macdonsj
Moderator
I feel kinda like i'm cheating putting this review into this section - as my holidays here have calmed down somewhat with little clubbing....anyway....
Flying from Glasgow, I had the misfortune (due to limited yearly holidays) to be working in the morning. Slightly in a rush we made it to Glasgow and boarded a Jet2 flight to the promised land
We had pre-booked seats near the front (for the toilet) and near the aisle (as Laura is not a totally confident flier) - the second the seatbelt sign was turned off, a queue of about 20 people lined up to the use the toilet!!! - taking trolleys down the aisle was impossible, so we ended up with a standing bar at the front - something i've never seen
Once we got to Ibiza, a short taxi ride took us to our apartments. Wow. The newly opened Ibiza Sun Apartments in PDB. Beautiful. Lots of white (think Apple designing accomodation) and clean lines and hidden compartments. We were given a ground floor room on the street side - tho its a dead end with no through road, so we never felt it was unsafe - plus anyone getting into our terrace, would need a ladder to get out. The street side ground floor rooms have a massive terrace outside too, could easily sleep 10 there!!! The bathroom was small but functional - i tend not to worry about the size of this room. Comfy beds, stylish living area, flat screen TV (not not many English language channels) and a decent sized dining/kitchen area with large enough fridge. Excellent addition was the free use of the electronic safe - well hidden away in the myriad of white storage areas.
The pool was smallish but nice to grab a quick dip in. The sunbathing area was lovely with comfy mattresses on the beds and some VIP-style four poster efforts (tho we never bothered with them). A bar in the corner played music from 11am-11pm, not too loud tho and the service there was great - right down to cheeky San Migs for the room one night, a free taster Mojito on sunday afternoon and an incredibly massive and complicated Gin and Tonic one evening (source of a sore head the next day!)
Staff throughout the holiday was helpful, polite and always avaliable. We even took advantage of the extra room time (at a cost) as we had an early evening flight.
On to the activities....
..despite having great plans of vast exploration - we had already spent almost a week this year trekking the concrete jungle of New York and with busy home life for both of us - simply chose a relaxing week of poolside sunbathing, a visit to the beach, lots of nice eating (covered here - http://www.spotlight-forums.com/showthread.php?p=1438615#post1438615) and several large boozes (for me)
our two main events were Ibiza Rocks with Example & Enter with an added slice of Bora Bora
Ibiza Rocks impressed me way more than I could have thought. As i posted elsewhere, the three events around Example were more my cup of tea - but what a show the man put on. We got there about 9pm, excellent staff working the crowd control well and we were into the VIP balcony. Great view of the stage, even further along the crowded front. Amazing to see the floor level crowd swelling to being packed. With Azealia Banks crying off with exhaustion (as McRackin told me a few days later - 10mins at Mallorca Rocks, what is there to be exhausted about???) - there was no support - so Doorly took centre stage. Despite a set consisting of large portions of music I'm not keen on, he got the crowd buzzing. Dropping hits, older tracks and new favourites of the "kids" - building up the atmosphere before Example. Later, the man himself would appear with his full band (only Ibiza gig for that this year) and he played a blinder. Energy, enthusiasm and a tight outfit behind him - he had the place rocking, bouncing and screaming. We departed having had a cracking night.
As i said, this was a different holiday than the years gone by in Ibiza and thankfully my lovely wife was persuaded to try the Enter concept - having Stivi mention how good it was, I had to check it out - particularly interested in the Sake bar concept. The early start suited my better half as we could enjoy a good length of time in there without staying as late as my hedonism would normally dictate. We got there just after 10 to a smattering of people grooving to Hito - cracking minimal tunes being aired. The bar in the Sake room was simple - Sake, Sake, Sake plus the odd beer. I opted for a plain Sake and a beer - the sake being an acquired taste but one i was appreciating as the glass emptied. Laura had an absolutely delicious Sake cocktail.
By 10:30, the room was filling as Nina Kraviz was almost starting her set - by 11pm it was bursting with people...something veterans of Ibiza will be bemused with - a club getting really busy by 11pm!
We managed to tie in with meeting Stivi from Spotlight - and a lovely thing that was too. He had brought Jordan and James (photographer not chieftan) with him and it was great to meet more of the Spotlight crew this year. Lovely lovely people (and this is a sober review ). I'm starting to really get into the Nina Kraviz sound and listening back when i got home, she didn't disappointed - techy, acidy, housey - great set IMO. Even despite the rain drops thru the mesh roof from the storm outside.
