Villa Le Blanc, a 5-star luxury resort operated by Gran Meliá, will open at the end of July as the latest member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the only such hotel on the island of Menorca, and the Spanish hotel brand’s first energy-efficient carbon neutral hotel.
The fifteenth hotel in the Gran Meliá brand’s collection offers a choice of outstanding dining options that pay tribute to Menorcan cuisine and the island way of life, exquisitely designed rooms and suites with private pools, and a wellness area and spa operated by the French firm Anne Semonin.
The Villa Le Blanc Hotel boasts an idyllic natural setting on Santo Tomás Beach on the Migjorn coast, halfway between Mahón and Ciutadella. An ideal location for discovering all the cultural and natural attractions of the island of Menorca, which was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1993.
The renovation of what was once the Sol Beach House Hotel was led by the architect Álvaro Sans, and combines simple and contemporary design with luxurious details. The hotel provides a total of 159 rooms, including 14 Premium Rooms and 86 Supreme Rooms. The Penthouse Suite, the Swim-Up Master Suite and Presidential Suite offer the widest range of luxury amenities, as well as sea views which can be enjoyed from their private balconies and private pools. Decorated predominantly in white and blue, with the large terraces and porches that are typical of Mediterranean island architecture, the spaces are designed to achieve a seamless merging of outdoor and indoor areas.
“Villa Le Blanc is inspired by the vernacular architecture of the island villages. Among other features, special prominence is given to the Menorcan arches and the whitewashed walls so typical of local houses. From a technical point of view, we have rescued the traditional use of tiles, which have been used through the ages in Menorca to combat the rainy winters and which traditionally were always painted white to reflect the heat in summer,” explains Álvaro Sans, from the ASAH studio, architect of Villa Le Blanc.
The hotel aims to achieve a carbon neutral footprint by incorporating facilities and technologies that will enable it to reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 87%. In addition, the hotel will explore alternatives to offset the remaining emissions and thus ensure its full carbon neutrality status (net zero), contributing to Meliá’s decarbonisation objectives.
“Villa Le Blanc is a dream come true for our company,” said Gabriel Escarrer, Vice President and CEO of Meliá. “A project like this allows us to move forward towards hotel decarbonisation. It is also in such a special place as the Biosphere Reserve of Menorca, making it one of the most tangible results of our commitment to a hotel model based on excellence, responsibility and sustainability.”
The hotel dining facilities pay tribute to local products, with the exquisite cuisine in the different restaurants using the finest fresh ingredients from the island farms.
The Menorcan S’Amarador Restaurant is an iconic venue in the town of Ciutadella, widely recognised as one of the top seafood restaurants on the island. Famous for a wine cellar with more than a hundred fine wines and for working with only the finest local produce to prepare its delicious rice dishes and seafood bisques, accompanied by the freshest fish from the local fish market, with a particular focus on one of the culinary highlights of the Balearic sea: the local red lobster.
Located on the first floor, and in the terrace looking to the sea, S’Amarador offers a tribute to the cuisine of the mother restaurant in Ciutadella. The restaurant preserves and adapts all the traditions of the ancient fishermen’s taverns that used to be located throughout the port area in olden times.
In addition to S’Amarador, the restaurateur Joan Canals brings all of his expertise and the personality of the Ulises Restaurant to a new venue named Cru. Reflecting the purest essence of the ingredients that are harvested from the island’s land and sea, Canals perfectly combines fresh local fish, shellfish, vegetables and olive oils with the most contemporary techniques and presentation.
For travellers seeking greater harmony and well-being, the hotel is also home to a temple to health and beauty thanks to Anne Semonin Paris. With treatments and experiences based on vegan cosmetics and natural products, this is the third spa in Spain for Anne Semonin, joining a number of spas in select locations in the most exclusive hotels in the world, including luxury resorts in Japan, Hong Kong, Doha, Greece and the Maldives.
Villa Le Blanc is also launching a new line of in-room amenities with bathroom products and aromas designed by the Carner Barcelona artisan perfumers. A new experience for the senses that combines to perfection with the splendour and attractiveness of the Mediterranean.
The hotel is owned by the company Victoria Hotels & Resorts, created in 2021 by Meliá Hotels International, Bankinter Investment and other investors who are customers of the bank, and also with GMA acting as the managing partner. All of the partners involved in the project share a strong commitment to sustainability, as shown in the exemplary transformation of this iconic hotel.
