New Year’s Eve in Ibiza: houses and apartments eclipse hotels once again

The pattern repeats itself one more year. Those looking to spend New Year’s Eve in Ibiza will find an offer overwhelmingly dominated by complete homes, as opposed to the reduced list of open hotels.

Searches on Booking and Airbnb for the period from December 29 to January 3 confirm that, beyond institutional efforts to deseasonalize tourism and the fact that the offer of platforms such as Airbnb has been drastically reduced by removing illegal ads, traditional accommodations are a minority for spending New Year’s Eve on the island.

• The president of the hoteliers of Ibiza and Formentera: “Our parents did not have so many administrative obstacles”.

Booking lists 144 available accommodations, including 19 hotels – seven in downtown Vila – and 10 hostels or guesthouses. The rest, 115 complete homes, including some that the platform catalogs as pensions but are rented in their entirety. Most of the accommodations are concentrated in urban areas. There are hardly any rural options: two rural houses and one agritourism.

On Airbnb, the trend is even more marked: 383 entire accommodations throughout the island and virtually no private room available. That is to say, for these dates it is no longer the custom to share a house with the host: those who come to Ibiza do so, above all, to occupy a complete accommodation.

Prices show a range as wide as the offer itself. On Airbnb, the five-day stay ranges from about $753 (about 660 euros) for a small apartment in Platja d’en Bossa, to $8,000 (about 7,000 euros) for a villa in es Cubells with four bedrooms. On Booking, the options range from hostels for about 350 euros to villas that exceed 10,000 euros for the same stay. In the case of high-end hotels, accommodations such as The Standard or the Hotel Pacha exceed 2,000 euros for two people for five nights.

• “It is a simplification to describe Ibiza as an overflowing luxury destination.”

A scenario that hardly changes

A year ago, the picture was very similar: only a score of hotels open in winter and an overflowing supply of vacation rentals. What has changed is the regulation. In recent months, the Consell and Airbnb have eliminated thousands of unlicensed ads, a process that reduced the illegal offer to zero and that implies a process with more restrictions for new ads.

In any case, the legal supply of complete housing continues to grow and, in absolute terms, far exceeds hotel accommodation.

For its part, the Hotel Federation of Ibiza and Formentera (FEHIF) has expressed to La Voz de Ibiza its support for the strategy of the Consell insular to deseasonalize the offer and promote family, congress or sports tourism. Although they have warned that, although the hotel offer is adapted, it is key that flights are guaranteed beyond the high season.

• Fewer people, full hotels: Ibiza defends with data that its strategy against intrusiveness is already showing results

The festivities, at the right time

As for nightlife, Pacha Ibiza and Lío will reopen their doors on New Year’s Eve. The former will hold the Music On – New Year’s Eve party, with DJ Marco Carola at the helm, while Lío will combine dinner, show and club session. DC10 is holding its traditional New Year’s Eve Circoloco on January 1, although the final schedule has not yet been officially announced.

Thus, the closing of the year in Ibiza maintains its hallmark: a lively island, but not overcrowded, with a few nightclubs that concentrate the nightlife and a tourist accommodation that, despite the restrictions, continues to bet on the keys of a house rather than the reception of a hotel.