As one of spotlight’s number one lurkers, it’s only fair of me to contribute a review, particularly after gleaning so much info from the forum in preparation for my trip, so here goes.
The first thing to say is that we weren’t intending to visit Ibiza this year, but after a couple of other disastrous holidays, and a difficult year work wise, I decided to treat the wife to a weekend away for her birthday, as well as for me to enjoy a well earned break. The timing of the weekend (closing parties), and the inexpensive nature of the flights (Ryanair from Liverpool - £120) and accommodation (Es Vive – 100 Euro per night), meant that the chosen destination was somewhat of a no brainer.
We have never been this late in the year and we were a bit worried about how quiet everywhere might be, and as we were travelling on our own (we would normally visit in a group of 10-15), we plumped for Es Vive. We did have some concerns about the reported pretensions of the typical guests – but we thought it better to be somewhere where there would be plenty of things going on, and plenty of “like-minded” company.
Friday
We arrived at 5:30pm on Friday to a glorious 75 degrees of sunshine. We picked up the hire car and made our way to a very quiet Es Vive. A quick turnaround and we were at Bora Bora 30 mins later, eager to make the most of our short trip. It wasn’t the heaving mid-season Bora Bora that we knew and loved, but certainly busy enough, and we enjoyed a wiggle for a couple of hours.
That evening we dined at Pacha which was average at best. I had lobster to start, and turbot for main. The fish wasn’t very fresh, and the bill for two came to 170 Euros with two bottles of wine. We entered the club about 2 and stayed for about 3 hours. I have to say that it was the first clubnight I’ve ever been to where there were more people in the VIP area than in the non-VIP. Doesn’t that somewhat defeat the object? Also it was that quiet that the outside balconies weren’t even open. On this evidence I can’t imagine that Pure Pacha has been too busy through the season. Music was a bit mundane too.
In retrospect I don’t think we’ll do the Pacha dinner thing again. Unless there is a specific night/DJ you want to see at Pacha, I’d say spend 80 Euros for a better dinner in Dalt Vila, and go to another club. That said, and to quote letsgetdownanddirty – “WIBBOW”, we still had a good time and were just thrilled to back in Ibiza.
We got back to the hotel, had a quick nightcap in a very quiet bar, and retired to bed at about 6:30 – earliest ever first night.
Saturday
I was woken for breakfast!!! by the wife at about 10:30, and it was very acceptable indeed. Now there are a couple of things we’ve always had the prior intention to do, but never quite managed, either because a) we never got up/in/to bed early enough, or b) we weren’t in the right “frame of mind”. Those things were a Formentera visit, or to go to El Bigote in Cala Mastella. We chose the latter and took a nice leisurely drive up to the North East coast. We weren’t disappointed, as the bullit(fish stew) for lunch was spectacular, and at 50 Euros for two (with wine) was great value. We then spent the rest of the afternoon at Cal d’en Serra, in the glorious sunshine. Ah…. Bliss………
That evening we ate at El Olivo in D’alt Vila. Carpaccio and Skate for me and a couple of bottles of wine, bill for two was 80 Euros – great quality and value.
Now for the highlight of the weekend – Amnesia closing. We agonised a bit about the best time to go. We wanted to avoid the queues, but didn’t want to go too late because I’m a great fan of daytime clubbing, and I really enjoy Amnesia when darkness turns to sunlight. I also had to take into account the wife’s stamina, and with there being only two of us, the end of her stamina, would mean the end of my night too. After a few drinks in Town, we couldn’t resist any longer though, and went to Amnesia at 2ish and got straight in, no queues – RESULT!
It took us a little while to get settled, and get into our stride. I have to say, I couldn’t be getting on with the Matinee thing. It appeared to be an exercise in staring at a bunch of preening and pumped up models on the stage. What happened to the whole feelgood, relaxed and anything goes Matinee@Space vibe? Anyway it wasn’t long before we were back in our comfort zone in the main room. The music, crowd and overall vibe seemed to get progressively better as the night went on. There was all the year’s faves (Chase The Mouse, Empire Of The Sun, La Tromba etc)interspersed with some cheesy but good fun re-mixes of things like Times Likes These, La La Land, Thriller, and Blue Monday (twice!). The violinist and sax player (who I’d normally find a bit of a distraction tbh) were great fun too, despite the violinist nearly landing on the wife after dropping off the podium. Then just as I was preparing for the sunrise, disaster struck. The wife announced that her legs had gone and that we needed to go home. After a serious amount of begging and pleading for just another half an hour, I accepted my fate and we got a taxi home at about 7:30. Even the possibility of a late drink at the bar was denied as everything was shut. We were beginning to seriously question the Es Vive decision. We were even passed by a group of golfers on their way out for an early morning round. I mean come on, who goes on a golfing holiday to Ibiza? I’m betting their wives were convinced they were in Vilamoura.
