Tell us how it was - Ibiza 2023

Gemski_83 said:
Dates you were there: 26-28th September

Where you stayed: Palladium White Isle in Bossa. Not stated in PDB for a long time (too old I thought!) but only there for 2 nights/3 days so all inclusive made financial sense. The value was very good as it's out of high season. Good food, drinks and cocktails available 24/7. Downside was the shower... bloody terrible for newly refurbished rooms/hotel! Not what you want after sweating in a club!

Club nights visited: Amnesia for Kevin & Perry Experience. Absolutely loved this, in fact I'm still not over it! I grew up on trance and it got me into clubbing, but never got to experience it in Ibiza back in the day. Maybe a full circle moment for me, but hearing the tunes literally made my dancing dreams come true. I'm usually all for hearing new tracks, new DJs etc but this was special. The crowd were great too and super friendly. Does anyone know if DJ Paul Coles has an Instagram or FB account?!

Best night: Amnesia for Kevin & Perry

Worst night: n/a

Best bar: Angelo's on the port in Ibiza Town

Best place to eat: too many to choose from from previous trips but we ate one night at La Bodega and the tapas is always great there

Best beach and/or beach club: n/a this trip

Money spent: around £800 all in

Biggest regret: booking 2 nights and not 3 or 4!

Going back?: already booked flights and villa for April 2024, can't wait to see the Island before summer kicks off. Also back in July hopefully!

Top tip: although we were only there for 2 nights, only going to one party was a good idea. Sometimes you can chase the dream of every night being amazing and it's not always the case for many different reasons. Glad we just went drinking on the final night, has also softened the come down back in the UK!

Observations and/or conclusion: agree with a lot of the comments above about the crowd etc - it's the next generation who IMO didn't get to Ibiza or to any proper rave/club pre-pandemic. They all watch it on tiktok and then think this is how to party now. As we know it's not, and it's bringing the wrong vibe unfortunately. I don't think this is 40 year old me talking either! We were all young once but I don't remember behaving that way when I was in the big clubs back in the day. Also, it's worth noting the UK club scene is practically dead now from so many venue closures so Ibiza and other locations are the only place to find a decent rave!

Despite all of this, the Ibiza magic will always be there...you just have to remember how to find it ❤️
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Ahmen
 
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don’t know the fine details but will next year’s ETIAS help to reduce these types of things happening or coming across?

Sure you have to declare known convictions etc…

​

 
Dates you were there:
Sept 25th - Oct 4th

Where you stayed:
Hotel Gran Sol in San An, then Vibra Lux Mar in Figueretas. No complaints about either. Vibra Lux Mar seems to have had a welcome makeover since last year.

Club nights visited:
Pikes for Greg Wilson/Lou Hayter
Cova Santa (Beat Hotel event), mainly to see Sofia Kourtesis & Daniel Avery
Pyramid @ Amnesia for The Chemical Brothers

Best night:
Pikes, probably. Great music (such a break from typical Ibiza) & finding Lou Hayter in the bath tub club was a special and random moment. If people are wondering why I seem so obsessed with Lou, it's because I genuinely think she made one of the finest, understated pop tunes of the last few years!


But I was also very impressed with Cova Santa. People there actually seemed a bit friendlier in the chill out area. I expected lots of it to be fenced off for VIPs, but certainly once the club opened, there were some nice spots to chill outside & plenty of toilets/bars. It was nice to see an actual outside live performance (Sofia Kourtesis). Why isn't she getting more attention? Perfect Balearic pop music.


I really enjoyed Daniel's set, but was also away with the fairies at that point. A friend told me it was mainly stuff from the Innervisions label (I wouldn't know), but it would have been nice to hear some of Dan's own tunes too! Like one of these...



It was a fun moment Dan finishing with Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You, then the crowd singing Happy Birthday to him. :cool:

Worst night:
Pyramid. It was great when The Chems peppered their set with their own tunes, but otherwise it was a bit heavy, monotonous tech-house/techno. Could have been anyone playing that! I was expecting more variety, maybe influences, etc.

Best bar:
Golden Buddha.

Best place to eat:
Wasn't a great foodie holiday, but had a couple of nice menu del dias around Fig/Ibiza Town.

Best beach and/or beach club:
Pass

Money spent:
Don't wan't to know. But, being Scottish, I try to keep the costs low.

