Here is my review of my 8th trip to Ibiza….we only spent 4 days on the island this year, but we definitely jammed more than a week's worth of vacation into those 4 days! My wife (LT) definitely ranked this as one of the better vacations that we have taken. I have tons of photos on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/jon.saraniti and will be posting videos this week)
Before I begin my review, I will mention the one negative point from this trip – the taxi situation is epically miserable. No matter where we were coming from or headed to, there were lines and waits north of 30 minutes at some point. I understand that there is a crack down on drunk driving and gypsy cabs (which is a good thing) but at the same time it seems like there was half the taxis available. I understand that it was the high season, but this was insane. Issue more taxi licenses! Ok, I am off of my soap box now.
We landed on Saturday August 8 at around 1pm. For the first time ever, we had zero issues at the airport and got to our hotel around 1:30pm. We stayed at the Goleta in PDB, which was really nice, with a great view of the beach. We decided to head over to Moorea Beach for some grilled calamari (an annual tradition) and then just chill on the beach at PDB. Around 6pm we went to Blue Marlin for Little Louie Vega's Sunset Ritual party – the man was JAMMING some old school records (Street Player was a high point for me, a nice remix of Diamond Life was a high point for LT) and as the sunset he continued to rock. It was nice to hear some classic sounding current…..when he dropped French Kiss right after the sunset, the party just went OFF! We sat down and had dinner while still listening to the choons. After Vega was done, Nicholas Matar from my city came on and played a really nice set! We left around midnight, with day 1 in the books as a win!
Sunday morning, up bright & early we headed over to Salinas. This is still my favorite beach….crystal clear water, nice sand – just a great place to chill. We got our beds and relaxed all day….had some lunch at Jockey Club (not the greatest this year) but heard some good chillout tunes before heading back to the hotel. At night we had dinner at La Oliva, which was amazing. Our waiter was a great guy, he talked me into sea bream instead of my original choice, and it was one of my best meals on the island. After he bought us a couple of rounds of drinks, we were on our way to Pacha and I was already pretty toasty! We got into Pacha and headed straight for the Funky Room to chill with Willie Graff and hear him rock some cool beats before braving it to the jam packed main room for Luciano. What can I say?? I haven't seen the guy since his DC-10 days, and the man just knows what he is doing! Great party….highlight track for me was a La La Land bootleg that he messed with so many ways, and just sounded amazing. Reboot's “Hermano†and Poliakov's “Caravan†were also massive tracks that brought about those hands in the air moments that only occur in Ibiza. Towards the end of the night we were hanging out by the entrance to the main room, which allowed me to sneak into the Global Room every few minutes where Stacey Pullen was putting on a SHOW! I wish that he and Luciano were not playing at the same time, because I would love to hear Pullen again……WOW!
Monday we were a little beat up from the previous night, so we just went to Figuerettas during the day and hung out there for a while. LT went back to the room for a disco nap, while I went to DC-10. That terrace was just absolutely rocking…..I got in for the end of Jose de Divina's set, before he gave way for an amazing 90 minutes of music brought to you by Davide Squillance. Davide had that whole terrace bouncing to his beats! When he dropped his track “The Other Side of Bed†I thought that the roof might fly off!! I really would have liked to have stayed longer to hear Tania and Dyed, but we had dinner reservations at L' Elefant later that night (if Tanzman was playing though, I may have changed those reservations!) L' Elefant may have been the best overall meal that I have ever had in Ibiza….from the amazing food, wine, staff (even LT could not stop commenting on how gorgeous that the waitress's were) and view, it was an overall unreal dinner. After we ate – it was off to Amnesia for Papa Sven's Cocoon Party Animals. We got in a little after 2, I really wanted to hear more of Carola and Loco Dice on the terraza, but I knew that when Sven went on that the main room would be rammed. So LT and I got some good real estate at the bar to the right of the booth while Lorber was on. Lorber was very good, and he played Caravan as well, for another hands in the air moment. Then Sven went on, and well – HOLY SH*T…..that man controls a crowd like no other. Not sure what track that he opened with, but it was perfect for the show with the party animals (video on my FB page). We could not stop dancing. Sven definitely played more house than I expected and when he dropped Kabale Und Liebe “Since You Looked Into My Eyes†I thought the roof would come off!! We hung out and danced till well after 5 – but it became way too packed in there and the music got a little harder than LT likes, so we left…..I could not believe the line to get IN as we left….wrapped around the block. Has to be a fire hazard!
Our last day was my first gig in Ibiza, as I played poolside at Es Vive. We had a great time, as I played from 1-6pm. It was nice to have such a long time slot and to play in the afternoon because it gave me the chance to play some cooler deep house cuts that I don't always get to play at home. Biggest tracks for me where Dennis De Laat – Sound of Violence (David Keno Remix), El Mundo & Satori – Jazz Tango, Marvin Zeyss – Leaving, Tucillo – Oh Night (Yakine Remix), Kev Obrien – When and Where (The Runners Remix). The only downside was having to keep the music lower than I would have liked to….apparently there were neighbor complaints! We ended the trip with dinner at KM5, I had been dreaming about the Argentinean steak for the last two years – and it did not disappoint! This was a great way to end the Ibiza leg of our trip….
