So last year saw a long overdue return for me to Ibiza, something like 8+ years since I'd last been! I had geared myself up for having to be patient with the (slightly!) younger generation. Decided not to restrict ourselves to looking for the uber cool / chill places to hang out and mix it up with some of the 'pop culture' stuff too....just to see what's 'in'....
HOT
Café Mambo - has to be the best (mid-afternoon) hangover cure ; chicken strips and a (few) strawberry daiquiris.
Insane at Pacha - My first time and what a great night, Dennis Ferrer totally smashed it (in my opinion) - slight low point was a rather letchy creep in the VIP area almost force feeding my mate & I shots of Black Patron, "no thanks" several times was clearly a phrase he was not used to hearing!! Hoping that Insane or at least Dennis Ferrer will be back again this year but haven't saw anything on this yet....
Privilege - Not my first visit to Privilege, it's still the same as it was many years ago - have to admit I initially felt like I was about a hundred but once we got inside and fought our way to the bar we managed to find a small gathering of like aged people and we showed 'them kids' that the 'oldies' can still party
getting a taxi home when we eventually decided to leave wasn't too much of a hassle either.
Space - Still remains one of my all time favourite places to spend time, went there on our last night (which was a Sunday) and to say we left with a heavy heart is an understatement. Great finale to any holiday (in my opinion, again)
El Pacha Hotel Bar - really really enjoyed this little gem, not too overcrowded really friendly bar staff
NOT
F*** me i'm famous at Pacha - i know i know, we shouldn't have even bothered (don't judge...too harshly) but thought we'd check it out....how on earth there hasn't been a safety incident in that place when it's rammed full of kids off their faces barely able to see and literally blocking fire escapes / stairs etc is a MIRACLE.
Ushuaia - stayed there for the duration of our visit (4 nights) and have to say it is THE BIGGEST rip off and waste of money I have ever paid in my life! We stayed in a standard room which wasn't cheap, however didn't expect an Ikea-esque room made to look 'cool' with a bit of mood lighting. A TV that didn't work, sockets that were hanging out of the wall, and wifi that only seemed to work if you memorised the 16 digit password as it reconnected every 20 seconds. All that topped off with outrageous prices at the bar - I asked for a glass of ice to take back to the room and was asked to pay €10 for that privilege, and a can of red bull well €14 for that luxury **top tip, red bull is less than €3 from the Spar less than 2 mins along the street!** Most of the staff seem pi$$ed off that they're working there, I'd suggest perhaps getting another job somewhere else if the people who are going to frequent your work are not to your liking....on that note the majority of the clientele was pretty much what we had expected ; young, loud, wasted and arrogant! But hey they were having fun and that is what Ibiza is all about..no?! I whole heartedly agree with lifting this place and plonking it next to OBH!!!
San An / The strip - just NO! Don't know where to start, from the toilets in almost all of the bars in such a horrendous mess, I thought I'd opened the door to a cattle shed in one of the establishments! to the nigh on impossible battle to get anywhere near to the bar - deffo will not be heading in that direction again...lesson well and truly learned!
Not making it to Amnesia.....big disappointment and have already booked the tickets for Together for this years return!
All in all, we had an amazing time (immediately booked to go back this year the day we got home). Each to their own and I'm not an ageist, but perhaps I need to admit that I just aint as young as I desperately cling on to and so welcome any suggestions on what to check out this year
