Tell us how it was - Ibiza 2023

Brizzle said:
This right here are my thoughts exactly and why I keep returning. I have still to do a trip where I didn't do something I hadn't done before.

Currently sat in Golden Buddha with an afternoon jug of sangria. That isn't new though 😁

With the youngest child this trip so (probably) no clubs...

Edit: A club is back in the game
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Ha enjoy.. And club or no club on a trip, and its still always special IMO.. 2 weeks and we land for 2 weeks...Not that l'm counting ;)
 
Hogimuzik said:
Ha enjoy.. And club or no club on a trip, and its still always special IMO.. 2 weeks and we land for 2 weeks...Not that l'm counting ;)
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Tempted next year with a 2 weeker so I can do the clubs I want to do and also involve the chilled side of the island. Maybe better than 4 trips like last year and this!

It really is about 3 types of holiday (at least) if you want to do it; The classic British holiday for the good and bad (no para mi), clubbing, beauty of the island.

Variety is very much the spice of life
 
Brizzle said:
Tempted next year with a 2 weeker so I can do the clubs I want to do and also involve the chilled side of the island. Maybe better than 4 trips like last year and this!

It really is about 3 types of holiday (at least) if you want to do it; The classic British holiday for the good and bad (no para mi), clubbing, beauty of the island.

Variety is very much the spice of life
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The mini breaks are always tempting.. Done 8/9 nights in May, then return for a September 9/10 nights... When l'm here l never want leave like us all.. 2 weeks is costly, €4k for a 3 star apartment inc flights, let alone the spending money! It does give us the time to chill, and actually catch up on the hectic work life at home, then we are born again ready for some night time mischief, and still have plenty of time to even enjoy the last few days, returning home fresh'ish.. Then again we dont have little ones with us..
 
Dates you were there: 19th - 26th August

Where you stayed: Stella Maris, Cap Negret - a very Dutch hotel

Club nights visited: Pikes Sunday - Luke Una/El Cielo - Solomun/One More Time - Eden

Best night: Pikes - albeit thought the music too pitched up for Pikes crowd, I thought

Worst night: Eden - how grim is Eden! Quarter full.

Best bar: Anita's

Best place to eat: Pikes Sunday lunch and Sa Trinxa lunch - both excellent

Best beach and/or beach club: Sa Trinxa

Money spent:

Biggest regret: Going to Eden/Paradise Lost being closed for a record dig

Going back?: Every other year

Top tip: Sunset at the Cap Negret viewpoint - smugly looking down on the Hostal La Torres punters spending big to see the same thing..

Observations and/or conclusion: Didn't expect to be going out as it was a family holiday - snuck a few evenings in for old time's sake. As mentioned, too many hire cars at the beaches/car parks. Sunset Ashram was a dust bowl/demolition derby. West End awash with balloon sellers. Went to the Festival Club ruins - fantastic!
 
Dates you were there: 26/8/2023 to 4/9/23

Where you stayed: Occidental, Port Des Torrent

Club nights visited: None

Best night: Sunset at Port Des Torrent Beach

Worst night: N/A

Best bar: Watched Arsenal beat Man U at Shenanigans in the West End of San An, so I'll say there. It was busy enough to remind me of the old West End, and the staff and punters were good with the kids. They also offered us a free drink when they'd forgotten to put the missus' cheese toastie through to the kitchen - it's a simple thing, but it was appreciated.

Best place to eat: The hotel had a really good all-inclusive offering, but I'm not sure any of it beat @stivi 's hike sandwich we shared. Tapas at the place on PDT beach was good. Be unfair to judge the Fam Bu Ku brunch as I really wasn't hungry,

Best beach and/or beach club: Port Des Torrent Beach

Money spent: About £6k all in for a family of 4 for 9 nights AI, cabs to and from Stansted, a couple of meals/snacks out

Biggest regret: N/A

Going back?: Of course

Top tip: Go hiking with @stivi . Getting our 10 year old, who we were told might never speak or be toliet trained, and our 8 year old, who spent half of the last school term excluded, around a 15k step (for us, so call it 30k for the kids) coastal hike in Portinax was one of the most life-affirming things I've ever done.