At least I could enjoy an early morning doobie, G&T and sunrise combo on the balcony, which somewhat helped to ease my pain of not experiencing the Amnesia “sunrise”, and also allowed me to cogitate as to whether I had actually seen the golfing apparition or not.
Sunday
After 4 hours of sweating, thrashing, and (not much) sleeping, we arose with the plan of heading over to Cala Jondal for Blue Marlin closing. We decided to lunch at the bar next door first (Yemanja sp?) and had an acceptable lunch of anchovies to start and seawolf. This was washed down by an even more acceptable 2 or 3 jugs of cava sangria, that certainly hit the spot and induced a deep, deep sleep on the sun loungers. When we awoke the sun had set, and Blue Marlin was warming up nicely. We weren’t however, and a combination of feeling slightly groggy and somewhat unglamorous, (certainly compared to all the beautiful people we were watching arrive on their private yachts) prompted us to change our plans to go back to the hotel, and spruce up somewhere nice for dinner instead. The Michelin star restaurants post inspired us to try S’Oficina or El Cigarral, but we drove past them and they were both shut, so we ended up in D’alt Vila again, and ate at Restaurant D’alt Vila. I had Garlic prawns and Oxtails, and a bottle of wine. The food was average but still good value at 60 Euros (for 2). We had a midday flight the next day, and although the grogginess was gone and the dancing legs were back, it really didn’t make much sense to “start the car” again. So we returned to the hotel for one final holiday nightcap, but once again the bar was closed! We were left feeling like the proverbial prisoners on death row who had been denied their final meal.
Our judgment regarding Es Vive could not have been more wrong…….. Or so we thought…………
Monday
We awoke around 7:30 to a medieval banquet of sumptuous proportions. The first clue was that the bed was vibrating in time to the pounding bass. The 2nd clue was when I looked outside the windows to see numerous creatures in various states of distress and wonderment wandering in and out of the hotel. Compare and contrast to the scene to 24 hours earlier…. We wandered down to the hotel lobby, and out onto the pool area for breakfast, where the 3rd and final clue appeared in the form of a prostrate Sven Vath lying completely comatose on a sun lounger, like the energizer bunny whose party batteries had all run out. “Stop the Clock!” I shouted, when it finally dawned on me that the Blue Marlin after party was happening right beneath our room! I relocated directly to a hotel bar that had been transformed into the deepest darkest discoteca full of post Amnesia and Blue Marlin casualties. Looking somewhat fresh as a daisy, I stood out like a sore thumb, but what a great way to spend the last couple of hours of your holiday! I was eventually dragged away kicking and screaming and onto the plane home, feeling like the death row prisoner given a last minute reprieve.
What’s more - having not completely kicked the arse out of it, I can sit here and write this review with clarity of thought, devoid of the traditional post-Ibiza fear and loathing in Trent Vegas.
So in summary.
Best Party – Amnesia Closing – an absolute belter.
Best Meal – El Bigote
Biggest Regret – No Space this year due to mis-timing the closing, missing Amnesia sunrise
Weather - Fantastic
Music – I’m no expert, but the music absolutely did the job for me this year
Best Surpise – All the PdB alternatives to Bora Bora, my impromptu meeting with Sven
After all the conjecture in the last couple of years around the demise of Ibiza/the lack of daytime parties/the impact of the recession etc. I have to say it is somewhat difficult for me to pass judgment as I have never visited the island at this time of year to compare, but I do feel that the comparison is somewhat futile.
What I can use as a reference point though, is a 25 year going out career that has spanned all the continents and most major cities and vacation destinations and as a place to party, to holiday and to experience there is simply nowhere anywhere near.
