Smart Travel Edit

We planned two girls’ trips to Mallorca.

One in a stylish city-centre hotel.

One in a private villa surrounded by olive groves.

Both were unforgettable — but for completely different reasons.

If you’re planning a girls’ holiday to Mallorca and can’t decide between booking a hotel or a villa, you’re not alone. It’s one of the biggest decisions you’ll make, and it will shape the entire feel of your trip.

Hotels promise rooftop cocktails, fresh towels every morning and someone else making the bed.

Villas promise slow breakfasts in pyjamas, afternoons by your own private pool and late-night chats under the stars without worrying about disturbing anyone.

Having recently experienced both just twelve months apart, I can tell you they’re both brilliant.

But that wouldn’t really help.

Instead, here’s my honest comparison of the pros and cons of each—and why I’d choose something different depending on the type of girls’ trip we were planning.

If Mallorca is one of your favourite destinations too, you might also enjoy my guide to the island’s two favourite family hikes.

At a Glance	Villa	Hotel
Best for	Relaxing together	Being looked after
Privacy	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐
Convenience	⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Value for groups	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	⭐⭐⭐
Pool	Private	Shared
Cooking	Yes	No
Housekeeping	No	Yes
Overall vibe	Home away from home	Luxury escape

The Hotel Experience:

We booked HM Palma Blanc, a modern hotel in the heart of Palma. The rooftop pool, central location and a great Expedia deal made it an easy choice.

Within half an hour of arriving, our dresses were hanging in the wardrobe, cocktails were in hand and we’d already started debating what to wear that evening.

We had pre-planned all of our restaurants and bars before travelling, so our overall travel experience was very relaxed. Getting ready in our hotel rooms felt a little disjointed, as we were in double rooms, so we missed the communal dressing room vibes.   

Most of our time together on this holiday was spent at a dinner/lunch table for long, boozy meals. We maxed out these mealtimes, often finding bars and live music venues to extend the night; only going back to the hotel when we were ready to sleep.  

The early morning crew would converge in the gym before breakfast, or for a neighbourhood stroll.

We had pre-planned a day at a beach club, and enjoyed it so much, we made last-minute provisions to spend the next day at another beach club.

Looking back, we realised we’d paid a premium to stay in the city… only to spend most of our days escaping it. Between beach clubs, coastal walks and long lunches by the sea, we were constantly chasing the peace we’d left behind each morning. It made us wonder whether we’d have been happier staying somewhere quieter and simply travelling into Palma for dinner.

Pros:

• Housekeeping made our beds every day
• We didn’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen
• We were within walking distance of all restaurants and bars
• Concierge ordered us taxis for the airport
• Total relaxation away from our hectic lives at home

Cons:

• We had some chill time by the hotel pool, but there were limited other communal areas for us to relax together
• Shared pool with other guests meant our conversations were often stilted. Some conversations were off the cards!
• If we wanted to relax, we had very few options other than to lie on our hotel bed
• Our time together as a group was always in a restaurant or bar or walking the city. I missed just hanging with my friends.
• We spent a lot more on food and drink in the hotel, as every meal and drink was eaten out.

The Villa Experience:

We stayed in a private villa in the small hamlet of Binisalem, 15 miles out of Palma. We compromised on the distance from the city for the villa itself, which was set in acres of olive groves, with a private pool, and no neighbours as far as the eye could see!

The villa became more than somewhere to sleep—it became part of the holiday. It hosted sunrise coffees, questionable dance moves, acoustic sing-alongs, late-night heart-to-hearts and enough rosé-fuelled laughter to last until next summer.

The terrace hosted early morning coffee with the early risers, long lunches, and late-night wine drinking. The particular villa we booked had numerous terraces, which allowed us to change scenery to make the most of sunrise calm and sunset golden hours.

We booked 2 of 4 meals at restaurants in the city; however, we enjoyed our villa time so much that we actually cancelled one of these while away. The meal we did have out in the city was in an amazing restaurant called XXX, followed by drinks. The 25-minute taxi ride did not feel like an inconvenience, and the cost shared over 8 of us felt immaterial.

There felt like a lot of expenses on the trip, including hire car, food shopping, taxis; however, using the app Splitwise made this so manageable and stress-free. I would definitely recommend this for any group trip.

Pros:

• Privacy around the pool to share private conversations, and relax without other guests watching on.
• We had a lot of space to just be.
• There was a lot of bonding time, 1:1 with friends and as a group. Be it the early risers having a coffee on the terrace before the rest of the world arose, or the night owls finishing the last dregs of the rosé on the sofa when everyone else had peeled off to bed.
• We got to mix eating in and out. 2 nights we ate out at nice restaurants, and the others, we had food in the villa around a large dining table. 
• We got to graze mealtimes as and when we fancied rather than being restricted to restaurant bookings. We tended to eat a continental breakfast on the terrace, graze for lunch around the pool, and have a main meal together in the evenings.

Cons:

• We had 2 designated drivers for the trip, to do the airport runs, and a couple of supermarket shops while we were there. I was one of the designated drivers as I don’t mind driving abroad, but I guess not everyone feels comfortable doing this. I am also not a huge drinker, so foregoing daytime drinks was not a problem for me at all.
• Inevitably, one or two people gravitated towards the kitchen and cooked for 2 nights. We had simple meals, but it still meant food prep.
• When something goes wrong, it’s on you to contact the host. Our fridge door fell off, so it was on us to contact the host. This was super simple and straightforward, so really can’t be classed as a con any more than a handle falling off in a hotel room.

Choose a Villa if…	Choose a Hotel if…
You want privacy	You want to completely switch off
You enjoy cooking together	You’d rather eat out every meal
Your group loves relaxed evenings	Your group enjoys bars and nightlife
You’re celebrating a special occasion at “home”	You want spa facilities and daily housekeeping
You like splitting costs	You don’t want to organise anything

Things I Didn’t Expect

Hotel

I didn’t expect to miss…

• sitting around in pyjamas
• doing absolutely nothing together
• spontaneous conversations

Villa

I didn’t expect…

• cooking to become one of the highlights
• everyone helping each other
• the holiday expenses to be so easily split eight ways

💡 Smart Travel Tip: Travelling as a group? Download Splitwise before you leave. It tracks every shared expense—from supermarket shops to taxi fares—so nobody has to spend the last night working out who owes what.

Final Thoughts

So… hotel or villa?

Honestly, I’d happily book either again—but for very different reasons.

If the aim of the trip is to completely switch off, be looked after and enjoy great restaurants on your doorstep, I’d choose the hotel every time.

But if the aim is to spend real quality time together, laugh until the early hours, share long breakfasts, float around your own private pool and make the accommodation part of the experience rather than just somewhere to sleep, I’d book the villa without hesitation.

Looking back, I realised the best memories from our villa holiday weren’t made in Palma or on a beach.

They were made around the breakfast table.

On the terrace with a glass of rosé.

Floating in the pool at sunset.

Sometimes, where you stay becomes the destination itself.

And for me, that’s exactly what made the villa win.

Contact me to help book a girls’ trip…but which will you pick? … villa or hotel?!