Observations and/or conclusion: The magic is always there. You can grow up, be different to who you were, but there is still nowhere on earth like it. My kids have been to Dubai earlier this year, Mexico x 3 in the previous 12 months and it's still their favourite holiday on record.
 
Buckley said:
Dates you were there: 26/8/2023 to 4/9/23

Where you stayed: Occidental, Port Des Torrent

Club nights visited: None

Best night: Sunset at Port Des Torrent Beach

Worst night: N/A

Best bar: Watched Arsenal beat Man U at Shenanigans in the West End of San An, so I'll say there. It was busy enough to remind me of the old West End, and the staff and punters were good with the kids. They also offered us a free drink when they'd forgotten to put the missus' cheese toastie through to the kitchen - it's a simple thing, but it was appreciated.

Best place to eat: The hotel had a really good all-inclusive offering, but I'm not sure any of it beat @stivi 's hike sandwich we shared. Tapas at the place on PDT beach was good. Be unfair to judge the Fam Bu Ku brunch as I really wasn't hungry,

Best beach and/or beach club: Port Des Torrent Beach

Money spent: About £6k all in for a family of 4 for 9 nights AI, cabs to and from Stansted, a couple of meals/snacks out

Biggest regret: N/A

Going back?: Of course

Top tip: Go hiking with @stivi . Getting our 10 year old, who we were told might never speak or be toliet trained, and our 8 year old, who spent half of the last school term excluded, around a 15k step (for us, so call it 30k for the kids) coastal hike in Portinax was one of the most life-affirming things I've ever done.

Observations and/or conclusion: The magic is always there. You can grow up, be different to who you were, but there is still nowhere on earth like it. My kids have been to Dubai earlier this year, Mexico x 3 in the previous 12 months and it's still their favourite holiday on record.
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Love it.. Sounds like a brilliant family holiday, and based on all the other things Ibiza has to offer rather then clubs. Delighted your kids had a wonderful time, they are cooler then most having such a favorite place like ibiza in their minds.. They should be the most included kids, but l guess thats the school yards loss! Roll on next year as they say ;)
 
Dates you were there: 22 Aug to very early 3 Sep

Where you stayed:

Apartment in Jesus - we really like staying here! Felt central and less touristy
Castavi in Formentera

Club nights visited: Shen / Franky Wah @ Chinois, Exhale @ DC 10, Music On / Carola @ Destino

Best night: Franky Wah. Venue, music good... crowd had the odd older weirdo staring at the gf for 10-15 mins on end

Worst night: Carola. Dreadful music. Crowd and venue good, surprisingly

Best bar: All of them

Best place to eat: All of them - maybe Boat House or 10.7 in Formentera

Best beach and/or beach club:

Formentera - all of them. Sad to see so much rubbish at EVERY beach in Ibiza and Formentera though. GRIM. We did a bit of rubbish collecting at each bit we went to

Money spent: A fair bit - managed to get the accomodation cheap this time round, other than Castavi

Biggest regret: Spunking too much money on cocktails and silly meals when we know to spend it on wine and simpler places

Going back?: 28 Sep to 1 Oct

Top tip: Avoid August. 2 more years of this hell

Observations and/or conclusion: The rain and storms were amazing
 
Buckley said:
What's this bit? 2 years before you can go at other times? (Apart from dates you've quoted for this year's return?)
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We do 2-4 trips per year but one always has to be in July / August so we can go with our daughter (15 tomorrow).

Would not do July or August if we didn’t have that restriction. Do not like.
 
TazLondon said:
We do 2-4 trips per year but one always has to be in July / August so we can go with our daughter (15 tomorrow).

Would not do July or August if we didn’t have that restriction. Do not like.
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Ah, I see, makes sense now!
 