Thanks for staying with me……
The first thing to say is that we weren’t intending to visit Ibiza this year, but after a couple of other disastrous holidays, and a difficult year work wise, I decided to treat the wife to a weekend away for her birthday, as well as for me to enjoy a well earned break. The timing of the weekend (closing parties), and the inexpensive nature of the flights (Ryanair from Liverpool - £120) and accommodation (Es Vive – 100 Euro per night), meant that the chosen destination was somewhat of a no brainer.
We have never been this late in the year and we were a bit worried about how quiet everywhere might be, and as we were travelling on our own (we would normally visit in a group of 10-15), we plumped for Es Vive. We did have some concerns about the reported pretensions of the typical guests – but we thought it better to be somewhere where there would be plenty of things going on, and plenty of “like-minded” company.
Friday
We arrived at 5:30pm on Friday to a glorious 75 degrees of sunshine. We picked up the hire car and made our way to a very quiet Es Vive. A quick turnaround and we were at Bora Bora 30 mins later, eager to make the most of our short trip. It wasn’t the heaving mid-season Bora Bora that we knew and loved, but certainly busy enough, and we enjoyed a wiggle for a couple of hours.
That evening we dined at Pacha which was average at best. I had lobster to start, and turbot for main. The fish wasn’t very fresh, and the bill for two came to 170 Euros with two bottles of wine. We entered the club about 2 and stayed for about 3 hours. I have to say that it was the first clubnight I’ve ever been to where there were more people in the VIP area than in the non-VIP. Doesn’t that somewhat defeat the object? Also it was that quiet that the outside balconies weren’t even open. On this evidence I can’t imagine that Pure Pacha has been too busy through the season. Music was a bit mundane too.
In retrospect I don’t think we’ll do the Pacha dinner thing again. Unless there is a specific night/DJ you want to see at Pacha, I’d say spend 80 Euros for a better dinner in Dalt Vila, and go to another club. That said, and to quote letsgetdownanddirty – “WIBBOW”, we still had a good time and were just thrilled to back in Ibiza.
We got back to the hotel, had a quick nightcap in a very quiet bar, and retired to bed at about 6:30 – earliest ever first night.
Saturday
I was woken for breakfast!!! by the wife at about 10:30, and it was very acceptable indeed. Now there are a couple of things we’ve always had the prior intention to do, but never quite managed, either because a) we never got up/in/to bed early enough, or b) we weren’t in the right “frame of mind”. Those things were a Formentera visit, or to go to El Bigote in Cala Mastella. We chose the latter and took a nice leisurely drive up to the North East coast. We weren’t disappointed, as the bullit(fish stew) for lunch was spectacular, and at 50 Euros for two (with wine) was great value. We then spent the rest of the afternoon at Cal d’en Serra, in the glorious sunshine. Ah…. Bliss………
That evening we ate at El Olivo in D’alt Vila. Carpaccio and Skate for me and a couple of bottles of wine, bill for two was 80 Euros – great quality and value.
Now for the highlight of the weekend – Amnesia closing. We agonised a bit about the best time to go. We wanted to avoid the queues, but didn’t want to go too late because I’m a great fan of daytime clubbing, and I really enjoy Amnesia when darkness turns to sunlight. I also had to take into account the wife’s stamina, and with there being only two of us, the end of her stamina, would mean the end of my night too. After a few drinks in Town, we couldn’t resist any longer though, and went to Amnesia at 2ish and got straight in, no queues – RESULT!
It took us a little while to get settled, and get into our stride. I have to say, I couldn’t be getting on with the Matinee thing. It appeared to be an exercise in staring at a bunch of preening and pumped up models on the stage. What happened to the whole feelgood, relaxed and anything goes Matinee@Space vibe? Anyway it wasn’t long before we were back in our comfort zone in the main room. The music, crowd and overall vibe seemed to get progressively better as the night went on. There was all the year’s faves (Chase The Mouse, Empire Of The Sun, La Tromba etc)interspersed with some cheesy but good fun re-mixes of things like Times Likes These, La La Land, Thriller, and Blue Monday (twice!). The violinist and sax player (who I’d normally find a bit of a distraction tbh) were great fun too, despite the violinist nearly landing on the wife after dropping off the podium. Then just as I was preparing for the sunrise, disaster struck. The wife announced that her legs had gone and that we needed to go home. After a serious amount of begging and pleading for just another half an hour, I accepted my fate and we got a taxi home at about 7:30. Even the possibility of a late drink at the bar was denied as everything was shut. We were beginning to seriously question the Es Vive decision. We were even passed by a group of golfers on their way out for an early morning round. I mean come on, who goes on a golfing holiday to Ibiza? I’m betting their wives were convinced they were in Vilamoura.
