2014 The Quietest Season in the west end

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OllieNotts said:
San an has needed a revamp for a long time.
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and it is actually happening, but that's what some people don't get.

speaking about san an, if you look at what's really going well in and what's not...

- the sunset strip is generally always very busy in the evenings. all the venues have invested a lot of money in the past few years in making their venues look nicer etc (of course that's down to personal taste - I like the original café del mar without the promenade etc, but that's not the point now).

- as for daytime stuff, a lot of the boat parties in san an are doing very well. plus ocean beach is very busy on most days. and the beaches around san an (cala bassa, cala conta, cala salada) are always packed. then there's surfhouse ibiza as well. plus I think more people than ever rent a car and go discover. these are all activities that sort of keep people away from hanging around in san an centre. then there's ibiza rocks who's doing really well on wednesdays and friday evenings. in short, compared to a few years ago, there are now simply many more alternatives on what to do than just lingering around the westend.

- then let's speak about the clubs. last year, eden only opened in the middle of the season. so there was only es paradis for a while. this year both gatecrasher and es paradis have been open from the very start of the season. and even though GC didn't have a brilliant start, they do have a few nights which are definitely busy. also, I personally thought es paradis is going to suffer from GC next door but it seems the opposite is the case, meaning more people are going to es paradis than last year.

- we hear that some of the more modern venues in the westend are doing well. I personally just think too many of the venues in this area haven't done enough in the last few years to keep their places up to scratch and attractive. I don't want to bring up the san an vs pdb discussion now, because that's not what we're talking about now, but fact is, a lot of the bars in pdb have been heavily modernized in the last 2-3 years and it's simply paying off.

- I am going to repeat, Ibiza is far from dead. I'm curiously waiting to see july airport arrival figures, but up to end of june more people than ever have arrived on the island. playa d'en bossa is doing very well, ibiza town is always busy at night, hotel occupancy is generally high and more villas are booked than ever.

- to the original thread poster: andy, really sorry about the bar you've been working being shut. I do understand a world has sort of collapsed for you, but you do need to see the bigger picture: it's only the quietest season for the west end in san an, not for the island in general. the concept of the west end simply doesn't seem to be attractive enough anymore with other stuff being offered. it is although also possible that a certain clientele is simply staying away from ibiza as the island does get more expensive every year. that could have an impact - especially on the westend.

i've been thinking a long time already about re-naming this thread as it's simply misleading and makes people doubt about their holiday plans.
 
kimajy said:
Andy, you have to move with the times when places evolve. Relatively speaking it's only a tiny part of the island where things have changed this year. Other parts of the island have gone through similar highs and lows before and will again. But if demand is down this year in San Antoni then it's just one of those things.

The West End is such a small part of what a really beautiful island has to offer. If what you love is limited to San An and the people there I honestly think this is more a reflection of not having got out to appreciate the rest of the island more, especially the North etc. But it's understandable in a way if you've worked there and stuck to a relatively small 'stomping ground', the seeming demise of that takes on a proportionately greater significance and more so if you depend on it for a living.

Get home and then have a look back objectively... and if you can take some time out next week to see the rest of Ibiza whilst it's there on a plate. And I don't mean Playa d'en Tosser - there's the whole East coast up to Es Canar, Salinas etc. Your attitude about going back may change after you look at these places objectively, and also look beyond the bars and clubs. It's one of the most beautiful and rewarding places to be that I've been, but very few people can expect Ibiza to provide a steady living over a Season and cover their costs. You can, however, still appreciate the positives of the island - and accept that the price of being there is often instability and work can be unstable unless you're a top-name DJ etc. so you need to be prepared to heavily subsidise your time there (as so many wind up doing) when work isn't about.

Having a steady income blowing up in your face and watching a venue which had likely 'come of age' close after so much effort is as much of a headf*ck anywhere as in San Antoni. But it happens all over all the time for different reasons. I can fully appreciate this is all likely to come with a lot of mental and financial issues to grapple with right now. But in reality August will most likely be busy enough (as always) and so I think objectively you just went over a month too soon, the bars misjudged the market and you had some very bad luck with the venue involved not having the pockets to ride a lull. Being self-supporting in Ibiza is hard for anyone and even people like the Sankeys guys have nearly bankrupted themselves trying to get something enduring off the ground there whilst their club was empty at the beginning. With a few notable exceptions, bars and clubs just aren't a steady or secure line of business to depend on.

