Hello. My name is Domhnall O'Donoghue
and I am a travel writer on behalf of the Belfast Telegraph.
So I am speaking to you from a fantastic hotel called
the Honucai, in the south of the island of Mallorca.
And Honucai actually means a sea turtle,
which perfectly describes the atmosphere
and the energy of this sleepy fishing village.
Everything's relaxed and chilled and it's a perfect antidote
to the hustle and bustle of city life.
I have come here on behalf of Belfast Telegraph
to write an article about the hotel, about the area,
about the culture and the local people.
And it has been fantastic.
Every second of it has been fantastic.
What's different about this hotel is its familiarity.
It's like a home from home. Everything is relaxed.
It has beautiful decor, lovely colors. Everything's relaxed.
It's almost like the sea has been brought into the hotel
and it's a wonderful way just to distress and to switch off
from city life and from working your working days.
I particularly must say that the staff
have been so welcoming, so warm and friendly
and I will miss it and I don't wanna go.
So that's just the nature of it.
So I'm speaking to you from the Salicornia restaurant
and the food here has just been a masterclass
of color, of flavors.
The presentation, if you are on Instagram
your Instagram account will absolutely love it
almost too beautiful to eat, but we ate it nonetheless
and our bellies are full and our appetite is sated.
And it's fantastic.
And I'm going to ask the chef for some of the recipes
to bring home particularly the Seafish.
Which has just been caught there right behind
where we're speaking to you now.
So fresh, it almost spoke to us.
It didn't, thankfully.
It's been wonderful and that's definitely
a highlight of any stay here.
So if you are a foodie and you like, you know,
local cuisine, you're discovering new recipes,
here is a perfect spot.
So my bedroom was well almost
what you describe as a honeymoon suite.
It was so beautiful and large and spacious.
It was divided into two areas.
The first section looked out onto the beautiful sea
and then the second area had a couch and a television,
if you wanted to unwind during the day,
or during the night watching television.
But I did not want to do that.
I was up at the roof where there's a beautiful pool
and the most magnificent views that you can imagine.
And not only is your camera having the time of its life
but also the cocktails, magnificent.
So in terms of amenities, this hotel has it all.
Not only do you have the beautiful cuisine
in the restaurants, both here on the ground floor,
looking out onto the main promenade and the sea.
You also have the restaurant on the top floor,
on the roof which also possesses magnificent views.
There's a pool up there, but there's also a spa.
If you want a bit of grooming, if you're a fella
and you want to relax.
If you're a lady and you want to pamper yourself,
there's perfect spa here to do that.
But also, as I say the promenade is there
where people are walking up and down enjoying coffee,
enjoying a kava, enjoying a walk or a run.
So if you want to relax or you want to get fit
and be out in the sea,
there are boats there that you can hire.
So there's something for everyone.
So it depends what kind of activity you want.
If you want it to be slow paced here.
If you want it to be fast paced bit of adrenaline also here.
So our itinerary was jam packed.
Some activities were slow paced,
some were more action packed.
So for instance, yesterday,
we spent the morning and afternoon out on sea.
We hired some boats and a big group of us went out
and we discovered some magical alcoves and caves.
And we went swimming and the water.
I've never seen a color, more beautiful.
The azure, turqouise colors,
it's almost impossible to describe.
And I'm a writer and words evade me.
It's something that you just have to experience firsthand.
We also discovered some beautiful villages
dotted around the area.
Fishing, obviously, as you can imagine
in an island is central, it's key.
So we had a beautiful walk
around some of those villages today.
So something that's very unique about this island
and a lot of islands dotted around the Mediterranean
is the salt, salt pans.
And that might not sound glamorous, but until you visit it
you don't know what experience it is.
And it's absolutely mesmeric, it's fantastic.
And we went there and spent the afternoon,
harvesting salt, looking for flamencos.
We didn't see them. They were shy that day.
But it's absolutely a fantastic and unique experience.
It's something that, you know,
very few people will have done.
And it's definitely something that you can tell
your friends when you get back home, harvesting salt.
So central to staying here in this hotel is food.
And it also means then if you are planning
to do lots of activities, you might need a little siesta
in between your big lunch and your dinner.
But food is absolutely key here
and it's absolutely beautiful.
And they have some of the best chefs
in Spain coming here, developing their menus,
executed perfectly from the staff in the kitchen here.
And tuna is actually something that is very popular here
cause it's caught locally.
And yesterday we actually saw a big,
large tuna being decapitated.
So that's not for the fainthearted,
but definitely again something that you would tell
your friends and family when you get back home.
So for you and me, I would imagine tuna
is something that you see in cans, small cans.
So it was absolutely mind blowing to actually see it
being caught and seeing it being sliced apart
in such a professional detailed way.
Even though the whole exhibition,
the demonstration was through Spanish
and that unfortunately I don't speak,
I could understand the process clearly.
I had a huge respect for the detail.
The precision that goes into dividing
a tuna fish into various sections.
Which we then got to sample afterwards.
And what was really interesting
about eating the tuna afterwards.
It was raw.
It was obviously, you know, as fresh as it can get,
but it also, it was different in color.
There was three samples and each color
represented a different part of the tuna.
So when I go home to Ireland, I'll never be able
to look at a can of tuna in the same way.
I think this hotel is perfect for somebody looking
for a little bit of quiet in their lives.
If they're looking for a bit of sunshine,
something that we don't often get in Ireland.
It's absolutely perfect for them
because the weather here is glorious.
But it also has the sea breeze, because for Irish people,
sun can be a little bit overwhelming
particularly in the summer months.
So this has the advantage of that lovely sea breeze
to keep everything cool.
It's also great for somebody who wants
a little bit more activity in their days,
when they're on holidays.
Taking a boat out to sea, going swimming,
even going fishing, exploring some of the villages
around the area.
But ultimately it's somebody who wants to be,
you know, recharged wants their battery recharged.
Because as we all know the past few years
have been very challenging difficult for us all.
And summer like here, it's just like a shot of adrenaline.
And I would recommend it wholeheartedly.