is a destination in itself, which would serve as an inspiration to a good part of the society of the time.
Opening party of the Hotel Formentor
The choice of location was not trivial, and the Hotel Formentor would soon become in the hotel of the stars . Located in a natural park of 1,200 hectares of Mediterranean forest, considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 2011, it is one of the best places on the island to glimpse the starry sky in the endless summer nights.
Not surprisingly, this enclave quickly attracted personalities from literature, painting, sculpture, cinema and music.
The bougainvillea, the beach, relaxation, luxury, history
In fact, in 1931, the hotel organized the wisdom week , a meeting attended by great names of the culture of the time, and they soon began to plan the Formentor Prizes for Letters.
Guests as illustrious as princes have passed through its rooms Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly , who spent part of their honeymoon here; personalities of the stature of Winston Churchill, that even today it has a suite dedicated to his stays there, in which he relaxed and painted with his sights set on the sea; or the very Dalai Lama.
The Hotel Formentor, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, attracted the attention of great Hollywood stars such as Charles Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale, Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin or the French couturier Jean Patou , which was precisely there where he created the so-called 'Formentor pants', which today floods fashion boutiques recognized as 'palace'
jane birkin
Audrey Hepburn also fell at the feet of Formentor in the summer of 1983 . So much so that on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the hotel , the year that would also be celebrated the 90th birthday of the actress , they wanted to pay tribute to him with 'Breakfast at Formentor' : a special breakfast served in the room and on demand, recalling one of his most acclaimed films _Breakfast at Tiffany's _ , starring the actress in 1961 along with the actor George Peppard.
Made up of Majorcan confectionery delicacies, different varieties of bread and eggs to taste, orange juice from the hotel's orange trees, fresh seasonal fruit as well as half a grapefruit presented in crushed ice and already broken up to eat with a spoon, as it was served in Formentor at that time according to the instructions of the hotel maître. All accompanied by a bouquet of white tulips, the actress's favorite flower, a lover of gardening, who loved having breakfast enjoying the views of the Formentor garden.
This artistic and scholarly heritage, would determine the personal bet of the Barcelo family with the acquisition of the hotel in 2006 to convert it into cultural epicenter of the Mediterranean.
The pier of the hotel Formentor (Majorca)
What one day had started adam diehl He continued with a firm step. And in 2011, after a whopping 42 years of absence, returned to the hotel that event that converted Formentor, a Royal Hideaway Hotel in the epicenter of literature : the Formentor Prize for Letters , which from now on would be held in its gardens. But this would not come alone, since hand in hand with this award, other activities such as the Literary Conversations.
This year's Formentor Prize went to the French writer Annie Ernaux , while the Literary Conversations, which this summer will be held from September 20 to 22, will have as leit motiv 'Monsters, beasts and aliens. The dark chimeras of illusion'.
A guest of the Hotel Formentor, sitting in a booth
The growing commitment to the world of the arts took on new dimensions when in 2013 the hotel started with another of its most interesting proposals: Formentor Sunset Classics, an unparalleled international classical music festival.
In these years of life, the meeting has hosted performances by artists of the stature of the Indian director Zubin Mehta , the also conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, the soprano Anna Netrebko either lang lang, one of the most recognized Chinese pianists worldwide.
In its VII season, which will take place from this Friday may 31 , the concert of the pianist has been programmed Maria Joao Pires, performing works by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin.
Formentor Sunset Classics
On June 29, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra , will enliven the night in the bay of Formentor under the baton of the Venezuelan director Gustavo Dudamel.
In the Chamber Series, the hotel will be visited by the pianist Dmytro Choni ( July 27) and Ruben Mendoza (August 9) .
Literature, art, music... and also photography. under the motto The art of fine moments Last year, Barceló Hotel Group entrusted the launch of the image of the Royal Hideaway Hotels & Resorts brand to the filmmaker and photographer Francesco Carrozzini, son of the former editor of Vogue Italy for nearly thirty years Franca Sozzani –, the same one who married a few days later with Bee Shafer, daughter of the editor of US Vogue , Anna Wintour. A revealing work that portrays his guests, not from an advertising perspective, but from real and authentic experiences, immortalizing unique moments, which could be extrapolated to any hotel guest and that each which can live in this idyllic Mediterranean setting.
The mythical stairs of the Hotel Formentor