Although I sense that he must not like to be defined as a pioneer of luxury in Ibiza because he is a guy who avoids the spotlight and the “shows“, there is no doubt that this is how to define Alvar Lipszyc (Brussels, 1949). Actually, the pioneer of luxury in Ibiza was his father, Daniel Lipszyc, when he built against all market logic, “a strategic mistake” says his son, in no man’s land the Hotel Hacienda Na Xamena, one of the first four-star hotels on the island at the time, when beach resort hotels financed by avid tour operators were growing like mushrooms. And for 20 years, it was the only five-star hotel in Ibiza. A 77-room hotel, “neither big nor small”, on top of a hill in Es Amunts de Sant Joan, when neither rural hotels nor boutique hotels nor experiential tourism, nor anything else we take for granted today, had been invented. Architect, son of an architect, he learned to differentiate between the beautiful and the ugly by watching architecture magazines sitting on his father’s lap rather than writing, Alvar Lipszyc is a person who exudes passion, energy and vitality on all four sides. He does not consider himself a genius, although he is a great and authentic guy. The conversation is a trip to the Ibiza of the past when he recalls his summers in the orchard with the children of the neighboring farmers of the house his father built in Santa Eulària and to the future that, according to him, is all about the “positive tourism” that he vehemently longs for. In addition to designing hotels for investment funds in many parts of the world and being a hotelier almost by obligation, he also designs and manufactures furniture, bathtubs, mini-pools, etc., recovers a traditional farm with mechanical wheat mills and whatever else he sets his mind to. He is not lacking in tenacity, creativity and intuition. “We Belgians are smart because we are forced to survive. We are a small country with nothing, half Latin and half Germanic, a good mix”. He inherited Hacienda Na Xamena from his father and turned it into the first five-star hotel in Ibiza and then the second Relais & Châteaux in Spain. “We go to great lengths to understand our client, we have 25 connected computer programs and we know everything about them, which allows us to surprise them more year after year.” “We take advantage of the customer’s criticism to transform it into quality, a happy customer is your best salesperson,” he adds.
“Positive service, the big hit of the year.”
“We seek to breathe the customer.” So much so that “we have to give them what they haven’t asked for. We have so many repeat customers because they know we are going to give them everything they need and a little bit more. We’re very proud, they trust us and our positive service. This has been our big coup of the year.” This “positive service” is one of the many legs of “positive tourism”, the concept to which he has summoned the 140 people who make up the staff, an essential part of Hacienda Na Xamena’s gear. “You get if you give. They used to work six days, now five. I give them a little vacation in August. I give them accommodation with all the comforts. Every time they want more money and more things. I say yes, yes and yes… but then they give everything to our guests.” Another element of the tourism of the future is the trip to the past that he has incorporated into his value proposition and of which he is prouder and happier than a child with new shoes. Fifteen or so volunteer workers – cooks, waiters, waitresses, marketers – take turns being the masters of ceremonies for a trip to the Ibiza that Lipszyc knew when he arrived in Ibiza at the age of five, in 1954. After a mountain walk of just under an hour, they enter a country estate with an organic garden where they gather herbs, vegetables and fruit. There is a 300-year-old wheat mill that has been restored, an oil mill… “Contact with nature improves human relations”. This atypical hotelier sneaks into the expeditions as if he were another client. “I observe their reactions and their requests. This is the method. At the moment, they organize expeditions twice a week. “You can’t go by car, you have to make an effort. We tell them to breathe and then they can appreciate things they’ve never paid attention to before.” He admits that it may sound “pretentious”, but he is clear that “tourism evolution is going to go to products like ours and to positive tourism”.
-Define positive tourism.
–Atourism in harmony, in balance. A happy tourist coexisting with the Ibicencan people, living unique experiences, for example with these views, the rocks, the setting sun, the birds flying, tranquility, peace… ecstasy. Coexistence with nature. Doing something different, with personality, offering more than just a vacation to relax.
-What is luxury?
-Luxury iswhat you want and don’t have. It happened in the pandemic. It was a luxury to be with friends, with family, in nature, things we hadn’t given importance to until then.
-How do you imagine the tourism of the future?
–Thetourism of the future is people who know how to live with the place and understand it.
