Review: Six Senses Ibiza Resort (Spain)

Wednesday newsletters at all times characteristic a resort or flight evaluate.

Final September, I used to be imagined to journey to French Polynesia for a vacation of a lifetime. Sadly, as a result of ongoing pandemic, that journey was cancelled two weeks previous to departure, so I needed to search for a final minute vacation elsewhere. Ultimately, I select Spain as a journey vacation spot, the place I loved an exquisite time, regardless of some unusually wet and dreadful climate. You may learn my journey experiences right here:

At this time: Evaluation of Six Senses Ibiza Resort

Conceived by architect Jonathan Leitersdorf, Six Senses Ibiza is a year-round vacation spot set in Xarraca bay, a long-hidden secret on Ibiza’s northern tip. Built-in into its contours to get pleasure from unobstructed sunsets, the property options 116 visitor rooms and suites. Six Senses Ibiza gives a complete vary of facilities and programming, farm-to-table eating, music, artwork, sustainable vogue, tradition, longevity and wellness. Sadly, regardless of it being a brand-new Six Senses Resort, the property didn’t reside as much as its hype throughout my go to, and I’d not advise to guide a keep there until it has sorted out its teething issues (which I’m certain it can within the coming months, given all of the dangerous Tripadvisor critiques the resort acquired over the previous summer season).

Six Senses Ibiza options in my high 10 listing of the most effective luxurious motels in Ibiza.

Have you ever ever stayed at Six Senses Ibiza? If that’s the case, what was your expertise? Go away a remark.

On this evaluate (extra data and pictures beneath my YouTube video):

PROS & THINGS I LIKE

Positioned simply half-hour from the airport, Six Senses Ibiza is tucked away in a picturesque cove on the northern tip of Ibiza. Well-known for its laidback way of life and uncooked, unspoiled nature, the island’s sleepier north facet is a world away from the celebration scene and legendary nightlife on the southern shores. Ibiza’s north facet additionally has a fame as a wellness and therapeutic vacation spot, providing a number of wonderful yoga and spa retreats. Ibiza’s quieter, extra rural and calmer north facet can also be the place that the majority usually is linked with the hippie motion and the bohemian tradition. For instance, the whitewashed hamlet of San Juan with its blissful, hippy Sunday market is a 10-minute drive away from the resort.

Sprawled throughout a pine-clad hillside, the huge property is comprised of a number of pavilions which tumble down the cliffs in direction of the crystalline waters of Cala Xarraca Bay. Resulting from its hillside place, most resort areas get pleasure from unobstructed and dramatic views of Ibiza’s northern shoreline, the Mediterranean Sea, and spectacular sunsets. On high of the hill is the resort’s huge welcome pavilion, which homes the reception space and the Farmers’ Market Restaurant. From right here, a walkway results in the resort’s central piazza, which is house to the primary pool space, the exercise middle with library, and HaSalon Restaurant. Under the pool space, simply above the shoreline, are the spa and caves rooms (extra on that beneath).

Mixing into its good pure environment, Six Senses Ibiza is designed to appear like an utopian village. The resort’s distinctive exterior was conceived by architect, developer and proprietor Jonathan Leitersdorf, who drew on themes of spirituality, celebration and neighborhood. The result’s a tactile Finca-style aesthetic which mimics the tonal colours and textures of the Balearics, from shifting rust hues of the partitions that mirror these of the cliffs throughout the bay to bamboo-clad roofs that resemble Ibiza’s conventional fisherman huts. All resort pavilions are immersed in greenery with dwelling roofs and bougainvillea trailing throughout partitions, whereas the encircling Mediterranean panorama is dotted with of lemon, fig and pomegranate bushes.

Additionally designed by Leiterdorf, the Six Senses Ibiza’s slick and understated interiors are largely impressed by the native panorama and conventional Ibizan craft. The resort’s stylish, up to date dwellings are embellished in a soothing shade palette dominated by rustic stone and earth tones. Private and non-private areas are fitted with the very best high quality options, midcentury furnishings and fashionable finishes, whereas pure supplies like rattan, wooden, leather-based cushions and woven fiber add an genuine contact. The partitions of the resort’s corridors are adorned with stylish Magnum black-and-white {photograph}. Design aficionados will have the ability to establish iconic furnishings items like Michel Ducaroy’s Togo sofas or Herman Miller’s Eames chair.

Six Senses Ibiza options 116 visitor rooms and suites, together with a few cave suites constructed into the cliffs. For visitors in want of more room, three-, four- and five-bedroom townhouses are additionally out there, every with personal swimming pools, indoor-outdoor dwelling areas and garages. For my vacation on the resort, I had booked a ‘Sea View Premium Junior Suite’. That includes a locally-sourced décor, the beautiful suite had a contemporary but cozy ambiance. A generously sized bed room gave solution to an outside sitting space and personal rooftop backyard terrace, offering additional dwelling house from dawn to sundown. The massive ensuite open-plan lavatory was fitted along with his and her sinks, a rain bathe, and standalone bathtub. Floral robes by Milan-based model La Double J had been supplied.