Dates you were there:
1st-6th September

Where you stayed:
Occidental Ibiza

Club nights visited:
Music on at pacha, el Cielo by pacha at 528 (exciting new venue), elrow at amnesia, woomoon at cova Santa, Holo at hi

Best night:
Music on, Carola and Martinez Bros back to back on a high quality system with a great cosmopolitan crowd in a bouncing busy club all having a great time, rich in history to explore. Pacha are taking on the hi threat and winning where it matters

Worst night:
hi Eric Prydz HOLO, drugged up tourists rampacked in to watch a big TV through their phones? Few nice graphics but no narrative to it, just a tech demo from a disco equipment firm

Best bar:
Any beach bar. Worst is Tanta in PdB asking 20 euros each to prepay the first drink (which we hadn't chosen yet?) We laughed and walked off but it seems to be owned by matures now? so no surprise. Generally PdB bars getting club stupid expensive and let's be honest it's a ropey strip of tourist bars

Best place to eat: all inclusive, Ibiza restaurant food is generally poor value, odd tapas etc is nice

Best beach and/or beach club:
Cala Bassa/Compte/Tarida

Money spent:
1k ish

Biggest regret:
Going back to hi, new Ibiza visitors wanted to see it, whole group it was awful but hey Eric got paid 000000 for his grandMA3 programmer mate at the back to press play on the console while he did ? crap cynical night at a cynical club - big TV = boring after 10 minutes

Going back?:
Go most years, keep exploring, visiting since 92

Top tip:
Very often the best moments aren't the big nights just to tick them off, get diverse views and build a unique trip for you

Observations and/or conclusion
Ibiza always evolves hey that's the joy of it, something for all kinda less so now, prices are exploitative now for mass commercial events. 70-100e for a club or a sunbed! Which is reducing the quirky or diverse as noone has any cash to try them,

some clubs/events were frighteningly full with scary bottlenecks that we were amazed aren't being addressed by the clubs nor the local authorities - if anything were to happen?

Spacebar in San Ann was empty and offered nothing, just sticking the name on a generic sunset strip bar ain't working - dunno paint it black and play techno or something to stand out?

Some early signs San ann is getting relatively smarter, interesting to see how that goes as more fish bowl bars become crafty/sushi! cafes
 
Darkrampage42 said:
Dates you were there:
1st-6th September

Where you stayed:
Occidental Ibiza

Club nights visited:
Music on at pacha, el Cielo by pacha at 528 (exciting new venue), elrow at amnesia, woomoon at cova Santa, Holo at hi

Best night:
Music on, Carola and Martinez Bros back to back on a high quality system with a great cosmopolitan crowd in a bouncing busy club all having a great time, rich in history to explore. Pacha are taking on the hi threat and winning where it matters

Worst night:
hi Eric Prydz HOLO, drugged up tourists rampacked in to watch a big TV through their phones? Few nice graphics but no narrative to it, just a tech demo from a disco equipment firm

Best bar:
Any beach bar. Worst is Tanta in PdB asking 20 euros each to prepay the first drink (which we hadn't chosen yet?) We laughed and walked off but it seems to be owned by matures now? so no surprise. Generally PdB bars getting club stupid expensive and let's be honest it's a ropey strip of tourist bars

Best place to eat: all inclusive, Ibiza restaurant food is generally poor value, odd tapas etc is nice

Best beach and/or beach club:
Cala Bassa/Compte/Tarida

Money spent:
1k ish

Biggest regret:
Going back to hi, new Ibiza visitors wanted to see it, whole group it was awful but hey Eric got paid 000000 for his grandMA3 programmer mate at the back to press play on the console while he did ? crap cynical night at a cynical club - big TV = boring after 10 minutes

Going back?:
Go most years, keep exploring, visiting since 92

Top tip:
Very often the best moments aren't the big nights just to tick them off, get diverse views and build a unique trip for you

Observations and/or conclusion
Ibiza always evolves hey that's the joy of it, something for all kinda less so now, prices are exploitative now for mass commercial events. 70-100e for a club or a sunbed! Which is reducing the quirky or diverse as noone has any cash to try them,

some clubs/events were frighteningly full with scary bottlenecks that we were amazed aren't being addressed by the clubs nor the local authorities - if anything were to happen?

Spacebar in San Ann was empty and offered nothing, just sticking the name on a generic sunset strip bar ain't working - dunno paint it black and play techno or something to stand out?

