Where does the Soller Valley go from here?

The Soller valley is my home - North West Majorca surrounded by the Tramuntana mountain range and its leader the Puig Mayor. We are enclosed by the mountains which dictate our weather and our thinking. A community that leans towards France and its old trading links with the rest of Europe. A throwback to the days when it was easier to deliver goods by boat to Europe than cross the mountains and head for Palma.

A tunnel was blasted through the mountains in 1997 and a road link to Palma de Mallorca was created - journey time 30 minutes. That was the beginning of the future for Soller and since then the population has crept up to 15,000. Commuting and school runs to Palma and beyond became possible and in 2011 the population is split between those who live and work locally to those who sleep and weekend in Soller.

The Port of Soller is a perfect horse shoe bay with low rise buildings at shore level and discreet houses and apartments in the surrounding streets. The family resort has welcomed visitors to its modest hotels for decades and life gently ambled along with fishing and tourism the main employers. This was the Soller we first got to know. A place we brought our children thirty years ago to ‘bucket and spade'. Our knowledge of the area was first created in the mountain village of Fornalutx where friends lent us a holiday house. Village life in the most beautiful valley in the world was destined to have a long term effect on us which resulted in us selling up in London and making a permanent relocation.

The subtle changes of the last five years have been gathering momentum. The arrival of The Grand Hotel in Soller and the Esplendido Hotel and the Amia Hotel in the Port brought four and five star hotels to Soller for the first time. Restaurants such as Agapanto and Es Passeig joined EsCanyis as worthy of the awards they have for fine dining to rival London establishments. The increase in moorings in the rebuilt harbour area has brought in the yachts and the sailing enthusiasts. The Port of Soller is moving into the next generation and the journey is fascinating to watch.

A reported interview with the Fenando Gibaja General Manager of the Jumeriah Port Soller Hotel and Spa - soon to open in the Port of Soller produced some fascinating information.

He said that the Jumeriah Hotel will be opening in March 2012 and it will provide the most luxurious and expensive rooms on the Island of Majorca. A room without breakfast will cost between 600 and 800 € per night in high season.

The hotel is being built on the Sa Taleia headland above the Port of Soller with magnificent views of the harbour and out to sea.

The wonderful design incorporates the shape of an elephant's trunk. From end to end guests can walk 800 meters and save a 19-storey drop. When the visitor enters he has a sense of climbing aboard a huge ship about to slip into the Mediterranean. The bow is huge with views out to the Port of Soller and the surrounding mountains. The restaurant serves as the poop deck. The complex is divided into eleven buildings, some classic lines and other avant-garde surrounded by gardens of native vegetation.

This hotel is on schedule to be ready in September 2011 and open to the public in March 2012 predicts Fernando Gibaja. The property belongs to the real estate branch of the German DekaBank, one of the largest money managers in Europe. DekaBank expects to spend between 120 and 150 million euros on the project. This figure means that each room has cost over a million euros - the usual spend on a five star hotel is 300,000€ per room. This is a seven star hotel - except that the category does not yet exist. This means that the Hotel will be officially recorded as ‘five star luxury'. This is Jumeriah's first beach resort in Europe and it's all happening in the Port of Soller.

118 rooms will measure between 40 and 60 square meters, The Royal Suite will be 148 and the bridal suite 116 square meters. Using the toilet in the Royal suite will give the illusion that you are surrounded by the water of the Mediterranean. The bridal suite is on two levels with a huge terrace in the shape of the bow of a ship.

All the attention to detail that can be expected from an establishment of this class will be here - plasma TVs, nespresso coffee machines, computer and ipod equipment, perfumed oils for the bedroom to name but a few.

Fine dining will be a feature of the hotel with two restaurants and 24 hour room service. Two swimming pools (one steel), chill out areas, conference rooms, children's club and a 2,205 meters of spa spread over three floors complete the facilities on offer.

The staff employed in the hotel will be over 250 which give a staff to guest ratio well off the scale of five star establishments - no wonder they have difficulty in awarding the correct star rating.

The future for our area is no doubt going to be wrapped in the arms of the new hotel. Employment opportunities and the knock on effect of having such a jewel in our midst is an exciting gift. No wonder the Port of Soller has a spring in its step as it spruces up for the new season and looks forward to 2012.