Leitersdorf’s design of the resort was guided by the next motto: “an ideal day consists of 12 hours to attach with your self and 12 hours spent with the remainder of the world.” As a consequence, half of Six Senses Ibiza’s areas are meant for solace and privateness, whereas the opposite half are devoted to convivial, neighborhood socialization. The guts of the resort’s social areas is the primary pool space, which includes a fabulous infinity pool lined by two rows of comfortable loungers. Curving alongside Cala Xarraca Bay, the pool decks enjoys among the most spectacular views on the complete island and is within the solar till sundown. It’s the right place to unwind with a guide and order a cocktail, given that you’ll be able to safe a lounger (extra on that beneath).

Six Senses Ibiza gives 4 eating places:
- Positioned throughout the minimalist foyer is the Farmers’ Market Restaurant. Replete with pink Porsche tractor and a twisted ceiling-height olive tree, the venue is a casual all-day eating vacation spot, surrounded by a juice & veggies bar, a espresso store providing the Dalgona espresso, a bakery, a pizza stall, and a pinchos station.
- Positioned subsequent to the Farmers’ Market Restaurant is Orchard, an outside venue with communal tables superbly laid within the shade of our citrus bushes. It’s the property’s most intimate eating venue, mixing basic, native delicacies with Mexican-Peruvian cocktails.
- Helmed by Israeli chef Eyal Shani , the resort’s signature restaurant HaSalon showcases plant-based eating, hereby harnessing the island’s pure abundance of substances – from avocados to watermelons, oranges, lemons and Ibiza rock salt. The venue includes a gorgeous 50-seat chef’s desk within the shade of 100-year-old olive bushes.
- Seashore Caves is a shocking feat of design and structure constructed into the rock overlooking the ocean on the sting of Xarraca Bay. The advanced contains a collection of caves, together with two eating rooms the place Hip New York sushi outfit BondST gives a menu of sushi and sashimi alongside a spread of Japanese-inspired dishes.

The spotlight of the resort is the Six Senses Spa, which is constructed into the cliffs beneath the primary pool space. From tailor-made therapies supplied by world practitioners and knowledgeable yogic masters to multi-day immersive retreats, every little thing is centered across the wellbeing of visitors. Spa services embody a steam room, hammam, indoor pool, and a number of other remedy rooms together with a state-of-the-art health space, café and juice bar. The spa can also be house to the Rose Bar, a one-of-a-kind vacation spot for impactful longevity applications, combining diagnostics with dietary steering and fashionable therapeutic strategies. Outdoor there are therapeutic massage catacombs with direct entry to natural gardens, the place substances for the spa botanicals are grown.

Powered by its personal renewable vitality supply – as much as 51 % at any given second – and with punchy zero waste and 0 single-use plastic targets, the Six Senses Ibiza has sustainability at its core. The result’s the Balearic Islands’ first resort to attain certification by BREEAM, the world’s authentic and main evaluation of sustainability throughout the constructed setting. For instance, 298 photo voltaic panels cowl 10% of the resort’s electrical energy wants and10 Olympic sized swimming swimming pools of water are saved annually through the use of fashionable geothermal cooling methods. The property additionally helps an area hedgehog sanctuary that takes care of the spiky little animals populating Ibiza Island when injured or in want.

The resort is operated by Six Senses, one among my favourite luxurious resort manufacturers on the planet. After its launch in 1995 by Soneva CEO Sonu Shivdasani, Six Senses shortly grew to become acknowledged because the hospitality business’s pioneer of sustainable practices, demonstrating that duty may be efficiently wedded to uncompromised high-end services. Six Senses Resorts & Spas are at all times positioned in among the world’s most unusual and delightful locations. Whether or not it’s a Six Senses resort on a distant personal island or a Six Senses Spa in an thrilling city setting, the touch-points are at all times decidedly the identical. I’ve beforehand reviewed the next Six Senses properties:

CONS & THINGS TO KNOW

Resulting from its spectacular views, fabulous design, model new services, and administration by the Six Senses model, you’ll anticipate Six Senses Ibiza to be the most effective resort on the island. Sadly, it’s not. I’m penning this evaluate with a heavy coronary heart as I wished to like the property a lot however there are simply too many kinks the resort must work out first earlier than positioning itself as Ibiza’s high resort.

