Tell us how it was - Ibiza 2018

Dates you were there: 17th - 20th May, hen weekend, not my usual Ibiza holiday

Where you stayed: Marco Polo hotel, San An

Club nights visited: none :( West end, Ocean Beach and Mambo..

Best night: It gets some stick but I did have a great day at Ocean Beach. It's not my scene and I'm unlikely to go again, but I had fun. Paid for a drinks package before the holiday so didn't put my hand in my pocket all day and the drinks kept coming - cava, daquiri's, rose, vodka, we were there from about 3pm until close and I didn't have an empty glass. Music was decent in the day but remember being stood there at the end thinking wtf is this - my memory is too hazy to give specifics. Crowd is young as you might imagine (I'm 29 and most people were younger), but there was no aggro, at least not where I was, and no real 'look at me' people either, mostly just people having a good time with their friends.

Worst night: Didn't have a bad night but on the first night we were all wasted and ended up in the west end, I wanted to go to Soul City but it hadn't opened yet, so we ended up in this absolutely terrible bar right at the bottom - think pop music, a pole, cheap shots, sticky floor, trashed toilets, I might as well have been in Reflex in the UK. I lasted 30 mins then ducked out at 2:30am.

Best bar: Probably Mambo from this trip, waiter was great, cocktails were good.

Best place to eat: Tapas in San An, hands down my favourite place to eat on the island. Special mention to Ibiza Rocks bar for a really nice goats cheese salad too, massive portions and really good value, nice for lining the stomach or mopping up the booze from the night before.

Money spent: Somehow spent 300 euro even though I'd paid for most stuff before the holiday. I throw money away on holiday, have hazy memories of buying a round of hierbas for about 50 euro at the pool bar and thinking I'd got a good deal.

Biggest regret: That round of hierbas. And getting too drunk on the last day/night and being incredibly rough going home. I had major anxiety about flying and the alcohol didn't help. I was sick about 4 times before we left for the airport and was in a world of mental anguish.

Going back?: July -possibly my last Ibiza holiday for a few years... feel it's time to try some new things. But we'll see.

Top tip: Avoid the west end, obviously.
 
Bungle123 said:
Worst night: Didn't have a bad night but on the first night we were all wasted and ended up in the west end, I wanted to go to Soul City but it hadn't opened yet, so we ended up in this absolutely terrible bar right at the bottom - think pop music, a pole, cheap shots, sticky floor, trashed toilets, I might as well have been in Reflex in the UK. I lasted 30 mins then ducked out at 2:30am.
Click to expand...

Nice review. This bit caught my eye. @fatphilb is that the one we had the pitstop in? The shots with the Domestos inside?
 
Dates you were there: 24th May - 4th June

Where you stayed: Hostal Tarba / Villa Evie / Pikes
Tarba was suggested on here as we couldn't get into Orosol for our dates. But it was decent and basic and exactly what we needed for the time before we checked into our villa.
Villa Evie was great! 2 roads down from Pikes, it was the perfect location for us in the lead up to the wedding. We had a car, so trips were super easy for us and we eventually had taxis that knew where the villa was. The whole villa was amazing, so much space for everyone plus guests for a mid-week BBQ as well.
I was SO excited to check into Pikes the day before the wedding - we were room 25, above the Tennis court and it was great. A nice big suite for everyone to get ready in and far enough away from things to get some peace when needed. I don't think I could have stayed in any of the rooms closer to the action simply because Im a really light sleeper. Even spending the day around the pool was a different experience as I had only been there at night before - so many weird and wonderful people - I loved it!!

Club nights visited: Flower Power Opening, Saturday & Monday @ Pikes

Best night: Aside from the wedding, Flower Power was so much fun! We had Ibiza virgins and non-clubbers with us, but they were keen on going to a proper Ibiza club so we thought Flower Power would be perfect - and it was! The music was great and not super super loud which I think was appreciated by the crowd, and I loved exploring the 'new' Pacha. I think the improvements are great and the sound system sounded amazing. It was just pure fun, and being the first night when our friends arrived - it was the perfect start to their week!

As part of my hen-do we did a sunset boat (something which I had never done before) and that was amazing too. We had had terrible sunsets all week leading up to the Thursday and on the Thursday is was clear and beautiful and perfect and Mambo played Nessun Dorma <3

Worst night: None! I just wish we weren't so tired on Sunday/Monday to stick around the Pikes parties for longer.

Best bar: On this occasion it was Savannah for us. Everyone came down for sunset the night before the wedding and we had the whole area by the DJ and down the side and it was so special for us.