Some early signs San ann is getting relatively smarter, interesting to see how that goes as more fish bowl bars become crafty/sushi! cafes
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Never heard it before but love the term fish bowl bars 🤣. Sounds like a great trip thanks for your review
 
Darkrampage42 said:
Best bar:
Any beach bar. Worst is Tanta in PdB asking 20 euros each to prepay the first drink (which we hadn't chosen yet?) We laughed and walked off but it seems to be owned by matures now? so no surprise. Generally PdB bars getting club stupid expensive and let's be honest it's a ropey strip of tourist bars
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I had that experience at Tantra...one night we went and just walked in and got a nice seat in the front section...the nxt time we went the girl at the front spent 10minutes trying to explain the 20e entry fee with free first drink....basically 20e for a pint of lager (cos thats all i drink) shame cos its a nice bar/club and outside area.
 
jampratt said:
I had that experience at Tantra...one night we went and just walked in and got a nice seat in the front section...the nxt time we went the girl at the front spent 10minutes trying to explain the 20e entry fee with free first drink....basically 20e for a pint of lager (cos thats all i drink) shame cos its a nice bar/club and outside area.
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It was bizarre being hustled by 3 door staff and the women from hell, 2 of my group don't drink alcohol so we explored the 'opportunity' these staff were being forced to push - so you want prepaying 40 euro for maybe 2 Fanta lemon/water (and other drinks that are cheaper in the weatherspoona of I ibza that is hi ushuaia?) NOW? In a bar that was 80% empty at 2am?

After being confused how crap a proposal this was we literally laughed at them and walked on and yes arrogantly we could afford it, it's principle of do we look that stupid?.

It became a running joke of Ibiza eating itself, it felt way more tourist trap this trip... and a bar that gets reccomended on here. Not like it's the rooftop of the shard or in New York, Ginza, etc, it's a strip feeder bar on a Spanish holiday island with views of a burger place, the bins and a dusty car park.

Pathetically we got drinks across the road and waved at them and their empty bar. Hey it's expensive fine, were on holiday fine but don't completely abuse your customers
 
Second trip report of the year, sadly not as good as July's visit 😞

Dates you were there

1st to 5th September

Where you stayed:

We had a swim up room in Ebano in PDB, great room again, and a good job because were going to see a lot of it...

Club nights visited:

Sadly none, a food poisoning bug for my girlfriend meant I was holding her hair for 2 whole days

Best night:

😞

Worst night::

I was on the guestlist for Glitterbox, the whole reason that we went, but I didn't fancy going on my own, and I wanted to do the right thing. So I stayed in as above.

Best bar:

We only went to Mambo, Tantra, Pikes, and Sa Trinxa. Oh and Chiringay, more on that below. But we had an absolutely incredible afternoon at Pikes on our first night.

Best place to eat

We literally only had three meals, two at Sa Trinxa and one at Mumak - the rest were takeaways because of the patient. The food poisoning incident was from the kebab place that used to be TGB, opposite Cocos. Never again.

Best beach and/or beach club:

Sa Trinxa obviously!

Money spent:

Over £2k for 4 nights, including hotel and flights. £2k wasted 😢

Biggest regret:

Do I really need to say? Buying that f***ing kebab.

Going back?:

Yeah, next year.

Top tip:

No matter how cast iron your stomach may be, do not buy a kebab from that place opposite Cocos.

Observations and/or conclusion:

So basically we landed at 12pm Friday, and went straight to Pikes. We had the best 6 hours at Pikes, delicious cocktails, brilliant music, and met some lovely people. We had guestlist to go to Pikes that night but we were quite jaded after drinking from 6am to 8pm so we went back to the hotel freshen up. At 10pm, my girlfriend wanted a kebab. We were down for Pikes the next day too, so called it a night. Next morning, she was sick, and well, everything else, and because of the storm, we stayed in. Sunday was the same story, she was still very poorly, and while she encouraged me to go to Glitterbox on my own, I wasn't down for leaving her on her own. Anti sickness and anti diarrhea helped a bit bit no way were we leaving the apartment.