At least I could enjoy an early morning doobie, G&T and sunrise combo on the balcony, which somewhat helped to ease my pain of not experiencing the Amnesia “sunrise”, and also allowed me to cogitate as to whether I had actually seen the golfing apparition or not.
Sunday
After 4 hours of sweating, thrashing, and (not much) sleeping, we arose with the plan of heading over to Cala Jondal for Blue Marlin closing. We decided to lunch at the bar next door first (Yemanja sp?) and had an acceptable lunch of anchovies to start and seawolf. This was washed down by an even more acceptable 2 or 3 jugs of cava sangria, that certainly hit the spot and induced a deep, deep sleep on the sun loungers. When we awoke the sun had set, and Blue Marlin was warming up nicely. We weren’t however, and a combination of feeling slightly groggy and somewhat unglamorous, (certainly compared to all the beautiful people we were watching arrive on their private yachts) prompted us to change our plans to go back to the hotel, and spruce up somewhere nice for dinner instead. The Michelin star restaurants post inspired us to try S’Oficina or El Cigarral, but we drove past them and they were both shut, so we ended up in D’alt Vila again, and ate at Restaurant D’alt Vila. I had Garlic prawns and Oxtails, and a bottle of wine. The food was average but still good value at 60 Euros (for 2). We had a midday flight the next day, and although the grogginess was gone and the dancing legs were back, it really didn’t make much sense to “start the car” again. So we returned to the hotel for one final holiday nightcap, but once again the bar was closed! We were left feeling like the proverbial prisoners on death row who had been denied their final meal.
Our judgment regarding Es Vive could not have been more wrong…….. Or so we thought…………
Monday
We awoke around 7:30 to a medieval banquet of sumptuous proportions. The first clue was that the bed was vibrating in time to the pounding bass. The 2nd clue was when I looked outside the windows to see numerous creatures in various states of distress and wonderment wandering in and out of the hotel. Compare and contrast to the scene to 24 hours earlier…. We wandered down to the hotel lobby, and out onto the pool area for breakfast, where the 3rd and final clue appeared in the form of a prostrate Sven Vath lying completely comatose on a sun lounger, like the energizer bunny whose party batteries had all run out. “Stop the Clock!” I shouted, when it finally dawned on me that the Blue Marlin after party was happening right beneath our room! I relocated directly to a hotel bar that had been transformed into the deepest darkest discoteca full of post Amnesia and Blue Marlin casualties. Looking somewhat fresh as a daisy, I stood out like a sore thumb, but what a great way to spend the last couple of hours of your holiday! I was eventually dragged away kicking and screaming and onto the plane home, feeling like the death row prisoner given a last minute reprieve.
What’s more - having not completely kicked the arse out of it, I can sit here and write this review with clarity of thought, devoid of the traditional post-Ibiza fear and loathing in Trent Vegas.
So in summary.
Best Party – Amnesia Closing – an absolute belter.
Best Meal – El Bigote
Biggest Regret – No Space this year due to mis-timing the closing, missing Amnesia sunrise
Weather - Fantastic
Music – I’m no expert, but the music absolutely did the job for me this year
Best Surpise – All the PdB alternatives to Bora Bora, my impromptu meeting with Sven
After all the conjecture in the last couple of years around the demise of Ibiza/the lack of daytime parties/the impact of the recession etc. I have to say it is somewhat difficult for me to pass judgment as I have never visited the island at this time of year to compare, but I do feel that the comparison is somewhat futile.
What I can use as a reference point though, is a 25 year going out career that has spanned all the continents and most major cities and vacation destinations and as a place to party, to holiday and to experience there is simply nowhere anywhere near.
Thanks for staying with me……
That is aprox 0.0086105 posts a day 
So I have made the decision next year to be there very end of september begining october to try the Amnesia closing, Greg and Stivi say its one of 'the' parties of the year 8)