After more Sake (the Minus cocktail was amazing) we moved to the terraza to grab more drinks - Roman Flugel was playing and his sound was good to hear (tho as the Spotlight review states, clearly frightened a few away). eventually the main discoteca was opened and we all ventured in to catch Richie Hawtin. I love Hawtin sets and this one was cracking, bubbling nicely and music to my ears. Eventually we called it a night just before 2am - early for me, late for laura but it was a great experience. hawtins concept has really taken hold and IMO invigorated Space.....We love have a massive task to catch up next year
We also did a yearly checking out of Bora Bora - i've been in there in sunshine and shade...busy and quiet. This time it was a bit cloudy but it was going off in there. Arriving about 7ish - Baccanli was in full flow - the traditional table dancing, posing, grooving and people watching. We also went inside, to astonishment for us both, it was jumping too. Our last visit 2 years ago was in the sunshine and the outside was the same busy level - that time tho the inside was totally empty. Perhaps the dancers and cloud helped but it was nice to see.
As i said - most of the holiday was sunshine, food and drink. Of the bars we visited...
Base bar - slow service, seemed to not care despite being rather quiet at the time.
Zanibar - good value for money compared to other similar places
Mambo bar Ibiza town - friendly service and prompt too - wee nibbles a nice touch
Tantra - fine but the smoking smokies next to us prompted a quick exit
New Garden - wee place in PDB but good value for money for a last drink on the way back to the apts.
I finished the week with a nice drink with Stivi and McRackin. A cracking end to a great week. Stivi proved great company again (and thanks once again for the Fish Shack directions) and it was fantastic to finally meet (after all these years on Spotlight) McRackin.
In summary (as ya'll be bored by now)
Lovely places, delicious food, tasty boozes and great meets with the Spotlight family official members.
and i almost forgot to add...
the reason for the review title?
i have the ibiza blues back in Scotland and when you look up here you realise
the skies are higher in ibiza - feels like the sky is pushing down on me in Glasgow - in Ibiza its a free vista of blue that never ends
Flying from Glasgow, I had the misfortune (due to limited yearly holidays) to be working in the morning. Slightly in a rush we made it to Glasgow and boarded a Jet2 flight to the promised land
We had pre-booked seats near the front (for the toilet) and near the aisle (as Laura is not a totally confident flier) - the second the seatbelt sign was turned off, a queue of about 20 people lined up to the use the toilet!!! - taking trolleys down the aisle was impossible, so we ended up with a standing bar at the front - something i've never seen
Once we got to Ibiza, a short taxi ride took us to our apartments. Wow. The newly opened Ibiza Sun Apartments in PDB. Beautiful. Lots of white (think Apple designing accomodation) and clean lines and hidden compartments. We were given a ground floor room on the street side - tho its a dead end with no through road, so we never felt it was unsafe - plus anyone getting into our terrace, would need a ladder to get out. The street side ground floor rooms have a massive terrace outside too, could easily sleep 10 there!!! The bathroom was small but functional - i tend not to worry about the size of this room. Comfy beds, stylish living area, flat screen TV (not not many English language channels) and a decent sized dining/kitchen area with large enough fridge. Excellent addition was the free use of the electronic safe - well hidden away in the myriad of white storage areas.
The pool was smallish but nice to grab a quick dip in. The sunbathing area was lovely with comfy mattresses on the beds and some VIP-style four poster efforts (tho we never bothered with them). A bar in the corner played music from 11am-11pm, not too loud tho and the service there was great - right down to cheeky San Migs for the room one night, a free taster Mojito on sunday afternoon and an incredibly massive and complicated Gin and Tonic one evening (source of a sore head the next day!)
Staff throughout the holiday was helpful, polite and always avaliable. We even took advantage of the extra room time (at a cost) as we had an early evening flight.
On to the activities....