Monday we made up for it, went to Sa Trinxa for breakfast, drank and chilled, then walked to Chiringay - what a place! I have celebrated my gay friends and gay culture for 30 years, but my eyes were opened 😂. What a beautiful beach too! Had dinner back at Sa Trinxa and then went to PDB and sat outside Tantra for 6 hours talking to some lovely, and generous Romanian guys til 3am.

So basically we wasted £2k on a Friday afternoon and a Monday all day session. Although we made the best of it, I'm still a bit (a lot) gutted.

Pleased to say she's fully recovered now though.

Ah well, roll on 2024





And this was my review from July:

thecultof said:
Where you stayed:

Ebano in PDB, we had a swim up room. The staff there are just brilliant. All requests were met and everything was perfect. Their swim up rooms give you so much extra privacy.

Club nights visited:

All Day I Dream @ Cova Santa (Thursday)

Masquerade (Fatboy Slim) @ Pacha (Saturday)

Nightmares On Wax closing @ Pikes (Monday)

Best night: - All of them

All Day I Dream - Got there at about 8pm. Sound was so much better than last year. Music was great, but my girlfriend hated it ("too samey samey and doesn't go anywhere"), but I loved it. We skedaddled just after 11pm because we had to meet friends in PDB, who ended up cancelling because they were "too tired". No problem, we had our own party in our room.

Pacha. I haven't been since 2012 (I know right?) so it was like going to a brand new club in many respects. My girlfriend hadn't been since 2002 and she loved every second of it. We got in just after opening and stood on the balcony overlooking the DJ box and stayed there til 4amish as her feet had blisters from dancing so much. I'm 99% certain it was a prerecorded set from FBS as he kept doing weird "adjustments" on the CDJs that clearly were doing nothing, but she loved it and that's all that matters at the end of the day. Easy to get a taxi, thankfully, as we had seen massive taxi queues in Ibiza port at midnight.

Pikes. Got there at 10pm and loved how chilled it was at that time. We had some friends staying there so obviously that makes everything easier. DJ EASE was brilliant. Rolled out of our friends' afterparty room just before 7am and straight in to a cab. Ace night from start to finish.

Worst night:

Well, not going out Sunday to Glitterbox because we were still up from Saturday was a shame (we had planned our whole holiday around Glitterbox), but it is what it is. No regrets.

Best bar:

Erm...I don't remember going to many bars other than the rooftop at Gran Hotel Montesol, all of our drinking was done in restaurants. Staff were great, espresso martinis were great, the margaritas were poor. Oh, we went to Orange Corner too for a quick one. Nice cocktails and good staff.

Best place to eat:

We didn't have a bad meal anywhere

Dolce Vita in PDB for Pizzas
Grill Sant Antoni in SA was still grilling the best steaks over their wood bbq thingy
Mumak in PDB was good, cheap and quick service
La Paloma in Sant Llorenç was really nice
Sa Trinxa at Salinas we had the best lunches
We even had a hungover kebab in bed from Baba Kebab in PDB which was great


Best beach and/or beach club:

Sa Trinxa. Best place in Ibiza for us, loved the drinks, food, service, everything - loved it so much we went there 4 days.

Money spent:

Spends? Just over £2k between us on food, drink, beach fees, club entry and party extras.

Biggest regret:

Missing Glitterbox. Simply cannot do 2 days partying on the trot. However, from Saturday morning to Sunday lunchtime was probably the best 24 hours I've had in years.

Going back?:

Hopefully September for a long weekend, then back in July 2024

Top tip:

Get to Sa Trinxa before 11am to get some beds. We were lucky every time, but only by the skin of our teeth.

Get to clubs earlier than is "cool" to do so. In years gone past I always used to be one for turning up at 1 or 2am. What's the point? I've learnt that an extra hour in the club is better than an extra hour in a bar.


Observations and/or conclusion:

The negs: Parking (well, free parking) EVERYWHERE is getting worse and worse. Taxis seemed more expensive than ever. We saw 3 Guardia Civil roadblocks which can be stressful.

