If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR863.64), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Six Senses Ibiza may blend into its lush surroundings but it’s no wallflower – in fact, it’s breaking the mold in more ways than one. For starters, it’s received international recognition for its eco-friendly architecture and design, so a stay here is good for the soul in more ways than one. It’s also the first European outpost for celebrity chef Eyal Shani who’ll work his (mostly) plant-based magic in all four restaurants. Then, there’s the far-beyond-the-ordinary Six Senses spa with its raft of radical treatments. But don’t expect to be entirely virtuous – by night, you can take in the mesmerising sunset views with a cocktail in hand at the Beach Caves, the hotel’s hip-shaking live music venue.
Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm. Both can be flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £803.86 (€950), including tax at 10 per cent.
More details
Rates usually include breakfast – you’ll have a choice of à la carte or buffet options (all local and organic, of course) in the Farmer’s Market or the Orchard.
Also
Curated by two former Vogue editors and stylists, the Agora boutique will reinforce the tenets of sustainable fashion: reduce, recycle, rent and restore.
Hotel closed
The hotel will be closed from 13 November 2023 until April 2024.
At the hotel
Public beach in reach, swimming pool, spa, gym, yoga pavilion, night club, recording studio, photography gallery, library, concept boutique, organic farm, kids’ club, free valet parking. In rooms: TV, free WiFi, minibar, pillow menu, plug adaptors.
Our favourite rooms
It doesn’t get cooler than the Cave Royale – this Batman-worthy suite is built into the cliff and designed to feel like, well, a cave. But instead of darkness, damp and nocturnal mammals, you’ll find a hot tub, a wet bar, a grand piano and a door that leads to a professional recording studio in case creativity calls in the middle of the night.
Poolside
The family-friendly outdoor swimming pool is infinity-edged and gazes at the clear waters of Cala Xarraca; it’s lined with sleek sunloungers and pretty parasols, and is heated with solar panels.
Spa
A destination in its own right, the 13,000sq ft spa space has a vitality pool, hammam, steam room, sauna, cryotherapy chamber and an ‘Alchemy Bar’ where you can blend your own essential oils to carry on the good work back home. Treatment rooms are in catacombs with direct access to the nearby organic gardens, where ingredients for the spa botanicals are grown. Need to beautify before a night at the Beach Caves? Book in for manicures, pedicures and hair salon services. Fitness facilities include an outdoor yoga shala with sea views, a boxing ring and a state-of-the-art gym – check the weekly schedule to sign up for free yoga classes, meditation and sound healing sessions as well as guided hikes. Throughout the year, the hotel will also run one-off retreats with guest practitioners – these immersive programmes might centre around fitness, detox or shamanic healing.
Packing tips
An armload of activewear and sturdy swimmers (for cliff jumping).
Also
The public areas, the spa and a number of Deluxe bedrooms are suitable for wheelchair users.
They’ll love it here as much as you do. There’s a children’s club with cooking classes, watersports and crafts on offer; cots and extra beds can be provided and babysitting is available on request.
Best for
All ages.
Recommended rooms
Most room types can accommodate an extra bed or cot on request but seclusion-seeking families may prefer the Xarraca Two-Bedroom Suite which has sweeping sea views, a large living area and privacy-providing gardens.
Crèche
There are two brilliant kids’ clubs – one for ages 5-12 and another for ages 12 and up – with crafting workshops, cooking classes, island excursions and beach sports on offer.
Swimming pool
The main infinity pool is family-friendly at all hours.
Meals
Children are welcome in all four restaurants; there are highchairs available on request.
Babysitting
Babysitting is available for €80 an hour (you’ll need to give a day’s notice).
No need to pack
The hotel can provide cribs, cots, bedlinen and bottle-sterilising equipment.
Sustainability efforts
Staying here will keep your conscience as clear as the waters of Cala Xarraca – the hotel will be the very first BREEAM-certified resort in the Balearics. They’ve also partnered with the Ibiza Preservation Fund to protect the island’s land and sea biodiversity and will set aside a percentage of their revenue to support local foundations and community projects. All food is local, seasonal, organic (when possible, it’s grown at the hotel’s farm), drinking water is bottled on-site at the hotel’s plastic-free plant, and the pool is heated with solar panels. Bath products are delightfully plastic-free, too.
