Walking into Villa Roca is like stepping onto a film set. The cliff-carved house is headswimmingly glamorous; modernist grandeur and a melange of cubist-style, floor-to-ceiling glass and exposed cliff face beckons you in. Minimalist yet comfortable this extra-special vacation rental is a labyrinthine, cavernous masterpiece that is also bright, light and ethereal. Oozing star quality, it’s hard to resist cajoling the house staff into revealing which celebrities and royals have stayed here. Ask away, but they won’t tell. Discretion is the name of the game at Villa Roca.
You wind your way up a rocky road to reach this party-perfect house in the sky – a lung-refreshingly 200m above sea level. Here, a barbecue sizzles on the rooftop terrace and awaits your arrival, while an enormous pool begs you to slip under its sun-warmed water. Up-lit, fountain-kissed cliff face leads you inside, and exposed rock walls make subtle appearances throughout the rest of the house; a cave dressing room here, a tree poking through a terrace floor there… Built around the stone of the cliff, this is a dramatic natural invasion of a pristine, rock-star space.
Lolling in one of five hammocks that overlook Salinas, Playa d’en Bossa and beyond to the island of Formentera, you find it’s easy to imagine being alone on this island. Yet as peaceful, still and full of silence as it is, high up here in the clouds, you’re still just 10 minutes from the cosmopolitan hub of Ibiza Town – and only a handy 10 minutes from the airport.
Like an optical illusion, floating white-cube staircases lead you all over Villa Roca: across cool Brazilian stone floors, through a maze of bedrooms with in-room sunken baths, past open fires and into red-lit, chill-out rooms. No inch of cliff face has been left unturned to create this palatial rock ’n’ roll retreat. The master bedroom isn’t just a bedroom, it’s a Jo Malone-packed, Jacuzzi-filled piece of art, overlooking the sparkling lights of Ibiza.
This sole intention of this villa, with its evanescent team of 10 staff (including a barman, two butlers and a chef), is to pamper you. Whether you sink into the rooftop Jacuzzi, the burgundy cushions in the Bedouin tent or the cream sofa under the stretched plasma screen, there are so many different rooms, levels and terraces that you’ll never want to leave. Wake up to the clinking sound of a cocktail being mixed down by the pool, pick out your day’s meals from the chef’s menu, then go and jump into the rooftop’s sunken chill-out zone – you won’t be moving until the light of the golden sunset pours over you. Fit-for-a-superstar chic? Tick. Heartstoppingly-stunning views? Check. The ultimate rock-star Ibiza villa? Oh yes.
Reviewed by Charlotte Crisp