Places are reinvented, faces change and it all goes on regardless. Things turning sour does make the scales drop from your eyes - but that's a good thing in a way as it helps you separate the dream from the reality. If you can't live with the reality alongside the dream then it's definitely time to move on. But don't blame the island - nothing's really changed there. It's the visitors to it and what they want (or don't as the case may be) responsible for what you're going through :).
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I do know San An is only a small part of the island and yes I have visited a lot of the island over the years, but San An and especially the West End is where most of the work is, or at least was over the last few years.

Ibiza is the best place on earth, it's been like my second home over the years, unfortunately seeing the north of the island, even though very beautiful, won't help me stay here, as I would need an income to survive.

I do think the owners of V Club were stupid in closing it before August, but on the other hand, it is the end of July now and the place is still very quiet. I do hope for all my friends in San An, that August is a great month for them and no more clubs/bars close.

I do know what it's like trying to survive here on very little income, for a long time in 2012 I was living on €180 per week, which I had to pay my rent from too, as you can imagine, that was very difficult.

I am still chasing the 'dream', I am just looking at it from a different angle.
 
stivi said:
and it is actually happening, but that's what some people don't get.

speaking about san an, if you look at what's really going well in and what's not...

- the sunset strip is generally always very busy in the evenings. all the venues have invested a lot of money in the past few years in making their venues look nicer etc (of course that's down to personal taste - I like the original café del mar without the promenade etc, but that's not the point now).

- as for daytime stuff, a lot of the boat parties in san an are doing very well. plus ocean beach is very busy on most days. and the beaches around san an (cala bassa, cala conta, cala salada) are always packed. then there's surfhouse ibiza as well. plus I think more people than ever rent a car and go discover. these are all activities that sort of keep people away from hanging around in san an centre. then there's ibiza rocks who's doing really well on wednesdays and friday evenings. in short, compared to a few years ago, there are now simply many more alternatives on what to do than just lingering around the westend.

- then let's speak about the clubs. last year, eden only opened in the middle of the season. so there was only es paradis for a while. this year both gatecrasher and es paradis have been open from the very start of the season. and even though GC didn't have a brilliant start, they do have a few nights which are definitely busy. also, I personally thought es paradis is going to suffer from GC next door but it seems the opposite is the case, meaning more people are going to es paradis than last year.

- we hear that some of the more modern venues in the westend are doing well. I personally just think too many of the venues in this area haven't done enough in the last few years to keep their places up to scratch and attractive. I don't want to bring up the san an vs pdb discussion now, because that's not what we're talking about now, but fact is, a lot of the bars in pdb have been heavily modernized in the last 2-3 years and it's simply paying off.

- I am going to repeat, Ibiza is far from dead. I'm curiously waiting to see july airport arrival figures, but up to end of june more people than ever have arrived on the island. playa d'en bossa is doing very well, ibiza town is always busy at night, hotel occupancy is generally high and more villas are booked than ever.

- to the original thread poster: andy, really sorry about the bar you've been working being shut. I do understand a world has sort of collapsed for you, but you do need to see the bigger picture: it's only the quietest season for the west end in san an, not for the island in general. the concept of the west end simply doesn't seem to be attractive enough anymore with other stuff being offered. it is although also possible that a certain clientele is simply staying away from ibiza as the island does get more expensive every year. that could have an impact - especially on the westend.

i've been thinking a long time already about re-naming this thread as it's simply misleading and makes people doubt about their holiday plans.
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I have heard PDB has picked up a lot in the last couple of weeks and seems to be doing quite well. Unfortunately that is not good news for me, or my friends working in San An. I don't think the West End will ever be attractive, we all know what it's there for.
There might be more people flying into Ibiza, but they're just staying in their apartments drinking cheap Spar beer, before heading to the big clubs, sometimes you can see them just getting drunk in the apartments and not even going out. What is the point in that?

I think the West End has had it's day, which is bad because that's where all the work is, or at least the vast majority. When I first came over to work, I wanted to DJ in PDB on the beach all day and night, but I had to move to San An, because that's where all the work was.
 
stivi said:
i've been thinking a long time already about re-naming this thread as it's simply misleading and makes people doubt about their holiday plans.
Click to expand...

I agree Stivi. Rename it. It is VERY misleading. If I have to listen to another person tell me that IBZ is over or less quiet I will scream. Ibiza evolves and changes every single year. And as you say more people than EVER are on the island!
 
