Guest contributor, Amy Dunne, recently went to Ibiza – one of Europe’s premier clubbing destinations. Amy kindly writes about her week of fun, sea, sand and lots of partying!
In June we went on a girls holiday to the white isles of Ibiza! Having visited the usual clubbing destinations; Zante, Tenerife, Gran Canaria etc. we decided that it was time for Ibiza! We looked into villas and apartments as there was quite a large group of us but we came across the Ibiza Rocks Hotel and booked this instead as it looked pretty amazing. Ibiza Rocks hotel is in St Antonio and throughout the summer hosts acts such as Plan B, Chase and Status etc; someone different every week. Our flights were booked separately through good old EasyJet! I also booked transfers with Ibiza Rocks and rang them and sent emails to let them know that I required a wheelchair accessible minibus, however after being reassured that this would be all sorted, a coach turned up at the airport to take us to the hotel. With help from the coach driver, my friends just about managed to fit my wheelchair into the hold so it wasn’t too much of an issue.
To save some money we booked flights that arrived in the middle of the night, as the others were already out there and we planned on staying in their room over night. We arrived at the hotel in the early hours and checked in, as we couldn’t get into our room yet, we made our way up to our friends room, as we got out of the lift one of the hotel staff came running after us and we thought we had been caught out but instead he said don’t tell anyone but you can have this room and gave us the keys. Turns out he had given us a stage view room with a balcony that overlooked the pools and main arena! Although I had booked a wheelchair accessible room, we decided we would sacrifice this for the stage view. The room was pretty big and the bath had a ledge on it which I could sit on to have a shower so it turned out fine. Our room also had a kitchenette, which we were very fond of, I reckon we were the only people that actually used the kitchenette but we were on a budget so this came in handy for pot noodles and pasta on the balcony.
Ibiza Rocks hotel is completely wheelchair accessible, there is a small stair lift, that lead to our room, however I was terrified of it so we went the long way around through one of the pool areas. This was locked up at night but the hotel staff soon got used to our antics and let us through when we staggered in at ridiculous hours. The only issue was a small curb at the front, which sounds easy enough to conquer but proved to be challenging after a heavy night out, as the hotel is located on a hill. I would definitely recommend Ibiza Rocks (where the Club Tropicana music video was filmed, soundtrack of the holiday!). Included in the hotel price is a ticket to the gig that is performed on the main stage in the middle of the hotel. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a stage view room, so we could see everything from our balcony. Metronomy and Friendly Fires played the week we were there, it was a great experience to be able to watch an incredible gig from our balcony! The rest of the week they have loads of different DJs playing throughout the day, so if you don’t mind a lack of sleep, I would highly recommend a stage view room.
The St Antonio beach front, where café mambos etc is, is the place to start your night, as the music gets louder as the sun goes down and the beach is heaving! The Ibiza sunset is stunning! Our hotel was just a 2-minute walk from the main St Anton strip, which is hectic, full of bars and clubs. We often pre drank on the strip before hitting the main clubs, to get through the manic crowds we formed a kind of barrier and pushed our way through, in a ‘girls on tour’ fashion, wouldn’t really want to see a recording of that to be honest, pretty shameful! Although the St Anton strip is brilliant you cant visit Ibiza without going to the numerous super clubs that are dotted about the island. We had pre-booked most our tickets online before we had arrived as there were certain nights we wanted to do, which we didn’t want to sell out. However after talking to people from our hotel it seemed as though the nights didn’t always sell out and the tickets weren’t much cheaper online but its quite good to know where you’re going every night as we were only there for 1 week. There are 2 main clubs in St Anton, Eden and Es Paradis. Es Paradis has an amazing water party where half way through the night singing in the rain is played and the dance floor fills up with water, I just about managed to get to high ground before the water started to pour in!
The rest of the clubs are located all around the island, just a short cab drive away. There are wheelchair accessible cabs on the island so if you book in advance you will be able to get one, however we’re not that organized so a few times we ended up just lifting my wheelchair into the back of the larger cabs. One of the biggest clubs in Ibiza is Amnesia, it is massive! We went to the cream night, was mental! Inside Amnesia is fully flat but I did have to be lifted up a couple of stairs to get in; I think there may be another entrance but it was so busy that the bouncers just decided to lift me.
A visit to Bora Bora beach is another must, with live DJs on the beach, it has an incredible atmosphere. Towards the end of the week, we were all flagging a bit and were all suffering from a spout of self inflicted ‘Ibiza flu’, so we decided to have a chilled night in Ibiza town. The town is beautiful, overlooked by a castle at the top of the hill and has a great little flea market. After taking a walk around the port and picking out which yachts we would own, we went for a nice meal and a few chilled drinks.
1 week in Ibiza went way too fast, there was so many clubs that we didn’t get a chance to go to, would have loved to have gone back for the closing parties. The only thing I would say is that the rumors are correct, the clubs are very pricey, your looking at London prices at 10 euros a drink and around 30 euros for a ticket. Although we managed it on a budget, as you can get around this by pre drinking in cheaper bars, it’s only the main clubs that are really expensive but it’s definitely worth the money, they do not disappoint! As all the clubs are so big, pretty much all of them are wheelchair accessible; all the ones we went to were, there may be a few steps but people are more than happy to help out. As we boarded the plane home in a fragile state, the airhostess even asked why we were so pale. Although I don’t know whether I would have survived longer than a week of the carnage, I will definitely be returning to Ibiza in the future for round 2. If you’re a music lover, especially house, dance, techno; an Ibiza clubbing holiday is a must!
By Amy Dunne
