There’s nothing like escaping the stresses of everyday life as a 21st-century woman – #metoo, the gender pay gap, caring responsibilities and regular microagressions. So the good news is, you can now do just that, at Spain’s first hotel designed exclusively for women.
The four-star Som Dona has opened on the Balearic Island of Majorca, offering 39 rooms to women over the age of 14, along with a pool and spa.
Som Dona aims to focus on ‘comfort, relaxation, art, healthy living, and Mediterranean flavour’, with prices for August starting from around €100 (£93) per night.
Design is described as “bold decoration inspired by feminine features”, which seems to mean (millennial) pink, and plenty of it. Women who may feel they’ve had enough of the colour to last them a lifetime though should take heart in other stylish features such as mid-century modern-esque furniture and gold pendant lighting.
The hotel also professes to have a “a unique atmosphere designed for women” and “service specifically designed for women’s needs”, though what exactly this consists of is not entirely clear.
Activities at the hotel include a spa area with a whirlpool tub and treatments available, with further relaxation to be enjoyed atop Bali-style beds on the roof terrace or loungers around the beach-style freeform pool. The wellness theme continues in the restaurant, whose cuisine is described as “flavourful, healthy and sustainable”.
Som Hotels president Joan Enric Capellá said when plans to open the hotel were announced in 2018 that surveys carried out by the group had revealed its female customers liked the idea of a women-only hotel. An objective outlined was to give visibility to women doing traditionally masculine jobs, though this is not mentioned on the hotel’s website.
Women-only spaces in travel are not new – and they’re on the rise. Golden Door in California is just one of many women-only retreats, but the options extend far beyond the likes of yoga, with groups such as London Girls Surf Club and VC London offering opportunities for women to embark on adventures, from surfing to skateboarding, together.
Telegraph Travel’s Majorca expert Anna Nicholas said: “Twenty years ago I stayed in a women-only tower of a hotel in Times Square, New York, so the concept has been knocking around for a while. In recent times, the gal pal getaway market has grown considerably, as has the trend for solo female travel: there’s been a 230 per cent increase in women-only travel companies in the past six years. So, inevitably hotels will want a slice of the action too.
“Women-only properties could of course offer greater security, less unwanted male attention, and angle products and services towards this segement of the market. Here in the Baleares, we already have popular female-only yoga retreats but that’s with a specific purpose in mind. The new Majorca hotel will most likely attract attention in the early days but whether it can sustain interest with the all-female market long term, time will tell. Decking rooms out in pink, as has been reported, is a little predictable and disappointing.
“I’ve just spent a month travelling around the African region on my tod and nothing would induce me to stay in an all-female hotel. I like mixed company.”