I'd rather you just deleted the thread and my profile instead of renaming it.
I stick by the title of this thread, come to San An and the West End and tell me it's not the quietest you've seen it in the last 5 years.
 
andyallwood said:
I'd rather you just deleted the thread and my profile instead of renaming it.
I stick by the title of this thread, come to San An and the West End and tell me it's not the quietest you've seen it in the last 5 years.
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why would I do that andy? I fully respect your opinion on it and I am quite sure that the west end does have a very quiet season so far. but as mentioned, it's simply not reflective for the island as a whole and can be misleading for people wanting to come to ibiza. not everyone coming to ibiza is interested in going to the west end.
 
stivi said:
why would I do that andy? I fully respect your opinion on it and I am quite sure that the west end does have a very quiet season so far. but as mentioned, it's simply not reflective for the island as a whole and can be misleading for people wanting to come to ibiza. not everyone coming to ibiza is interested in going to the west end.
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most people don't want to come to the West End as it is a sh1t hole. I didn't when I cam over here for the first time, but I've had better nights in the West End than I've had elsewhere. I guess you have to work and live in San An to realise that, I know I had too.

OK, how do I delete my profile then?
 
I'll tell stephen if you really want to delete your profile, but I wouldn't rush it andy. why leaving this lovely forum now?

this thread is full of useful information and I'm definitely gonna leave it here. the title simply didn't reflect the island as a whole.

btw, I worked in san an too years ago and I personally haven't got anything against the westend.
 
Well that escalated quickly.

Such a shame for whats been a good thread.

Agree with Stivi, there are just more options now.

I think the world cup has played a part as well, even though it finished 2 weeks ago.

We always go Ibiza in July, but its August for us this year, all down to the world cup - many others may have also done this.
 
I remember when San an only had the bay the west end and the sunset strip, now there's so much more it's not surprising the worst part of it is dead. It's been coming for a long time, it seems stuck in a time warp while the rest of San an has left it behind.
Don't think the need for the melo drama is needed though, if you really wanted to stay there you'd stay there and be flexible in what you do, plenty of places are busy life doesn't revolve around the west end :D you won't be missed though, there's someone there more determined then you currently looking for work that wants to stay there who will fill the void as soon as it comes along. You can sulk at home and tell everyone how hard done to you were and that Ibiza is finished.....lolz
 
Personally, I think Andy's posts in this thread say a lot more about Andy and his situation than they do about the state of the island itself. I feel for him because clearly he has had to give up his life on the island, which for many of us here would be 'living the dream'. But it's that disappointment (I know myself that any disappointment in relation to Ibiza can feel like its multiplied by a factor of 100) that informs the opinion that Ibiza at large is struggling at the moment.

Reading through this thread, at no point have I feared for my own holiday in September. (Although, I can fully see why people might.) There are clear reasons why the West End might be struggling. Or reasons why San An is evolving. But the whole island dead? Can't see it myself.
 
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With respect to the spl staff, they understandably have a vested commercial interest in putting a positive spin on everything don't they... Whereas people like Andy are telling it as they see it. Editing the thread title is basically censorship when from what i can see he broke no rules
 
Pablo Montez Junior said:
With respect to the spl staff, they understandably have a vested commercial interest in putting a positive spin on everything don't they... Whereas people like Andy are telling it as they see it. Editing the thread title is basically censorship when from what i can see he broke no rules
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correct, he certainly didn't break any rules. but '2014 the quietest season' is simply far from the truth and there were a good few people in this thread starting to doubt if they should go or not because they expected to see a ghost town.

We absolutely respect everyone's opinion and up to a certain extent andy's absolutely right in what he says - the west end is suffering. but I feel the thread title is misleading like that and have therefore specified what exactly is being talked about - not a violation neither.
 
Oh FFS.

Andys overreacted there I think, yes the name of the post was changed, but it did reflect the views Andy made in the post more accurately. he said himself PdB was busy and other places, so adding "the west end" just made it more accurate IMO
 
Well thanks for making me feel slightly better about it! My trip was never in doubt, my flight is booked and I wouldn't be able to resist the lure of Ibiza anyway. I was just reconsidering whether staying in San An was still a good idea, but there's always buses and taxis if not.
 
Woah this got a bit out of hand and no need to throw a tantrum, I think the title change was fair and much more accurate. I'm heading over in Sept but not worried about it being quiet, it is what you make it.
 
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