Silence, this is disconnected
Mediterranean life is not a beer advertisement with youngsters in an unreal perfect summer. Mediterranean life is a white house in Formentera with brown windows and the sea sounding when you open the door.
If the waves that are heard are those of Migjorn beach , then it is that you are in the ** Hostal Aigua Clara :** 26 rooms and bungalows almost at the foot of the sand that show that on the touristic Balearic island there is still where to feel at home.
The peace that characterizes any stay in this hotel he already knew how to see towards 1969-1970 the German doctor who owns the establishment. His specialty was psychiatry and every summer he reserved a few weeks to go to Aigua Clara, as a retreat, with some of his patients.
If the sea wakes you up at Migjorn beach, you are at Hostal Aigua Clara
The description of family accompanies Hostal Aigua Clara since that time, when It was the Mayans who, before becoming its owners, managed it. That's what he takes care of now Mary Mayans that she grew up among tourists and that, after a few years working as a teacher in Mallorca, she returned to Formentera in 2009 to take over the business.
“I was a little bug that escaped me. Customers came and went. Children came, I played with them. A German family began to come with a daughter my age, they were here for many days and I lived with them, slept with them, went to the beach with them and sang songs in German in the dining room. And then, when I was growing up, I worked a lot, I helped my parents a lot in everything that came out”, María explains to Traveler.es.
In fact, he's still working hard. It is rare to see her sitting, if not to chat with a guest. And it is precisely that close treatment what María considers differentiates the Aigua Clara from other hotels on the island. It's not just that she speaks six languages, it's the affection that she gives him every day.
“I take great care of the client. I know him, I know what he wants. I hope that doesn't sound pushy, but I think it is my human quality. I was two years old when we started with tourism, I grew up in a hotel. I lived among tourists for six months and I think I have become impregnated with that”, reflects María.
Bungalows of the Aigua Clara Hostel
For this reason, even the Aigua Clara has an international clientele that has in common the fidelity to a simple hotel, where one remembers that the pleasures of life, those that come loaded with a satisfied calm, have to do with the details.
Know what your hosts are sharing with you the best they have, their most precious luxuries, it is the best guarantee that you will be treated well in a place. “I try to make this the way I like my house to be. I like to have a hammock under a juniper to read and rest; In the mornings, I like to have my tea or coffee looking at the sea; at sunset, my wine... I try to ensure that what I like is what customers find and want to return to”, Maria tells.
That in the rooms there is no television is also a detail that Maria shares with initially reluctant clients. “At home we have lived with small children for many years without television. I have never liked the silly box.” Overcoming the initial suspicion, “after the first night, [the clients] They tell me that they have slept listening to the sea and that is better than listening to a movie, music or TV”.
Here you come to disconnect. In fact, at Aigua Clara everything is designed for this, so that life slows down.
Lie down under the junipers to read without worrying about the 'I have to'
The sound of the waves marks our rhythm, the turquoise blue of the decoration matches the color of the water on calm days brings the plus of beauty, breakfast with the promise of lie down under the junipers to read without worrying about the 'I have to' leave behind the feelings of guilt and the knowledge that it is enough to cross a catwalk to meet that famous "Take your hat and put it on, let's go to the beach, the sun warms up" it can only give us happiness. A lot of happiness.
So much so that the reform that he already has in mind is committed to creating more rest areas and expand the yoga area, which already has the luxury of having a platform facing the sea. Because in Aigua Clara they have also been developing this activity for about seven years.
“I have always loved playing sports. I thought it was time to head towards yoga and that it would be nice to be able to offer the classes. I met Eva [Oller, a yoga teacher in Formentera], we talked about it and we started under the junipers (...) It went well with the concept of tranquility, of disconnecting, of enjoying the sea and its energy” Maria recalls.
With the interested and grateful clientele, she had to improve. "After a few years, we built the stage and about three years ago we started with the retreats." They organize two at the beginning of the season and two at the end. Who tries, repeats. The positive energy is there.
The luxury of practicing yoga on that platform facing the sea
Improve and evolve. The history of Aigua Clara has always been dance with the changes that the island has experienced in the last half century.
From the children of wealthy French, American and English families who came looking for a hippy lifestyle and stayed to set up their businesses, it became Formentera in the 1970s, with the construction of large hotel complexes and mass tourism, mainly German; to later arrive until the mid-90s, when it became fashionable among Italians. Today, the situation is changing. “They say that the Italians are going to Croatia and other destinations that until now were very dangerous. So, I don't know where we are going, but we will have to reinvent ourselves ", Analyze Maria.
In this reinvention, in addition to adding comforts, María has set her sights on the kitchen and **an increasingly extensive breakfast in which the different diets demanded by society are taken into account (gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian...) **, they also offer a restaurant "for those clients who do not feel like going out to eat every day".
This is where it comes into play Marina Cole , in front of the kitchen at Aigua Clara. She came from working for Nandu Jubany in Vic (Can Jubany) and La Savina (Can Carlitos), and 2019 has been the season in which she has taken on the challenge of first create her card.
Are we staying here?
“I had always been under the orders of. So either I was going to learn somewhere else, to be sent and learn like that, or I came alone and learned from what I found, from what you had to do yes or yes” , she tells Traveler.es.
With a series of directives from Maria aimed at having local product and vegetarian options or some vegan, “but not limiting ourselves to some grilled vegetables, but preparing them in a slightly more special way”; Marina designed a letter with proposals such as Formentera squid with sobrassada, prawn ceviche, hummus salad or peasant bread with escalivada and peix sec. For dessert? The bread with chocolate, oil and salt. You always have to leave room for dessert.
And yes, just like those clients who began visiting Aigua Clara back in the 70s and continue to return today, Marina and her kitchen will also repeat next season. One more reason to come home.
Squid with sobrassada from Hostal Aigua Clara
Every detail counts, like the turquoise color that matches the sea on calm days