Ibiza, Spain: Arriving on the White Isle

Wow. I’ve just landed back in the UK after a pretty crazy few days in Ibiza, Spain. A crazy, magical, and intense few days of partying hard and sunbathing on the White Isle. As a result, I’m pretty tired now, funnily enough. It’s a little blurry, but I’d like to share everything we got up to on our wonderful trip. After an early morning start from Bristol airport and then foolishly waiting half an hour for a coach for a five minute journey (you can totally just get a taxi), we arrived at our incredible hotel. Yup, not just any hotel – welcome to the Hard Rock Hotel, Ibiza, baby!

Sunrise at Bristol Airport on the way to Ibiza

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Arriving at the Hard Rock Hotel, Ibiza

Having struck it lucky with a pretty tasty deal we found online (cheers again, Expedia!), we couldn’t be happier with our choice of hotel. The Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza is wonderful, and incredibly modern and stylish. As soon as you arrive, hunky staff magically swap your luggage for a cocktail. Jo got it down her straight away. Well, when in Rome.

The hotel is on the Playa d’En Bossa region of the Spanish island. It’s right next to the legendary outdoor nightclub of Ushuaia, in fact. It’s a wonderful gateway to Ibiza’s vibrant culture, with the classic Hard Rock style and a Mediterranean twist. It also has a generous five restaurants and two swimming pools, one of which has a swim up bar that we made the most of. We went to go and explore.

Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza

It really is the most gorgeous hotel. Just a year old at our time of visiting, both of its pools have resident DJs (one a party pool, the other a more chilled house kinda vibe). There’s also a rooftop bar and much, much more, but we’ll get to that. It has a chic style and a fun, party vibe that was perfect for our first time in Ibiza.

With Moet signs around every corner of the Hard Rock Hotel’s beach club, we knew we were in the right place.

Moet and beach club area, Playa den Bossa

Jo with a Moet surfboard, Playa den Bossa

Swimming pool at the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza

First up, breakfast! As we’d caught an early flight to Ibiza, we were lucky (and smug) enough to have arrived to catch the end of the buffet breakfast. Only in Ibiza would your complementary breakfast only begin at 10am. I swear in most other places, that’s pretty much closing time. The buffet is wonderful with a huge selection, and of course champagne. After some fresh fruit and yoghurt, we took our drinks outside to enjoy the sun.

Champagne by the pool on Playa den Bossa

Sunbathing at the Hard Rock Hotel

After a quick change, we found our home for the day (or at least, until we could check in to our room). Right by the pool.

We celebrated the start of our holiday with strawberry daiquiris, in true Ibiza style.

Promo staff swan by in impressive outfits – you certainly wouldn’t catch me in one of those swimsuits! They cause quite a scene, and promise you the best night you’ll ever have at their Ushuaia club night. It’s a bit surreal at first, but you soon see it enough. Everywhere around you there’s preparation for a big night ahead. The Rubik’s cubes scattered around the hotel were also for their Children of the 80s club night that evening.

Children of the 80s at the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza

Our Room at the Hard Rock Hotel

At last, 2pm struck and we were let loose into our room. It was beautiful, contemporary, and modern with everything we could have hoped for. Although we knew we wouldn’t be spending a ton of time in our room, it’s always wonderful to have a nice place to stay. There are plenty of gadgets too – you can also even hire DJ decks to your room which is cool. There’s also a phone in the bathroom, just in case you should want to order room service from your throne.

The icing on the cake was a brisk knock at the door to welcome us with a bottle of bubbles and cake to celebrate the end of Jo’s exams. A lovely touch from the hotel that made all the difference. Finally time to get the party going!

To line our stomachs before the night ahead, we tried out the room service. I picked the sushi; Jo the burger. My goodness, it was good. Restaurant calibre from the comfort of your own room. We took it out onto the balcony to enjoy in the sun.

Room service at the Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza

Chainsmokers and Avicii at Ushuaia, Ibiza

After making new American friends by pouring champagne from our first floor balcony to see if they could catch it in their mouths, it was time for our Ibiza initiation. We had tickets for Avicii that night next door in Ushuaia. What a night we had in store. On reflection – RIP Avicii. Such a sad loss to the world and the EDM industry in particular.

We headed over to Ushuaia at 5pm, which meant things were only going to get messy. I warn you now, drinks in Ibiza are not cheap. You’re talking 30 euros for a spirit and mixer. But hey, with such amazing music and friendly people to chat to, you’ll probably forget the cost.

We thoroughly enjoyed the warmup entertainment from The Chainsmokers, who were awesome. At the time, they were only really famous for their #SELFIE song, so we were surprised at how good they were.

Ushuaia really is an incredible club. Not only is it outside (so welcome in the heat), but it’s home to residencies of the biggest names in dance music. One unique addition to the club is the constant roar of planes flying overhead which adds to the music. It’s something everyone needs to experience.

Finally, Avicii himself came out, and the crowd went crazy.

We were invited up to a party from some of our new friends who were staying at Ushuaia. We had a prime view of Avicii from above and aslo minibar drinks which were very welcome.