Biggest regret:
Catching covid for the first time (thankfully at the very end of the holiday).
Talking to Daniel Avery's sis only about him. She seemed like a lovely friendly lass, so would have been polite to ask her about herself too!
Had a couple of days where I couldn't leave the room too, but kind of to be expected after pushing it so hard some nights. It's rare for me to spend so much time on the dancefloor and stay until the end of nights.
Again, not making it to Malanga - a place I really want to try!

Going back?:
Yes. But looking forward to 51 weeks of normality first.

Top tip:
Watch the MDMA - it's strong, and I thought I was dosing conservatively.

Observations and/or conclusion:
Another thanks to @fhmsparkle (and her lovely trance crew!). Great to spend more time with her, after meeting her only briefly a few years back. She's up there with the best posters on here!

Oh, and I really enjoyed the San An/Fig split stay (trialled this year to keep costs down). Both places have their advantages/disadvantages, but it worked for me better than I thought it would & I will be doing the same in future.
 
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1-5th October

Villa Florimar, Talamanca

David Morales @ Pikes, Slapfunk @ Underground & Pyramid @ Amnesia

Best night - Slapfunk marginally - Music & people were spot on. Love Underground.

Worst night - N/A

Best bar - Paradise Lost

Best grub - Sa Trinxa

Best beach - Salines

Money spent - 🤷🏻‍♂️

Biggest regret - Not coming for longer this time as leaving for the airport today not feeling the best after overdoing it. A few more days to relax and chill would be just the ticket now 😎

Going back? Always, booked for next May.

Top tip - Don’t go too hard on the last day / night 🫠

Landed such good weather for October this time round. Been a wonderful few days back here. The sea temp is perfect! Clubs were busier than I thought they were would be for now. Never seen Underground so busy but even with it be rammed everyone really friendly and there was no pushing or shoving, just smiles 🙂
Amnesia was perfectly busy Pyramid but The Chems didn’t really do it for me but still had a great night and thought Marco Faraone saved the day musically at the end.

See you next year Ibiza 💛
 

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Dates you were there: 27th Sept - 4th Oct

Where you stayed: Hotel MiM Es Vive in Figueretas. It was the second time we have stayed here! It’s a nice place, great friendly service!

Club nights visited: Catharsis closing @ Las Dalias/Akasha. Really enjoyed this night both outside and inside Akasha. Good to see @stivi and great to meet @jimmiz and @james Akasha is a great venue. Stickers over phone camera lenses on the way in! Ibiza needs more of this imho! 👍
Great crowd here! Friendly and Fun.

Beat Hotel @ Cova Santa For the last few years I have been lucky the Beat hotel events have coincided with my dates. They put good events on with interesting music choices. I arrived in time to see Sofia Kourtesis outside, enjoyed her live show.
Inside Gabriel Kwarteng opened with a linear set of bland tech house, Perel improved things noticeably! And Taloboman were also good. Crowd here also good mix of ages and friendly!

Beat Hotel @ Pikes. Started early with Sunday Lunch excellent as ever! Soundtracked by Willie Graf and Dicky Trisco. Moved to the sunset terrace Heels and Souls played a nice chilled set. Louise Chen took it up a notch. Great stuff!
The Crowd here was the usual mix of Pikes characters, Balearic silverbacks and Acid cougers! 😎 left at midnight to go to Palmarama!

Palmarama @ Playa Soleil for a bit more Sven! Arrived here just after midnight was busy but not over packed. A slightly younger crowd but no bother! Sven played similarly to Akasha with some repeat tracks but fortunately the ones I like. That Bicep tune he’s playing is a banger imo!
Gotta say they have done a cracking job with this venue! Good size with cracking sound and considering it’s in PDB a good crowd to. 👍

Best bar: We didn’t do a lot of bars this time but Madagascar for reasonable price and huge measures! Also Tira pala for the view! And Paradise Lost!

Best place to eat: Pikes for best all round experience including great food, drinks and music.
Sa Vida is a favourite of ours and never disappoints!
Sa Cova is favourite also and is still excellent!

Best beach and/or beach club: For the first time in years we did not hire a car so didn’t make it to any good beaches.
Money spent: Haven’t totalled up yet!

Biggest regret: Not hiring a car

Going back?: Of course possibly in May!

Top tip: For a date night in Ibiza town, Cocktails at Tira Pala and dinner at Sa Cova is a winner!