..despite having great plans of vast exploration - we had already spent almost a week this year trekking the concrete jungle of New York and with busy home life for both of us - simply chose a relaxing week of poolside sunbathing, a visit to the beach, lots of nice eating (covered here - http://www.spotlight-forums.com/showthread.php?p=1438615#post1438615) and several large boozes (for me)
our two main events were Ibiza Rocks with Example & Enter with an added slice of Bora Bora
Ibiza Rocks impressed me way more than I could have thought. As i posted elsewhere, the three events around Example were more my cup of tea - but what a show the man put on. We got there about 9pm, excellent staff working the crowd control well and we were into the VIP balcony. Great view of the stage, even further along the crowded front. Amazing to see the floor level crowd swelling to being packed. With Azealia Banks crying off with exhaustion (as McRackin told me a few days later - 10mins at Mallorca Rocks, what is there to be exhausted about???
) - there was no support - so Doorly took centre stage. Despite a set consisting of large portions of music I'm not keen on, he got the crowd buzzing. Dropping hits, older tracks and new favourites of the "kids" - building up the atmosphere before Example. Later, the man himself would appear with his full band (only Ibiza gig for that this year) and he played a blinder. Energy, enthusiasm and a tight outfit behind him - he had the place rocking, bouncing and screaming. We departed having had a cracking night.As i said, this was a different holiday than the years gone by in Ibiza and thankfully my lovely wife was persuaded to try the Enter concept - having Stivi mention how good it was, I had to check it out - particularly interested in the Sake bar concept. The early start suited my better half as we could enjoy a good length of time in there without staying as late as my hedonism would normally dictate. We got there just after 10 to a smattering of people grooving to Hito - cracking minimal tunes being aired. The bar in the Sake room was simple - Sake, Sake, Sake plus the odd beer
. I opted for a plain Sake and a beer - the sake being an acquired taste but one i was appreciating as the glass emptied. Laura had an absolutely delicious Sake cocktail.By 10:30, the room was filling as Nina Kraviz was almost starting her set - by 11pm it was bursting with people...something veterans of Ibiza will be bemused with - a club getting really busy by 11pm!
We managed to tie in with meeting Stivi from Spotlight - and a lovely thing that was too. He had brought Jordan and James (photographer not chieftan) with him and it was great to meet more of the Spotlight crew this year. Lovely lovely people (and this is a sober review
). I'm starting to really get into the Nina Kraviz sound and listening back when i got home, she didn't disappointed - techy, acidy, housey - great set IMO. Even despite the rain drops thru the mesh roof from the storm outside.After more Sake (the Minus cocktail was amazing) we moved to the terraza to grab more drinks - Roman Flugel was playing and his sound was good to hear (tho as the Spotlight review states, clearly frightened a few away). eventually the main discoteca was opened and we all ventured in to catch Richie Hawtin. I love Hawtin sets and this one was cracking, bubbling nicely and music to my ears. Eventually we called it a night just before 2am - early for me, late for laura but it was a great experience. hawtins concept has really taken hold and IMO invigorated Space.....We love have a massive task to catch up next year
We also did a yearly checking out of Bora Bora - i've been in there in sunshine and shade...busy and quiet. This time it was a bit cloudy but it was going off in there. Arriving about 7ish - Baccanli was in full flow - the traditional table dancing, posing, grooving and people watching. We also went inside, to astonishment for us both, it was jumping too. Our last visit 2 years ago was in the sunshine and the outside was the same busy level - that time tho the inside was totally empty. Perhaps the dancers and cloud helped but it was nice to see.
As i said - most of the holiday was sunshine, food and drink. Of the bars we visited...
Base bar - slow service, seemed to not care despite being rather quiet at the time.
Zanibar - good value for money compared to other similar places
Mambo bar Ibiza town - friendly service and prompt too - wee nibbles a nice touch
Tantra - fine but the smoking smokies next to us prompted a quick exit
New Garden - wee place in PDB but good value for money for a last drink on the way back to the apts.
I finished the week with a nice drink with Stivi and McRackin. A cracking end to a great week. Stivi proved great company again (and thanks once again for the Fish Shack directions) and it was fantastic to finally meet (after all these years on Spotlight) McRackin.
In summary (as ya'll be bored by now)
Lovely places, delicious food, tasty boozes and great meets with the Spotlight family official members.
and i almost forgot to add...
the reason for the review title?
i have the ibiza blues back in Scotland and when you look up here you realise
the skies are higher in ibiza - feels like the sky is pushing down on me in Glasgow - in Ibiza its a free vista of blue that never ends