Best place to eat: Its definitely a toss-up between Tapas and Pikes. We had the private restaurant for our guests at Tapas on the Friday and they were SO amazing and the food was incredible (and the espresso martini's even more incredible). It's somewhere we will always return to every time we go to Ibiza. Pikes was a last minute decision to eat there on Monday night and the food was simply amazing. And the roast was incredible too! DEFINITELY go for dinner there if you have the chance.

Money spent: You don't want to know...

Biggest regret: Not being there for longer. Not already having another trip booked. Not living in Ibiza yet!

Going back?: Abso-f***ing-lutely

Top tip(s): Eat at the restaurant at Pikes, do a sunset boat, drink the cava sangria at Cala Bassa Beach Club and simply live your best life in Ibiza at ALL Times!!!
 
Dates you were there: 30/05- 07/06

Where you stayed: Vistamar 2, PDB

Club nights visited: Glitterbox @ Hi, Petit Pereya, WooMooN @ Cova Santa, Honey Dijon @ Pikes

Best night: I liked WooMooN but Pikes takes it definitely. Nicely busy, great venue and such a friendly crowd. Everyone smiling and it reminded me of what clubbing used to be like before Instagram and Wannabe VIP’s. Shame it closed at 4 as could have easily carried on for a few hours.

Worst night: Petit pereya was really quiet, apparently they’re turning in to a members only club and have shut the restaurant. However I’m not classing this as a night out so Glitterbox wins/loses. Same venue as Space but it has lost its soul. Main room surrounded by raised vip areas, Terrace gone and not the same vibe at all. I enjoyed Dimitri from Paris and the toilets were fun but Roger Sanchez was awful, the few times we popped through for a look. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Hi.

Best bar: Sa Trinxa in the Sunday I think. There’s more bars than there used to be in PDB, but I didn’t find a decent one. Bora Bora not what it used to be.

Best place to eat: la Oliva was nice, but not quite worth the money, Giri cafe - food was good but service not so much. El Limonera probably the best, although still not outstanding.

Money spent: too much. As well as the usual spends, had to pay deposits for all the suppliers for our wedding next year.

Biggest regret: none this time. Usually end up gutted I missed a night, but got loads done both during the days and nights this year.

Going back?: yes definitely. Getting married there next year.

Top tip: Hire a car and see the island. We visited too many times before deciding to do this as too focused on over indulging on the nights.
 
Dates you were there: Thursday 31st May - Thursday 7th June... and what a great time to be on the island it was!

Where you stayed: Beach Star Ibiza in San Antonio Bay from Thursday-Sunday and then moved across to the Garbi in Playa Den Bossa from Sunday-Thursday. Both hotels were superb. The Garbi you really do pay for it, but the Beach Star Ibiza I found to be very reasonably priced for a very clean, smart and modern hotel. I would highly recommend both without hesitation!

Club nights visited: Cocoon after hours @ KM5, Solomun+1, Circoloco, Pyramid and Cocoon

Best night: Well... although I would usually save this section for club reviews only, I would have to say Friday 1st June which happened to be the night where my girlfriend agreed to marry me in our favorite place in the world with the backdrop of the Es Vedra sunset. A huge shout out to @stivi for his assistance in finding this particular spot amongst other things and helping in making the moment as special as it was. I know many others have mentioned him before, but he really does go beyond the call of duty with this kind of stuff, so I wanted to give him a mention. Now back to the good stuff.....

No questions asked Cocoon at Pacha was the best event from this trip. I arrived at Pacha for 1AM and felt concerned by just how quiet it was (even with it being the quieter period in June), however by by around 2/2:20AM it was perfectly busy and stayed that way for the remainder of the night. Particularly if you know the right spot in Pacha (near the bar to the right of the dancefloor seems to be the sweet spot).

Gerd Jansons warm up set was nothing short of spectacular. Track selection, mixing... everything was just flawless. One of the best sets I've heard in Ibiza, particularly for warming up the room to the point where I actually felt genuine concern for how Sven would follow that up... but that really wasn't needed. Sven came out and delivered one of the best club sets I've ever heard him play. Really tough, hard techno for the majority of the night but it was just perfect. The atmosphere within Pacha was electric and I walked away absolutely sold on the move to Pacha and the future for Cocoon.