A serious design fault of the resort is the comparatively small pool deck (with solely round 75 sunbeds) in comparison with big variety of rooms (116 rooms, none of them with a personal pool). As a consequence, throughout occasions of excessive occupancy (which was the case throughout my keep), there are not sufficient sunbeds out there on the pool. It’s just about absurd to pay all this cash for a high-end resort to be confronted with no seat availability on the solely pool space. Apparently, the resort has recognized this subject because the opening a number of months in the past, so the fitting factor to have carried out was to dam some rooms throughout the previous summer season season to keep away from a capability downside on the pool. Additionally, the resort is in style with households, so inevitably, you’ll be confronted with enjoying and screaming youngsters on the pool (that’s not their fault after all).

Meals is a big disappointment, particularly on the signature restaurant HaSalon, which is promoted as a superb eating vacation spot helmed by a Michelin-starred chef. Effectively, it’s not, and it doesn’t even come near a complicated eating expertise (regardless of astronomical costs). First, the poorly offered menu of HaSalon may be very complicated with no distinction between starters and foremost programs. Second, the style of the meals is mix and their presentation uninspiring: a lot of the dishes I ordered throughout my keep consisted of grilled meat and greens simply thrown on a plate. I additionally had dinner on the Farmer’s Market one evening, the place meals seemed and tasted the identical as those I used to be served at HaSalon, so there isn’t a differentiation between the 2 foremost meals retailers. As well as, the eating venues really feel very crowded and getting a reservation at one of many eating places throughout occasions of excessive occupancy is difficult.

Service will not be good. The workers are very pleasant and take a look at their greatest, however apparently they lack expertise and coaching. Some examples:
- At breakfast, I persistently acquired the improper dishes. Additionally, all dishes had been at all times served directly, making breakfast a really rushed affair (perhaps to clear tables for different visitors because the resort was working at full capability).
- I had lunch in the future on the pool (on the in the future I used to be in a position to safe a sunbed) nevertheless it began raining midway my meal. The workers was dashing to take away all of the seat cushions however no one appeared to care about me, the one visitor left on the pool (which was totally bizarre). Once I lastly took my plate and glass myself to the indoor bar, every little thing was soaked with water and nonetheless no one got here to supply help.
- My dinner reservations had been made on the improper eating places. One evening, we had a reservation on the Seashore Caves (confirmed by the workers) nevertheless it turned out to be at HaSalon (and the Seashore Cave had no document of our reservation). Once more, the workers appeared to not care about these errors, nor to make any effort to attempt to right them.

Though it’s a matter of private style, I really feel that the design of the foyer will not be what you’ll anticipate from a luxurious resort. It feels extra like a foodcourt in a theme park or shopping center, with the pink tractor including a bizarre contact to an underwhelming decor. The poor design of the foyer contrasts with the resort’s superbly executed exterior and the nice decor of the rooms.

The Six Senses model is all about serenity, tranquillity and understated luxurious. Sadly, the huge scale of the resort (with an enormous variety of rooms) and the truth that there’s just one pool space make a serene ambiance virtually unattainable. IMHO, this is able to work for an InterContinental Resort (to remain throughout the IHG group) however not for a Six Senses.

In abstract, my foremost points with Six Senses Ibiza are the shortage of seat availablity across the pool, the disappointing meals expertise, the crowded atmosphere all over the place, and the shortage of service. If the resort doesn’t tackle all of those points, it would trigger hurt to the Six Senses model in the long run (since its visitor include sure expectations). On a constructive observe, I used to be contacted by the administration after sharing my suggestions with them, who acknowledged there have been a number of issues throughout their opening season. To sort out the problems, resort administration determined to construct a second pool, to diversify the meals choices, and to additional prepare its workers to the degrees you’ll anticipate from a Six Senses. They satisfied me to present the resort a second likelihood, so I’m going again subsequent summer season, after which I’ll write a brand new (and hopefully extra constructive) journey report.

MY VERDICT

Location: 9/10
Design: 8/10
Pool: 8/10
Rooms: 9/10
Meals: 4/10
Breakfast: 5/10
Spa: 9/10
Service: 4/10
Worth for cash: 5/10
Total expertise: mediocre 6,5/10

TIPS FOR FUTURE GUESTS & SAVE MONEY

Lower your expenses: learn right here my ideas for getting the most effective deal at a luxurious resort like Six Senses Ibiza (and/or obtain many free perks).

Lower your expenses: IHG – the mom firm of Six Senses – has a loyalty program which I reviewed right here and which lets you gather factors and trade them keep free of charge stays at IHG properties, together with Six Senses Singapore.

Learn my ideas for making ready your journey in time.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The very best time to go to Ibiza is throughout the summer season months, from late Might by early October, when temperatures are sizzling and the events are even hotter. Count on numerous motion, loads of vacationers, and costly resort charges. Go to late spring or early fall to keep away from the largest crowds and the most popular temperatures.

HOW TO GET THERE

Six Senses Ibiza is positioned half-hour from the airport. Test the Wikipedia web page of Ibiza Airport for an up to date listing of airways that provide direct flights to Ibiza.