The sleepy chic north side of Ibiza is a world away from the island's other hedonistic side. We got a chance to take a mini break in a beautiful resort that's just opened up a very glamorous beach club.
Which part of Ibiza is this - the party kind or the boho chic kind?
The hotel's lobby, looking towards Pluma restaurant and the Club pool
This resort is definitely the latter. It's a five star luxury, adults-only enclave hidden away in a very pretty cove that's almost entirely free of lairy nightlife. You're on the other side of the island to Pacha and Amnesia. Here, the only beats come from the DJ at the hotel's beach club.
Where is it exactly?
Looking back at the resort from the top of the next headland along the coast
The resort takes up a large part of the sea frontage at Port de Sant Miguel, which is about a 30-minute drive from the airport. Apparently, James Blunt has a villa just around the corner. It's loosely split into two parts, the general resort and The Club experience (with another new section being built along the headland).
The Club is where we stayed, and it's where the rooms are larger and guests have access to additional perks like reserved sun loungers by the pool and a special poolside restaurant for breakfast in the mornings. That being said, we still loved the fact that you could crawl out of bed at midday and there would still be plenty of sun loungers to choose from. This is Ibiza after all.
The brand new beach club
Your lunchtime view at the Beach House
We were invited here to behold the fabulous new Beach House that had just opened up days before our arrival. Boasting its own sandy 'beach', a pool with Bali beds around it and its own restaurant, the Beach House turned out to be the perfect place to enjoy an amazing long lunch in the sun.
Seafood and rice dishes are the main focus here, and the menu includes a lobster in two parts dish along with fish of the day served Donostia-style. We had a particularly good turbot and aioli paella along with some red prawn croquetas with prawn tartare, enjoyed to some vibey tunes from the in-house DJ.
Left to right: The arroz with turbot, red prawn croquetas and a stunning pineapple dish. When asked to guess what the secret ingredient in the pineapple dish was, we utterly failed to spot it was crushed up Halls sweets to give a methol kick to the dish.
What are the rooms like?
The King Club Room with pool view
Ours was a Club King Room with pool view. There's a proper seating area with sofas and chairs if you want to just enjoy a drink overlooking the bay. It was beautifully decorated with a barrel ceiling and lots of nice design touches. The one comment we would have is that this would be a hard room for friends to share - there's just a roll-down blind to give privacy in the shower, so maybe this would be better for couples.
We'd also highly recommend breakfast in the room at one point - this was their humongous continental offering.
Where else is there to eat and drink in the resort?
The view across the bay from Atrio
You really get a broad range of choice with seven restaurants, bars and cafes in total. There's a Veuve Clicquot Champagne bar by the main pool, but our preferred spot for pre-dinner drinks, and indeed dinner, would be the Atrio Raw and cocktail bar. That's up on the top floor of the main building and has jaw-dropping views across the bay. There's usually a band playing outside on the terrace, and we can't think of a better spot for oysters and cava before a sunset dinner either there or in their Paseo restaurant next door.
I fancy seeing a bit more of Ibiza while I'm here. What is there to do nearby?
Our guide took us to a tiny secret cove just minutes from the hotel.
Happily, the hotel has an extensive programme of activities whether you fancy sunset paddleboarding, full moon rituals or spirit workshops. We ended up on a guided hike along the coast nearby, which was a short 40-minute walk with a fantastic view back towards the resort. If you're after a quick stroll, we'd strongly recommend that.
The hotel is also one cove along from Cala Benirrás beach, which is famous for its sunset drumming sessions and hippie market. Our tip would be to book a water taxi from Port de Sant Miguel to the hippie beach and take you back again (as it's hard to get to by taxi and there are no bus services).
Cala Benirrás as the sun goes down
The port itself is small, but it also has a few interesting places to eat and drink (we're not including the Irish pub in that). On our last night, we had dinner at Restaurant Port de Balansat right on the seafront, which specialises in all kinds of local seafood.
A table with a view, at Restaurant Port de Balansat
Anything else?
Wine tasting set up at Ibizcus Wines.
How about a wine tasting? Ibizcus Wines is one of the more interesting wineries on the island and is a short taxi trip from the hotel. It's the island's biggest wine exporter. Their wines are vegan and the winery adheres to organic and biodynamic winemaking practices. A one-hour tasting of four of their wines, including snacks like crisps, almonds and olives, is just 25 euros per person, which we thought was a bargain.
Poolside chic at Cala San Miguel Ibiza
More about Cala San Miguel Ibiza Resort
Where is it? Puerto San Miguel, 26, 07815 Sant Joan de Labritja, Balearic Islands, Spain
How much: A stay at Cala San Miguel Ibiza Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton starts from €300/£250 in a superior room on a bed and breakfast basis.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @calasanmiguelresort
Hot Dinners stayed as guests of Cala San Miguel Ibiza Resort.
Subscribe to be the first to get the news from Hot Dinners