Another special mention needs to go out to Circoloco.. again just a brilliant party! We arrived around 8PM in the garden and it was still quite quiet. Moscowman was playing (someone I've never heard before) and his set was excellent. Jackmaster followed and played another superb set. You can tell that he is a real crate digger, playing a lot of old house records, but it was absolutely perfect for the garden closing slot. Even when going inside it was comfortably busy. Very rarely have I ever been able to walk into the centre of the terrace and find room to dance shortly after the garden had closed but it was the case that evening. Margaret Dygas was delivering the goods and it was very hard to leave, but we did fancy Pyramid.

Solomun on Sunday was another solid party. Lawrence on warm up duty for me was quite poor. I only caught an hour of it but it never really got going for me. I literally just felt desperation for Solomun to get onto the decks and when he did he was good. I've seen him a number of times at Pacha before and he has played a lot better, but even on a bad night you can't go wrong with Solomun. The b2b at the end again felt disjointed, everytime it was Lawrence turn to play a track you felt the vibe drop off a little. Overall a good night, but slow by Solomun+1 standards.

Finally Cocoon afters @ KM5. Again what more can I say really - we arrived at 5PM where Sven was playing to probably around 50-80 people. He started off deep and ambient as he always does, but continued to build a set as only Sven can. We left around 10PM, but for the hours we were there, it was absolute magic. Sven at his very finest engaging with the crowd all night, a great crowd (no idiots, at no point did you feel threatened or that you had to keep an eye on your belongings etc) and superb atmosphere. What more could you want!?

Worst night: Pyramid - which is a real shame, as the music in there was decent. However, its a new night, for me Amnesia priced it wrongly at 50 Euro's and it was half empty for the entire night. Sneak b2b Villalobos started off superb, but the rest of my group wanted to leave around 5AM and I agreed to go with them. Hopefully, this night picks up as musically there are some real highlights, but only time will tell on this one.

Best bar: Not necessarily a bar - but always enjoy a cocktail at Sunset Ashram overlooking Cala Comte. And of course not for the first time in a review I am going to mention La Bodega. Although it is a resteraunt, the buzz of sitting at the bar and having one of their excellent cocktails is hard to beat.

Best place to eat: As always in Ibiza, if you know where to go you get some simply stunning food.

Tapas (San Antonio) - We ate here twice times this trip and both times were superb. Great food, gorgeous little restaurant, good service and reasonable prices.

Bambuddah - Beyond what I would normally look to spend out here... but it was our celebratory dinner after the proposal. The food here is superb and for me does justify the price tag. The restaurant itself is also stunning, especially for a special occasion. We will definatley be returning!

La Bodega - I don't think I even need to explain this place, we return every time without fail. The buzz of the place, the food, the bottle left at the table at the end. Probably my favourite place to eat in Ibiza. It just never fails! Incredible!!

Anima - Always a great spot for some very reasonably priced and superb quality pizzas straight out of the stone oven out the back. Would recommend highly!



Money spent: (in total for two): Don't ask :eek:

Biggest regret: Probably not staying at Circoloco... but then again can you have a trip to Ibiza without stepping foot in Amnesia!?

I would also add to that not eating at Can Pilot, but we simply ran out of time.

Going back?: July 28th we go again - this time with 17 mates in a villa in the San Antonio hills. What could possibly go wrong ;)

Top tip: (s) This was my first ever trip during early June after openings and I have to say it really is a great time to be on the island. The crowds have died down, the weather is beautiful, the clubs are perfectly busy, there are no queue's or issues getting into restaurant or getting a taxi. Besides the first two weeks of September, this is one of my very favourite times in Ibiza.

...and this may go without saying, but especially to the UK board members as this seems most applicable, slow down on the K and prepare for a much more memorable and enjoyable night. It's been said a million times, but as much as it is a great substance in the right moment, it does kill the vibe on the dancefloor!
 
Thanks everyone!

@diver a fair amount... I think flights and hotel for the pair of us were probably around £1200. Spending money wise I would say probably around £2000 all said and done. But it was a special week, so we didn't mind pushing the boat out so much and just did whatever we fancied. Absolutely zero regrets.

Likewise @stivi and also @white_isle_calling, it as good to meet you both. Out in again in July and most definitely going to Cocoon, so hopefully our paths will cross again.
 
riiight. good date since there will be afters at destino that date from what we have seen (the date has since disappeared but from what I know it will still happen).
 
Yeah I thought I saw that before. I would really fancy that as I've never been to Destino before. The only issue I'm going to have is Solomun, Circoloco and trying to resist Resistance the three proceeding nights. It is literally impossible to stay in sometimes in Ibiza. I'm hoping the Circoloco lineup that week isn't great so I can get an early night.
 
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