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Last month the government-owned Paradores hotel chain opened this, its 99th property \u2014 the first in the Balearics. It was a controversial choice for an island bemoaning mass tourism \u2014 but as Maria de la Fuente, the head of the hotel\u2019s guest experience, tells me: \u201cWe need to bear in mind that this is not a normal hotel. History prevails here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tWhat you need to know\t\t\t<\/p>\n
- \n
- Where is it?<\/strong> Paradores\u2019 99th property is in Ibiza Town<\/li>\n
- Who will love it?<\/strong> Historians, Ibiza-lovers<\/li>\n
- How much is it?<\/strong> Double rooms with breakfast are from \u00a3166 a night<\/li>\n
- Insider tip <\/strong>Take a tour of the hotel as soon as you check in, there are many hidden corners and lookout points<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If you aren\u2019t familiar with the brand, this is Paradores\u2019 USP. It renovates buildings with historic significance. Santiago de Compostela\u2019s Parador, for example, is supposedly the oldest hotel in Spain<\/a>, with a room opened by John XXIII before he became pope. The one in Granada sits within the Nasrid Palace on the complex of the spectacular Alhambra.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Panoramic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/397b550e-9463-4779-9e59-de2a4c3976c7.jpg\")
The hotel sits atop ruins dating to 2,600BCShutterstock<\/p>\nAnd don\u2019t be put off by the fact that Paradores are \u201cgovernment-owned\u201d \u2014 there\u2019s nothing municipal or budget about this 66-room hotel. It took two decades to build and ended up costing \u00a340 million owing to the complexity of the renovation and requirement to preserve the monument.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of Ibiza\u2019s glow-up from a destination for Kevin and Perry partygoers to mature clubbers who want to spend big in the luxury hotels. Arriving by car (it\u2019s a 15-minute drive from the airport), guests follow winding roads up to a dramatic wide brick tunnel burrowed into the side of the hill. It\u2019s quite the entrance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Architecture by the Spanish designers Ignacio Lliso and Juli\u00e1n Manzano-Mon\u00eds in collaboration with Ram\u00f3n Andrada looks seamless and slick but it wasn\u2019t without its challenges.\u00a0For example, work on a subterranean lift shaft had to be abandoned after Phoenician ruins from the 6th and 7th centuries BC \u2014 the most ancient on the island \u2014 were discovered. \u201cEvery time we wanted to do something, something else came up,\u201d de la Fuente says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sleek modernist architecture gives Nobu and Six Senses, which also have branches here in Ibiza Town and in Portinatx in the north, a run for their money. The bedrooms come in three categories \u2014 standard, superior and junior suite \u2014 all in a palette of creams and cappuccinos with Mir\u00f3-esque knitted textile artwork by Koral Antolin and marble bathrooms.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/595989ea-296f-4edc-bf23-938e5cbcf5ed.jpg\")
The Parador has a sleek, modernist designJorquera<\/p>\nSome rooms are wheelchair accessible, but, the manager Pau Arbona explains, \u201cthis is a fortress \u2014 it was designed to be as inaccessible as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the light-filled lobby there\u2019s bleached-white stonework and marshmallow sofas with sisal rugs. Huge glass doors swing open to white turrets with jewels of blue sea peeking through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The modern Mediterranean design theme is hardly cutting edge, but more importantly it allows the original architecture to really sing. Such as the Renaissance arch framing the reception desk, or the Arab tower, which really does look like a museum exhibit, behind floor-to-ceiling glass in the spa \u2014 truly a hot tub with a view.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Indoor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a4bcfc90-5f96-4cf0-b5ff-a2e4a4f3aa7f.jpg\")
The spa complex in the hotelRocio Romero Rivas <\/p>\nArt, much of it by Spanish artists, adds zing to the interiors. Take the striking contemporary sculpture by Samuel Salcedo of a lifelike cement head in the cobbled courtyard, which has a touch of the modern-day Roman emperor, or David Magan\u2019s shimmering coloured acrylic globe, which acts as a space-age stained-glass window in the Polvori lounge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ibiza Town\u2019s bars are just below the Parador<\/p>\n