Observations and/or conclusion: Over the many years I have been visiting Ibiza the island has gone through many changes some not so good but also sometimes things have changed for the better! I’ve also changed and want something different from the island from when I first visited. The old magic is still there if you’re prepared to work at finding it.
I’m not interested in EDM or Tech House and on the most part successfully avoid it. There lots of things that still interest me musically obviously much smaller and out of the way but I’m fine with that.
The crowds at the nights I went to were all a good mix and no bother! I haven’t experienced any overcrowded nights with pushing (being a 6ft broad shouldered skinhead might help) or any of the things others have experienced. Possibly because of the nights I choose!
Fantastic weather for this time of year and much much busier too!
 
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Tucker said:
Dates you were there: 27th Sept - 4th Oct

Where you stayed: Hotel MiM Es Vive in Figueretas. It was the second time we have stayed here! It’s a nice place, great friendly service!

Club nights visited: Catharsis closing @ Las Dalias/Akasha. Really enjoyed this night both outside and inside Akasha. Good to see @stivi and great to meet @jimmiz and @james Akasha is a great venue. Stickers over phone camera lenses on the way in! Ibiza needs more of this imho! 👍
Great crowd here! Friendly and Fun.

Beat Hotel @ Cova Santa For the last few years I have been lucky the Beat hotel events have coincided with my dates. They put good events on with interesting music choices. I arrived in time to see Sofia Kourtesis outside, enjoyed her live show.
Inside Gabriel Kwarteng opened with a linear set of bland tech house, Perel improved things noticeably! And Taloboman were also good. Crowd here also good mix of ages and friendly!

Beat Hotel @ Pikes. Started early with Sunday Lunch excellent as ever! Soundtracked by Willie Graf and Dicky Trisco. Moved to the sunset terrace Heels and Souls played a nice chilled set. Louise Chen took it up a notch. Great stuff!
The Crowd here was the usual mix of Pikes characters, Balearic silverbacks and Acid cougers! 😎 left at midnight to go to Palmarama!

Palmarama @ Playa Soleil for a bit more Sven! Arrived here just after midnight was busy but not over packed. A slightly younger crowd but no bother! Sven played similarly to Akasha with some repeat tracks but fortunately the ones I like. That Bicep tune he’s playing is a banger imo!
Gotta say they have done a cracking job with this venue! Good size with cracking sound and considering it’s in PDB a good crowd to. 👍

Best bar: We didn’t do a lot of bars this time but Madagascar for reasonable price and huge measures! Also Tira pala for the view! And Paradise Lost!

Best place to eat: Pikes for best all round experience including great food, drinks and music.
Sa Vida is a favourite of ours and never disappoints!
Sa Cova is favourite also and is still excellent!

Best beach and/or beach club: For the first time in years we did not hire a car so didn’t make it to any good beaches.
Money spent: Haven’t totalled up yet!

Biggest regret: Not hiring a car

Going back?: Of course possibly in May!

Top tip: For a date night in Ibiza town, Cocktails at Tira Pala and dinner at Sa Cova is a winner!

Observations and/or conclusion: Over the many years I have been visiting Ibiza the island has gone through many changes some not so good but also sometimes things have changed for the better! I’ve also changed and want something different from the island from when I first visited. The old magic is still there if you’re prepared to work at finding it.
I’m not interested in EDM or Tech House and on the most part successfully avoid it. There lots of things that still interest me musically obviously much smaller and out of the way but I’m fine with that.
The crowds at the nights I went to were all a good mix and no bother! I haven’t experienced any overcrowded nights with pushing (being a 6ft broad shouldered skinhead might help) or any of the things others have experienced. Possibly because of the nights I choose!
Fantastic weather for this time of year and much much busier too!
Click to expand...

really enjoyed this review. Some top tips in there. Glad you had a good one

agree totally about going off beaten track to find the good stuff, something I always need to remember when in cynical mode

need to try do beat hotel next time too!
 
Tucker said:
Beat Hotel @ Cova Santa For the last few years I have been lucky the Beat hotel events have coincided with my dates. They put good events on with interesting music choices. I arrived in time to see Sofia Kourtesis outside, enjoyed her live show.
Inside Gabriel Kwarteng opened with a linear set of bland tech house, Perel improved things noticeably! And Taloboman were also good. Crowd here also good mix of ages and friendly!
Click to expand...

Glad you enjoyed it. I was in and out of the club room until Daniel Avery came on, though think I saw quite bit of Taloboman too. Wish we'd arranged to say hello!
 
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