After Ibiza, we headed to Mallorca and Madrid….I won't get into all of the details here, but I will say that we had a great time, and it was nice to relax after 4 crazy days. We went out one night in Mallorca, which was to Café Garito, which was cool as hell! Free entry, cheap booze and great beats by Gran Nacho! This was a great night…
So I am back in NYC now, day dreaming all day about the next trip back……again, you can see my photos at www.facebook.com/jon.saraniti
Before I begin my review, I will mention the one negative point from this trip – the taxi situation is epically miserable. No matter where we were coming from or headed to, there were lines and waits north of 30 minutes at some point. I understand that there is a crack down on drunk driving and gypsy cabs (which is a good thing) but at the same time it seems like there was half the taxis available. I understand that it was the high season, but this was insane. Issue more taxi licenses! Ok, I am off of my soap box now.
We landed on Saturday August 8 at around 1pm. For the first time ever, we had zero issues at the airport and got to our hotel around 1:30pm. We stayed at the Goleta in PDB, which was really nice, with a great view of the beach. We decided to head over to Moorea Beach for some grilled calamari (an annual tradition) and then just chill on the beach at PDB. Around 6pm we went to Blue Marlin for Little Louie Vega's Sunset Ritual party – the man was JAMMING some old school records (Street Player was a high point for me, a nice remix of Diamond Life was a high point for LT) and as the sunset he continued to rock. It was nice to hear some classic sounding current…..when he dropped French Kiss right after the sunset, the party just went OFF! We sat down and had dinner while still listening to the choons. After Vega was done, Nicholas Matar from my city came on and played a really nice set! We left around midnight, with day 1 in the books as a win!
Sunday morning, up bright & early we headed over to Salinas. This is still my favorite beach….crystal clear water, nice sand – just a great place to chill. We got our beds and relaxed all day….had some lunch at Jockey Club (not the greatest this year) but heard some good chillout tunes before heading back to the hotel. At night we had dinner at La Oliva, which was amazing. Our waiter was a great guy, he talked me into sea bream instead of my original choice, and it was one of my best meals on the island. After he bought us a couple of rounds of drinks, we were on our way to Pacha and I was already pretty toasty! We got into Pacha and headed straight for the Funky Room to chill with Willie Graff and hear him rock some cool beats before braving it to the jam packed main room for Luciano. What can I say?? I haven't seen the guy since his DC-10 days, and the man just knows what he is doing! Great party….highlight track for me was a La La Land bootleg that he messed with so many ways, and just sounded amazing. Reboot's “Hermano†and Poliakov's “Caravan†were also massive tracks that brought about those hands in the air moments that only occur in Ibiza. Towards the end of the night we were hanging out by the entrance to the main room, which allowed me to sneak into the Global Room every few minutes where Stacey Pullen was putting on a SHOW! I wish that he and Luciano were not playing at the same time, because I would love to hear Pullen again……WOW!
Monday we were a little beat up from the previous night, so we just went to Figuerettas during the day and hung out there for a while. LT went back to the room for a disco nap, while I went to DC-10. That terrace was just absolutely rocking…..I got in for the end of Jose de Divina's set, before he gave way for an amazing 90 minutes of music brought to you by Davide Squillance. Davide had that whole terrace bouncing to his beats! When he dropped his track “The Other Side of Bed†I thought that the roof might fly off!! I really would have liked to have stayed longer to hear Tania and Dyed, but we had dinner reservations at L' Elefant later that night (if Tanzman was playing though, I may have changed those reservations!) L' Elefant may have been the best overall meal that I have ever had in Ibiza….from the amazing food, wine, staff (even LT could not stop commenting on how gorgeous that the waitress's were) and view, it was an overall unreal dinner. After we ate – it was off to Amnesia for Papa Sven's Cocoon Party Animals. We got in a little after 2, I really wanted to hear more of Carola and Loco Dice on the terraza, but I knew that when Sven went on that the main room would be rammed. So LT and I got some good real estate at the bar to the right of the booth while Lorber was on. Lorber was very good, and he played Caravan as well, for another hands in the air moment. Then Sven went on, and well – HOLY SH*T…..that man controls a crowd like no other. Not sure what track that he opened with, but it was perfect for the show with the party animals (video on my FB page). We could not stop dancing. Sven definitely played more house than I expected and when he dropped Kabale Und Liebe “Since You Looked Into My Eyes†I thought the roof would come off!! We hung out and danced till well after 5 – but it became way too packed in there and the music got a little harder than LT likes, so we left…..I could not believe the line to get IN as we left….wrapped around the block. Has to be a fire hazard!
Our last day was my first gig in Ibiza, as I played poolside at Es Vive. We had a great time, as I played from 1-6pm. It was nice to have such a long time slot and to play in the afternoon because it gave me the chance to play some cooler deep house cuts that I don't always get to play at home. Biggest tracks for me where Dennis De Laat – Sound of Violence (David Keno Remix), El Mundo & Satori – Jazz Tango, Marvin Zeyss – Leaving, Tucillo – Oh Night (Yakine Remix), Kev Obrien – When and Where (The Runners Remix). The only downside was having to keep the music lower than I would have liked to….apparently there were neighbor complaints! We ended the trip with dinner at KM5, I had been dreaming about the Argentinean steak for the last two years – and it did not disappoint! This was a great way to end the Ibiza leg of our trip….
After Ibiza, we headed to Mallorca and Madrid….I won't get into all of the details here, but I will say that we had a great time, and it was nice to relax after 4 crazy days. We went out one night in Mallorca, which was to Café Garito, which was cool as hell! Free entry, cheap booze and great beats by Gran Nacho! This was a great night…
So I am back in NYC now, day dreaming all day about the next trip back……again, you can see my photos at www.facebook.com/jon.saraniti