With all the lush landscaping, sparkling sea views and atmospheric lighting in the evenings, there’s not a single dud on the property.
Dress Code
Wear your breezy beach best during the day and slinky silks or light linens at night.
Hotel restaurant
Six Senses Ibiza has a few. Chef Eyal Shanio, better known as the founder of New Israeli cuisine (aka the ‘Cauliflower King’) oversees North, where fresh Mediterranean fare is combined with Israeli classics to create ever-evolving menus that ensure sea-to-table fish and local meats take centre stage. Pasta-lovers will feel at home in the Orchard, with a trattoria-inspired menu that boasts Italian favourites. If you’d rather stick to sampling local cuisine, La Plaza offers a selection of traditionally-cooked Spanish dishes. The Farmers’ Market and the Beach Caves are the hotel’s more relaxed options, where custom cocktails and light bites are served to a beat, in true Ibizan style.
Hotel bar
The poolside Farmacy bar is open from 9am to 11pm, serving everything from fresh juices and smoothies to organic wine and sundowner cocktails, plus a small selection of snacks. As the sun sets, head to the Beach Caves for sundowners and live DJ sets.
Last orders
North is open between June and October and La Plaza opens between April and December. The other restaurants dish up year round.
Room service
The room service menu has options from each restaurant as well as a special menu for little Smiths.
Away from the party people, Six Senses Ibiza faces the crystalline Cala Xarraca bay on the island’s sleepier northern side.
Planes
Ibiza’s international airport, which has direct connections to most major European cities throughout the summer, is about a 35-minute drive away. The hotel can arrange private transfers in their WiFi-equipped electric Mercedes van (it’s €150 each way for up to two people, €210 each way for up to four).
Automobiles
A rental car will be useful if you plan to explore northern Ibiza’s lesser-known bays and beaches; there’s free valet parking at the hotel.
Worth getting out of bed for
With so much to experience on-site, you won’t want to venture too far too quickly – swim laps in the sea-gazing infinity pool, ogle the walls of the permanent photography gallery, browse in the sustainable Agora boutique and book in for a soothing yoga session or stress-banishing treatment at the sprawling spa complex. When you are ready to venture out – Cala Xarraca beach is just a short walk from the hotel and perfect for swimming and snorkelling – it’s one of the most isolated bays on the island with magnificent views. You can even paddle around the point to next-door bay Cala Xuclar.
On a Sunday, drive inland to the village of San Juan to find the lively ‘hippy market’ in the plaza – browse the stalls selling art and hand-made trinkets, listen to live music or take a seat in a cafe and soak up the atmosphere. Also popular on Sundays are the sunset drum circles at Cala Benirras (but you’ll need to arrive early to avoid a parking fiasco).
The hotel can also organise all types of excursions around the island for adventure-seekers – just ask at the front desk about cliff jumping, snorkelling, scuba diving and cave exploring.
Local restaurants
One of the island’s best-loved restaurants is La Paloma, a family-run Italian restaurant and cafe in the tiny inland village of San Lorenzo – ingredients come from their organic kitchen garden and tables sit under twinkling lights strung from orange and lemon trees. Also inland is Japanese fusion destination Nagai in Santa Eulalia – order the wagyu tartare, prawn carpaccio, a yellowtail roll and a bottle of biodynamic wine while you gaze at the Japanese-inspired murals and listen to live music. Closer to home, soak up sea views and dine on arguably the best seafood on the island at Port Balansat, a laidback lunch spot right on the beach in Port de San Miguel.
Local bars
Bambuddha is a Balinese-inspired restaurant and cocktail emporium on the San Juan ‘restaurant road’ with a delightfully decadent atmosphere, canopied beds to lounge on and a signature concoction called the ‘Bamboozle’ which does what it says on the tin (best to call a taxi in advance).
'Is it popcorn? Are they sweets?' I enquire, as we check-in to our Junior Sea View Suite at Six Senses Ibiza. 'No, it's... pickled cauliflower,' Mr Smith replies, 'pink pickled cauliflower.' Clearly, posh chocs and cava don’t quite cut it at this oasis of wellness – it’s nuts, kombucha, and the aforementioned brassica from now on. It’s been almost a decade since Mr Smith and I last ventured to the White Isle, footloose and kiddo-free. Those whirlwind weekends were a lot of things, but I’d be hard-pressed to describe them as ‘healthy’. This time around, we’re feeling decidedly wholesome and ready for a long weekend of spa time and chill.