Cross the courtyard and you\u2019re right above the old town, where a few streets below, the alfresco Aperols start flowing at sunset while Caf\u00e9 del Mar Balearic beats set the tone. A bar inside the hotel is opening soon, but for now head to S\u2019Escalinata, where people sit on beanbags cascading down the steps (@ibizasescalinata; Carrer Portal Nou). The bars stay open until the early hours, but tucked up in bed behind the thick castle walls you\u2019d never know.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if you don\u2019t join them you can be up to visit the Santa Maria Cathedral early in the morning, before the cruise ships dock at the port and thousands descend on the old town. Free group tours of these streets run every Monday and Saturday with Civitatis (book in advance; civitatis.com).\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b2b07978-4b5d-4c1f-8b34-f5099effbb43.jpg\")
There is plenty to do in the old town below the hotelGetty images<\/p>\nThere\u2019s plenty to do in Ibiza Town. You might spend the day perusing its vintage and boho boutiques (don\u2019t miss celeb fave Annie\u2019s), seeing the necropolis \u2014 the Puig des Molins \u2014 and the museum of contemporary art. If you have a car, head out to the island\u2019s beaches and coves, or take the ferry to the white-sand beaches of Formentera for the day (\u00a370 return).<\/p>\n
Whatever you do, don\u2019t miss the breakfast buffet, though. It\u2019s groaning with sweet pastries and crespells \u2014 Mallorcan sugar-dusted biscuits \u2014 made by the nuns in the adjacent San Crist\u00f3bal convent, founded in 1599. (Can Vadell bakery, in the lower part of the town, is a top spot for more pastry action.) As well as an omelette station and \u00e0 la carte offering, there are smoked Ibizan meats and cheeses, Ibizan chai made with cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves and root tea infused with pistachio and rose petals from the island.<\/p>\n
The restaurant serves Mediterranean fare<\/p>\n
At the hotel\u2019s Almudaina restaurant, which serves a Mediterranean menu including lobster bisque (\u00a331), Mallorcan chicken stewed in almond and saffron (\u00a329), and Galician tomahawk steak for two (\u00a382), the service is bright, but there are still teething problems. My main course \u2014 a glorious wodge of dentex fish loin \u2014 is brought at the same time as my partner\u2019s starter. The snags continue elsewhere. The fire alarm goes off three times during our stay \u2014 including at 5am.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unlike other Ibiza hotels, which operate with a bouncer at the door and a strict dress code, the Parador is a fortress by design, but keen to lower the drawbridge and invite islanders for a poke around too. Before the hotel opened for guests, there were two weeks of viewings for locals, who have patiently endured the building work here. The weekend before opening, there was an open house and 4,500 Ibiza residents queued to look inside. Plus island residents get a 20 per cent discount on stays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Dining](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/504514c6-f7ed-448e-8af1-5cd08c7e1747.jpg\")
The restaurant serves excellent Mediterranean food<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s been closed for 70 years \u2014 nobody from the island had seen these views before,\u201d Arbona says in the cobblestone courtyard of the Patio d\u2019Armas in the Dalt Vila. \u201cThis is the beginning of everything,\u201d he says. \u201cThe whole island started from here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the architecture where this hotel packs in the drama. One morning I\u2019m sipping tea on our bedroom\u2019s outdoor terrace, with views that stretch from the port to Formentera, when a woman with a bird of prey appears on the castle ramparts to scare away the seagulls. It\u2019s like a scene from Game of Thrones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, early morning is the most magical time here. With the island silent and the gulls hanging in the breeze, it feels untethered from the present day. The pristine white old town and vast expanse of ocean is below, and the whole castle is yours \u2014 at least until the tours get going again.\u00a0
Katie Gatens was a guest of Parador de Ibiza, which has B&B doubles from \u00a3166 (paradores.es<\/a>), and the Spanish Tourist Office (spain.info<\/a>). Three days\u2019 car hire from \u00a3200 with Sixt<\/strong> (sixt.co.uk<\/a>). Fly to Ibiza<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first time I bump into a small group tour outside my bedroom door on my way to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-948851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116546089165209017","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} - Who will love it?<\/strong> Historians, Ibiza-lovers<\/li>\n