Six Senses Ibiza

Cala Xarraca is a small bay on the north coast of Ibiza, in the municipality of Sant Joan de Labritja, an hour's drive and a world away from the clubs of Platja d'en Bossa. The Six Senses that opened there in July 2021 was the brand's first hotel in Spain and its first attempt at a hotel with a music programme of its own. It was designed by Jonathan Leitersdorf, the developer and architect who assembled the land over several years, and it sits on roughly 20 hectares of hillside running down to the water.

Architecture and design

The buildings are low and white, stepped down the slope in the manner of an Ibizan village, with stone walls, timber pergolas and flat roofs that serve as terraces for the rooms above. The plan avoids a single large block: rooms, suites and the residences that share the site are scattered across the hillside, linked by paths, with the public rooms grouped around a square near the shore. Materials are local, including sabina wood and dry-stone walling, and most rooms face the bay.

Rooms and suites

There are around 116 rooms, suites and residences, several of the suites arranged as cave rooms built into the rock with private pools. Interiors are pale, with terracotta floors, linen and the Six Senses sleep programme of mattress, pillow menu and blackout. The residences, with three or more bedrooms and private pools, are available to rent and were sold as part of the development. A separate cluster of rooms stands on the western headland with its own pool.

Dining

The Farmers Market is the square at the heart of the resort, where the main restaurant serves breakfast and dinner from produce grown on the estate and bought from farms in the north of the island. The Orchard is the garden restaurant beside it. A rooftop bar above the square takes the sunset over the bay. The resort grows its own vegetables and keeps bees and hens, in line with the brand's rule that a kitchen should know where its food comes from.

Wellness

The spa is the largest investment in the resort. Beyond the usual treatment rooms, hammam and pools, it houses RoseBar, a longevity clinic that runs diagnostic tests and programmes with a resident medical team. There is a fitness centre, a yoga deck above the water and a beach club on the bay with sunbeds on the rocks. The water of Cala Xarraca is sheltered and clear, with paddleboards and kayaks for guests.

Weddings and events

The Beach Caves, a set of natural caves at the water's edge, were converted into a music venue and event space and are the resort's most distinctive room: concerts, DJ sets and private parties take place there with the sea at the door. Weddings use the Farmers Market square, the beach and the caves. Meeting rooms are available for corporate groups, and the resort offers buyouts outside the summer peak.

Location

Sant Joan de Labritja is the smallest and quietest of Ibiza's five municipalities, a landscape of pine hills, almond terraces and small coves. Portinatx and its beaches are a few minutes along the coast, and the villages of Sant Joan and Sant Miquel are inland. Ibiza airport is about 45 minutes away by road, at the southern end of the island, and Ibiza Town roughly 35 minutes. The resort runs cars and boats for transfers, and the sea route along the north coast avoids the summer traffic. As a luxury hotel in Ibiza it is placed deliberately as far as possible from the island's reputation.