Day 8 – Ibiza
The party is over…..and we are okay with that. We had an amazing time at Swedish House Mafia last night, met a few friends who had stage views of the concert and even met a couple of people to keep in touch with during our future travels. We tried to rally and go to Hi again for an epic line up of Robin Schulz, Idris Elba (yes, that Idris Elba) and David Guetta. We made it through about 90 minutes (out of 5 hours) and had to pull the plug.
There is a mix of things to do in Ibiza, despite it’s reputation as a party Mecca. You can, of course, (1) party hard at the clubs, (2) see great DJs, but in a civilized way (tables or stage views), (3) hit the beach club scene, (4) explore the farm-to-table restaurant scene, (5) stay low-key on the eastern end of the island or (6) chill in the hillside areas near the hippie markets.
After much discussion, we are basically done with #1 and #2. As fun as our adventures have been, we had a much better time today (see below) than any other single day on our trip: low cost, low drama, great food, great venues and amazing weather.
We checked out of Ushuaia, which has dropped a bit in our estimation, due to infrastructure issues. A/C is not great and in some cases didn’t work for us at all. The service is good, if not specular. The basic rooms are meh and the suites are nice, but not 5-star hotel nice. The real value is in the location (right on the beach), the amenities (great restaurants, pool, breakfast, etc.) and most importantly – the best club in the world is outside your door. It’s still the best “Four Star Life” hotel in Ibiza (if you care about the party), but it lacks the 5-star end-to-end experience that we are all looking for.
The drive from Ushuaia to ME Ibiza (our next hotel) is only about 35 minutes and takes us though a part of Ibiza that we haven’t been, specifically the Santa Eulalia del Rio area, toward the northeast of the island (but facing south). The hotel is amazing. It’s part of several collections include Fine Hotels & Resorts (American Express) and Leading Hotels of the World. The vibes are very Mayan Riviera: White walls, clean lines, luxurious seating areas with decorative throw pillows, scatted plants and cactus, sweeping view of the pool and ocean, impeccable landscape, thatched roof beam and other integrated details.
We checked in, organized our suitcases and spend a leisurely day by the pool. A couple of glasses of wine, a nice palella, and it was off to sleep in the shade of a pine tree on one of ME’s numerous lounge chairs. We woke up in time to shower and change and make it to ME’s rooftop lounge (Radio) for a couple of sunset cocktails. After that we headed to Chiringuito Blue, a new restaurant that is moving the W Hotel Ibiza in a few months. It’s great venue, with craft cocktails. located right on the water and with a very (delicious) fish-centric menu. Don’t skip the whole fish (sea bass or turbot). Amazing preparation and extremely flavorful. We also saved a bit of room for dessert and were not disappointed with their versions of cheesecake and key lime pie. Both were amazing!