Ibiza: “It’s a lucky place”.
For Lipszyc, “balance” is essential. “Ibiza is a lucky paradise, with success and a lot of hidden potential”.“The worst thing that can happen to us is overcrowding”. “Man does not stop until he burns out and when he burns out, he changes. We have the obligation to pay tribute to the beauty of Ibiza, which is one of the three or four most beautiful places in the world, an incredible place.” To that end, he doesn’t understand why the structure of hotels that undergo complete renovations should be forced to be maintained. “They should transform two rooms into one, adapted to the new times, on a more human scale, more environmentally friendly, with less impact.”
The hotel: an architect’s dream
Positive tourism cannot be understood without the hotel and its surroundings. And the Lipszyc family plays with an advantage, although it is clear that “in Ibiza there are many stories to tell everywhere”. A “crazy” “architect’s hotel” that his father built in the worst place in the world, on top of a lost hill of Es Amunts de Sant Joan which could not be accessed by road because there was no road and where the family arrived pushing the two horses because the vehicle did not have enough power to overcome the slope. Materials transported on the back of mules, “too small or too big”, “too luxurious for the time”, “at the end of the world”, “far from the beach”, “a product out of the market”, in short “it is not a hotel, it is an architect’s dream, completely illogical”, “nothing practical”, “a management puzzle, “an expensive hotel that no project manager would have designed”. “A strategic investment mistake”. It is also an art to reach the markets at the right time. And Hacienda Na Xamena came too soon. The consequence was 20 years of disastrous economic results. And man does not live by bread alone. Turned into a blessed reality, “fantastic at the level of architecture” and value proposition. “He built all the rooms downstairs and the services upstairs. Why? Because the sound goes upstairs and this ensures that all guests enjoy the silence on an August 15 in Ibiza, in a room overlooking wonderful sunsets.” Upon taking over management of the hotel, Alvar Lipszyc doubled down on his double-or-nothing bet. I don’t do well with four-star luxury. Five-star luxury it is. And thanks to “a lot of hard work by my wife and me,” the formula began to pay off. And it continues to do so. “The season has been fantastic. We have had some gaps in high season because there is an excess of five-star supply in Ibiza and a price war.”
-Have you made any offers?
–No. Yo no puedo jugar con los precios. Tenemos muchos clientes repetidores y si bajo precios, pierdo al cliente para toda la vida. Por principios valoramos nuestro producto y cobramos lo que vale, así que prefiero tener menos ocupación para proteger nuestros precios. Hemos tenido más clientes que han gastado un poco menos. Pero hemos subido mucho la calidad del hotel, la imagen y su personalidad.
Is there an excess of five-star offer in Ibiza?
We havegone from one five-star hotel in 20 years to 25 hotels and the market is saturated. Every time a new one opens, there is noise in the market and it hurts a bit. Customers want to know about it, but then they come back and find a better hotel. A property of 100 hectares, peace and quiet, far from the hustle and bustle, which is a disadvantage that we turn into an advantage with an intelligent complementary activity. We respect the human scale, we avoid overcrowding, there are always sun loungers available and never more than 20 people together because we play with the spaces.
-Define your typical customer.
–Anaverage age of 34 years paying an average of 850 euros per night. They come for two or three days to treat themselves and to live an exceptional experience. Professionals, businessmen, people who telecommute, who travel several times a year. Very curious, very informed, they know everything and want to live it all. They want the most fantastic party, the most fantastic peace, the best massage, the most beautiful beach. We have clients who spend a few days in other hotels and then come to spend a few days here. Repeaters who come three or four times during the season. We are proud to have so many repeaters.
-Have you had any offers interested in the hotel?
-Every month, for 20 years.
-And have you ever been tempted?
-None. It is a story of my family that I have continued with my wife. We have made a lot of effort and I have passed it on to my children and they have passed it on to their children. This will allow us to make a long-term investment.
Vital
-He told me that he is at the end of his life several times during the interview and instead lives in tomorrow. I don’t see him at the end of life.
-I’m 20 years old in my head because I’m creative.
-Do you think about death?
-No.
-And in retirement?
-No. I will never retire. Like my father who worked until he was 92 and died at his architecture desk.
-Do you work every day?
-Yes. Saturdays and Sundays.
