Dates you were there:
8th June - 18th June (first three nights on a stag do, recovery night, then six nights with my girlfriend) Having visited in 2006, 2007, 2014, this was my fourth time in Ibiza, but my first time back in eight years!
Where you stayed:
Vibra Bossa Flow, Playa d'en Bossa (stag do part)
Basic hotel did the trick for a stag do. Good location a few minutes walk from the beach. Pretty good value for money.
Hotel Mirador de Dalt Vila, Ibiza Town (2 nights)
Lovely, superb location next to Dalt Vila, great room with a sea view.
Private villa at Hotel Can Jaume (4 nights)
Wanted to stay somewhere peaceful for the last part of the trip, yet close enough to Ibiza Town and the clubs by taxi. The villas are for two people. These are a good option – combine the benefits of staying in a villa with those of a hotel. And they have hot tubs on the roof! Food was nice, great breakfast.
Club nights visited:
Rhadoo opening, Ibiza Underground (Thurs 9th June)
It was toss up between this or Solid Grooves opening at DC10. First time at Underground – loved the venue. There was a big group of us and we had a fun night. Music was pretty good, though I must say I don’t find Rhadoo that exciting – the minimal techno he plays doesn’t seem to have moved on that much from the c.2005 – 2009 days. The crowd was good however it wasn’t very busy and could have done with more people. I imagine though that when it goes off at Underground it’s pretty special.
Solomun, Destino (Fri 10th June)
Great venue, much prefer it to Ushuaia. Lively atmosphere. Busy. It seemed though that there were more ‘VIP’ areas than when I last visited in 2014 (ie directly behind the pool facing the stage). I missed the support acts but enjoyed Solomun – generally a strong set, with only a few dodgy tunes. Very enjoyable evening.
Do Not Sleep, Amnesia (Fri 10th June)
Music wasn’t bad, Kobosil played a good techno set (though it felt slightly out of place amidst the tech-house on the rest of the billing). Unfortunately, it wasn’t very busy so lacked buzz – the curtain was up in the terrace sectioning off an area. Maybe because it’s early season.
WooMoon (Sun 12th June)
Popped into this for a couple of hours really just to check it out before Pyramid. First time I’ve been to Cova Santa. Cool venue and some nice production touches. Definitely more hippy-house events than when I last visited the island…
Pyramid Opening, Amnesia (Sun 12th June)
Great night. We arrived too late for the music in the outside area. Four Tet played an excellent set on the terrace, typically versatile; I caught moments of Beyer in the main room, which seemed to be banging all night. I only caught the first 30 mins or so of Villalobos but it was fun – dropped some classics. Imagine he went more esoteric as the night went on. Gutted to have missed Lilly Palmers’ set as by reports it was excellent. Production values and the dancers were great, with a sci-fi fetishy vibe going on. Busy enough for a great atmosphere but with plenty of room to dance.
Tenax, Pikes (Wed 15th June)
After dinner at Pamelas we checked this out for a while. First time at Pikes and loved the venue. Music was good and it was getting busy, Italian contingent out in force, but we left 1.30ish as we’d pre-booked tickets to Pacha. Looking forward to revisiting Pikes on the next trip for a full night!
Bedouin, Pacha (Wed 15th June)
Caught most of Bonobo – not bad, chilled set. Bedouin were OK. New layout of Pacha works well in that you can walk right across the balcony area and find a spot to dance with a good view. Is the outdoor area (that had the giant wineglass) no longer there since Pacha was redone? It wasn’t open this night anyway… Was a good level of busy but thinned out slightly from 5ish.
Boho, Beachouse (Thus 16th June) Had dinner first. Food was good. Crowd was too Instagram. Puts me off Tulum if this is what it’s like.
Calvin Harris, Ushuaïa – (Friday 17th June) Girlfriend wanted to go to this. Thought he would play housier stuff, a la his Love Regenerator moniker, however this was a crowd-pleaser set, in which he played pretty much all of his poppy commercial hits, with a few housier tunes in between. Was very busy and had to wait 30 mins for (obscenely priced) drinks. Crowd was a mixed bag as you might expect from such a mainstream name.
Best night: Pyramid Opening
Worst night: Boho at Beachouse. There was no room to dance on the dancefloor in front of the booth, whereas on the sand there was little to no dancing. The main reason, however, was the crowd, which felt very poseur and Eurotrash. I can see though that on a different night Beachouse could be a fun venue.
And Calvin Harris musically was not for me.
Best bar:
Visited Paradise Lost in Ibiza Town for the first time, great little bar!
Best place to eat:
Had great meals at Pamelas at Pikes (big portions, nice cocktails!), Amante (stunning location), La Torre (same, lovely for the sunset), Casa Maca, El Carmen (Cala D’Hort), La Torreta (Old Town).
When we were in Bossa we also had tasty meals at Mumak and Los Parasoles. Nice pizza at Ciao Ciao.
Went to Lio. The show was pretty fun, very camp indeed. The food was nice enough, nothing special. The service felt slightly rushed so you spend more. As you know, after the show Lio becomes a club night, though you need to have met your minimum spend before leaving the table and joining the dance floor (ie you can’t continue your tab by buying drinks throughout the club night) I appreciate this is probably because in practice it could be tricky to monitor, however it is slightly annoying that in effect you’re stuck at your table and can’t join the action until you’ve made the minimum spend (which depending on what you’ve ordered, particularly if you haven’t ordered wine, can take a lot of extra drinks!)
Best beach and/or beach club:
On this, my fourth trip, I finally made it over to Formentera for a day - Ses Illetes is an idyllic beach, and Es Pujols is also very pretty. Would have liked to have spent a night or two on the island.
We of course also did Salinas (Sa Trinxa is always a must for me), as well as Cala Llonga, Playa D’en Bossa, and, for the first time for me, Cala D’Hort, so I’ve finally seen Es Vedrà.
Money spent: Would rather not know!
Biggest regret: That I’ve still never made it to the North of the island!
Going back?: Of course.
Top tip:
This is the second trip we’ve rented speed boats – if you’re in a big group it doesn't have to be too pricey and it’s always such a fun day, can play your own tunes, drink, go round the different bays.
Do go to Ibiza for a bit longer if you're able to so you can factor in more relaxation time!
It can be easier said than done, but on a packed night leave early to get a taxi. We had to queue 1 hour 40 minutes after Solomun at Destino to get a taxi, which was a buzz kill to say the least.
And, naturally, leave enough time to get a taxi when you’re at more remote places. We were enjoying Cala D’Hort so much on our final evening we made it to the bag-drop at the airport by the skin of our teeth… Perhaps because it’s early season, but it felt like the wait for taxis was slightly longer than my experience in previous visits.
Observations and/or conclusion:
Apparently the quality of street pills this season so far is not as good as in previous years…
We were slightly early in the season, so a couple of the events weren’t as busy as they could/should have been. For me later in June/early September are the best times to visit – clubs busy enough for atmosphere yet pretty easy to get restaurant bookings with a little forward planning.
Now Glastonbury in a few days!
Better get some sleep...
…fair one for leaving solid grooves when you were sat next to anyone from Geordie Shore - thats enough to put anyone off!