On the island’s sleepy northern side, Six Senses sits nestled into Xarraca Bay, where nature is the headliner. Clever architectural planning means the hotel blends into the hillside it cascades across. Trailing greenery, leafy plants and bamboo cladding break up the buildings, so it doesn't look or feel like the vast resort it is. Our room is a sumptuous haven of good taste, open and airy with tactile natural furnishings, but the view from the balcony is the real knockout. Below us, the cobalt blue waters of the Iberian Sea lap against the rugged coastline while, on the other side, a glistening turquoise pool demands we head straight down.
After a swim, I melt into the sunlounger beside my love and memories of our ungodly early start drift away on the back of a Balearic breeze. My mind is now occupied with my other great love; people watching – and boy is this the place for it. A couple of tech bros field calls from their day-beds, a warren of immaculately dressed yoga bunnies sip on pea-green juices and a loved-up couple with model looks sashay down to the sea. All the while, I eavesdrop on a gaggle of girls across the pool raucously recalling last night’s louche antics. Sadly, before they conclude the tale, I’m forced to tear myself away to the spa.
The White Lotus evocations are dialled up a notch as a guest who more than resembles Jennifer Coolidge strikes up a conversation in the changing rooms. She’s two days into a week’s worth of poking, prodding and pummelling, I learn, and already radiates health and vitality, with just a touch of smugness. Inspired by her itinerary (but with a fraction of her budget), I soon find myself in a spa recliner, gazing out across crystal waters while a therapist uses a futuristic device to blow air all over my limbs – or as she calls it, cryotherapy. My next treatment, a tension-soothing massage, has more obvious benefits, and borders on sorcery as my whole body yawns.
As I marinate in essential oils, cocooned in a white fluffy robe, I know I should be savouring the fresh herbal tea. Instead, all I can think about is rays and rosé. I float back poolside where the sun has passed its zenith and Mr Smith awaits, glass in hand. We meander toward the sea’s edge, where bean bags and rugs make for a rustic, and totally blissful, lookout.
Wielding a new thirst – and half a bottle of rosé – we hotfoot it back to our suite and change into our finery in time for supper at the neighbouring restaurant, Los Enamorados. This unpretentious bohemian hangout sits right on the seafront in the romantic harbour of Portinatx. We feast on locally caught fish as the sun sets, scuttling inside when the breeze picks up post-dinner. Here, we devour the chef’s signature cheesecake while lounging on squishy modernist armchairs – me admiring the decor; him, the playlist.
The following morning, we stir from a margarita-infused slumber to recall our wholesome intentions. The only thing to ease my (minor) guilt, I decide, is a trip to the gym. Unbelievably, given we’re here at Ibiza’s health mecca, we have it all to ourselves (outdoor boxing ring included) and can sweat out last night’s margs in total privacy.
Breakfast in the Farmers’ Market is heaven for a top-tier buffet grazer like me. There’s a long table of cold-pressed juices and health shots, as well as charcuterie, and a bakery overflowing with oven-fresh goodies. Whole-grain croissants sit beside their paler counterparts, so while health might be top of the agenda (I refer you back to the cauliflower), it’s not in the prohibitive way I suspected it might be. Rather, it’s if you’re looking for it, which Mr ‘full-English-and-keep-the-coffee-coming’ Smith is not.
Overcast skies make the perfect cue for a lazy morning spent back in our suite. Wallowing in the gargantuan tub, I lose myself in the hotel’s RoseBar magazine, a bible of articles with advice on the key to eternal life – none of which, it seems, feature rosé, cheesecake, or cocktails. But we’ve still got 24 hours to make up for it in the yoga studio or three-floor spa. Besides, life’s all about balance, right? We didn’t exactly detox, but we didn’t bounce around Ibiza’s dance floors either. ‘Wellness’ isn’t all about breathwork and biohacking, sometimes it’s about putting a grin on your face and a zing in your step, and we both leave with plenty of those.
