The lobby of the Hotel Continental is full of marble flourishes, oriental tapestries, a lush indoor garden, imposing statues, and stained glass. An arresting white marble staircase leads from the lobby to the second floor, which has several elaborate mezzanine balconies overlooking the colorful bar area below. One would half expect to see Hemingway at the bar, drinking away his sorrows while seated on an upholstered stool overlooking the hotel's baby grand piano. Overall, especially for a four-pearl property in central Palma, the hotel doesn't feel quite as elegant as one may expect, but rooms are at least spacious and stately, and interiors are some of the nicer ones you'll find in the area.

Palma is a dynamic, cosmopolitan city that offers top-notch cultural and gastronomic offerings within easy reach of the Hotel Continental. The property is located near the lively Santa Catalina neighborhood, Palma's seafront promenade, and the exclusive shopping Jaime III shopping artery, and the center of Palma is a five-minute walk away. It's easy to take public transportation from the hotel to other parts of the island, and the Palma Airport is a 15-minute drive away. The exquisite Es Baulard Modern Art Museum and adjoining park are within a six-minute walk, and slightly further west is an outpost of El Corte Ingles, Spain's most famous department store.

The rooms at the Hotel Continental feel like the library of a stately home -- they have solid wooden furniture, paintings with large golden frames, modest writing desks, and large leather ottomans. The style is well-suited to the decorative theme of the rest of the hotel, though from an aesthetic perspective, the bathrooms are a bit of an oddity. Plain and white with gray floors, they resemble the generic bathrooms in 90 percent of the hotels in Mallorca, though the separate walk-in showers and tubs offered in Superior Rooms are a step up from the average. While some rooms offer glimpses of the bay, views are generally disappointing, as the street below is less refined than the hotel itself. 

The bar and restaurant areas of the Hotel Continental stand out for their exceptional character and style, and both feature lots of stained glass accents, marble floors and furniture pieces, and a few statues. For a four-star hotel, however, the machines in the fitness room feel dated, though the small whirlpool and sauna are certainly inviting. The meeting rooms are a bit more pleasant. The smaller of the two has theater seats, while the larger room has a long oval-shaped gleaming wooden table surrounded by ornate wooden chairs with red upholstered seats.  Wi-Fi is free throughout the property.