The positives: Hotel, bar, restaurant staff, and security were great everywhere we went, especially Pacha and Pikes. I always tip even though I pay by card, and it's amazing how far bar staff go out of their way when you've dropped an extra € or two for a round of drinks. Case in point, there was a massive scrum at the balcony bar in Pacha, but they always saw me and served me across the crowd of heads.

Best Ibiza trip I've had in YEARS. I might have said the same last year, but it's really down to who you go with that makes your holiday.

PS my head hurts.
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thecultof said:
Second trip report of the year, sadly not as good as July's visit 😞

Dates you were there

1st to 5th September

Where you stayed:

We had a swim up room in Ebano in PDB, great room again, and a good job because were going to see a lot of it...

Club nights visited:

Sadly none, a food poisoning bug for my girlfriend meant I was holding her hair for 2 whole days

Best night:

😞

Worst night::

I was on the guestlist for Glitterbox, the whole reason that we went, but I didn't fancy going on my own, and I wanted to do the right thing. So I stayed in as above.

Best bar:

We only went to Mambo, Tantra, Pikes, and Sa Trinxa. Oh and Chiringay, more on that below. But we had an absolutely incredible afternoon at Pikes on our first night.

Best place to eat

We literally only had three meals, two at Sa Trinxa and one at Mumak - the rest were takeaways because of the patient. The food poisoning incident was from the kebab place that used to be TGB, opposite Cocos. Never again.

Best beach and/or beach club:

Sa Trinxa obviously!

Money spent:

Over £2k for 4 nights, including hotel and flights. £2k wasted 😢

Biggest regret:

Do I really need to say? Buying that f***ing kebab.

Going back?:

Yeah, next year.

Top tip:

No matter how cast iron your stomach may be, do not buy a kebab from that place opposite Cocos.

Observations and/or conclusion:

So basically we landed at 12pm Friday, and went straight to Pikes. We had the best 6 hours at Pikes, delicious cocktails, brilliant music, and met some lovely people. We had guestlist to go to Pikes that night but we were quite jaded after drinking from 6am to 8pm so we went back to the hotel freshen up. At 10pm, my girlfriend wanted a kebab. We were down for Pikes the next day too, so called it a night. Next morning, she was sick, and well, everything else, and because of the storm, we stayed in. Sunday was the same story, she was still very poorly, and while she encouraged me to go to Glitterbox on my own, I wasn't down for leaving her on her own. Anti sickness and anti diarrhea helped a bit bit no way were we leaving the apartment.

Monday we made up for it, went to Sa Trinxa for breakfast, drank and chilled, then walked to Chiringay - what a place! I have celebrated my gay friends and gay culture for 30 years, but my eyes were opened 😂. What a beautiful beach too! Had dinner back at Sa Trinxa and then went to PDB and sat outside Tantra for 6 hours talking to some lovely, and generous Romanian guys til 3am.

So basically we wasted £2k on a Friday afternoon and a Monday all day session. Although we made the best of it, I'm still a bit (a lot) gutted.

Pleased to say she's fully recovered now though.

Ah well, roll on 2024





And this was my review from July:
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sorry to hear, my first trip this year in April I got food poisoning, not pleasant and was in bed for 4 days out of 7 🤢

Good that your girlfriend has made a full recovery 👍🏻
 
Dates you were there:

9/3-9/8

Where you stayed:
San antoni/figueretes

Club nights visited:
Pyramid 9/3
Dc10 9/4
Camelphat 9/5
Paradise 9/6

Best night:
Really tough choice… venue wise I’d have to give it to pacha. But both nights at Amnesia were a blast as well.

Worst night:
Dc10 way too crowded to the point it’s unbearable with/without party favors.

Best bar:
Only went to Nassau beach club, great vibes.

Best place to eat:

Really enjoyed street food mundo in saint antoni.


Best beach and/or beach club:

Money spent:

Biggest regret:

Maybe not going to Sven vath at Akasha but I really needed a night off.

Going back?:

Yes

Top tip:

Explore the island there’s much more to do then clubbing and partying.

Observations and/or conclusion:

First timer, really enjoyed all of the clubs. Really pleasant international crowd at most venues with the exception of a pushy crowd at camelphat (the same crowd that left around 3:30-4).
 
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