Sir Richard Branson’s New Passion Project Hotel Opens In Spain

“We’ll never make much money out of these projects. They are expressions of love,” says Richard Branson about his collection of hotels and villas. On paper, his latest project, Son Bunyola in the Spanish island of Mallorca, looks simple enough; a 27-room hotel housed in a 16th century finca plus three villas across a 1,300 acre estate framed by the Tramuntana mountains and the sea.

However, it has taken a significantly long time for the serial entrepreneur to get it over the starting line. Branson first bought the Son Bunyola estate 25 years ago. Unable to get planning permission, he sold it in 2002, only to buy it back in 2015. The three villas on the estate opened six years ago but work on the hotel started in 2021. It opened last week.

The main, cream building has two towers, one dating from the 13th century. Inside, luxury is tempered with a groundedness; the floor of the courtyard is studded with stones, the furniture surrounding it is a gentle rattan. One of the first things you’ll see is a wide zinc bar lavishly stocked with spirits. It’s family-friendly too though from float toys in the pool to cots and high chairs.

The colors are gentle, an eau-de-nil green predominates alongside blues that dial down Mallorca’s vibrant skies to an early morning mist. The occasional geometric patterns are nods to Mallorca’s Moorish history, the striped awnings that are a tribute to shade and a summer serenity. Prices start from 600 euros, including breakfast.

Son Bunyola’s general manager, Vincent Padioleau first worked with Branson twenty years ago. Samuel G Galdon, the executive chef, worked at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison when Branson owned it, as well as La Residencia in nearby Deia.

Now 73, Branson paid his first adult trip to Mallorca in his 20s. “A woman I was living with ran away with a man to Mallorca. I didn’t get the girl back but then she rang me up to say she’d found a ruin in Deia.” That was La Residencia, which Branson helped buy in 1987. (He sold it in 2002, and it’s now part of the Belmond group as is Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison.) There are now eight properties in the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio, which, despite Branson’s comments – are one of the most quietly – and consistently successful – parts of the Virgin group. They are all also, bar one, privately owned, by the Branson family. (The exception is Mahali Mzuri tented safari tent in Kenya, a conservancy project which is owned in partnership.) All share a strong sense of place.

Necker Island has a Caribbean vibrancy, Mont Rochelle, in Franschhoek, eschews the area’s cod French to offer a cooler, African-orientated take on South Africa’s most famous wine-growing area. Son Bunyola is firmly Mediterranean, from the food to the scalloped pool parasols. The decor was created by Mallorcan company Rialto Living and Branson’s design brief was simple. “Welcoming, not posh, airy, fun and thoughtful,’ he says. The ambience is quite deliberately that of a home, rather than a hotel and some of the rugs and other textiles were created for the hotel by the Eve Branson Foundation, a Morocco-based charity founded by Branson’s mother.

A vast terrace gives panoramic views across the estate. A path leads to a rocky inlet where the footsure can go swimming, but the 28-meter pool with views of the terraces is a seductive draw. There are also hiking trails and cycle paths – a coastal path now links Son Bunyola with villages on either side of its land.

While it has taken 30 years to create Son Bunyola, this is not the end of the project. From the entrance gate to the main building are lines of newly planted vines of the native Malvasia Mallocan grape plus almond and 7,000 olive trees. Donkeys and goats, which help keep olive trees healthy (and naturally fertilized) are also on order.

Eventually, human residents will be here year round too (although not this first winter). Another ruined finca will provide twelve more suites when it opens in 2025, but the number of rooms will be capped at 39. A vegetable garden has been started where a natural spring can nurture it.

For someone whose best-known projects, Virgin Galactic and Virgin Atlantic rely on speed and technology; Son Bunyola’s growth is remarkably earthed and may provide an especially enduring legacy.