With house music and monster DJs on the wane, and a police crackdown on clubs, Sam Lyster finds the new scene on Ibiza. Read her report here

Santa Eulalia, Ibiza’s third largest resort, has a thriving year-round community and is traditionally the island’s second gastronomic, shopping and cultural centre second only to Ibiza town. Highlights include a marina, fabulous restaurants - and recent developments suggest it’s becoming hipper. It recently hit the headlines with the opening of a five-star hotel and another one, Auditorio, is being developed. Big news on such a little island.

The Insotel Fenicia Prestige Thalasso Spa sits by the side of the Balearic’s only river commanding views across the sea and the bay of Santa Eulalia. Big and bold from the outside, the six or seven floored hotel isn’t the coolest on the island, but inside it’s modern and spacious with flat TVs, cool colours, deluxe bathrooms and balconies.

Less aimed at partygoers than discerning couples and families, facilities include several swanky pools but it’s the spa that is the big talk of town. However, you’ll pay a premium. While most hotels in Ibiza (on a bed-and-breakfast basis) are charged by room, this one charges per person (£137 in high season). OK, if you’re single I suppose.

Summer 2007: Ibiza

Is the sun setting on the island's party reputation? No - Sam Lewis checks out the new hotels and bars and Sam Lyster the club scene

Ibiza’s clubs reopen amid drugs crackdown

The island's permissive attitude ended when Madrid’s representative ordered the closure of Amnesia and two smaller clubs

My preference is to stay in one of the serene and slick villas on the hillside overlooking Santa Eulalia. I’ll never forget Finca Grande, a four-bed fancy villa with turrets, a kidney-shaped pool, manicured lawns and ornamented streams that spouted fountains when you walked around the garden. Alternatively, if there’s only two of you, agrotourism has gone from strength to strength with dilapidated old farmhouse fincas being neatly converted into charming character hillside hideaways for tourists. Nearby, the cool Les Terrasses was one of the first and offers around 10 rooms, an outdoor pool and restaurant.

Like Ibiza town, Santa Eulalia has an exclusive Yacht Marina, and in recent years it’s undergone a huge revival with trendy bars opening up alongside the more traditional eateries. Lounge clubs, bars and restaurants are synonymous with Ibiza and Santa Eulalia is beginning to get its fair share of them. The cool Guarana Club is now firmly established as a favourite for people who want to party but don’t want to pay a premium and visit one of the big clubs in Ibiza Town, San Antonio or the centre of the island.

We liked Es Rickshaw for its cool cocktail lounge with lounge music and visiting DJs, or to try its combination of Mediterranean and oriental cuisine. Or for something more Spanish, Entre Dos Aguas with its courtyard. Sit under pine trees and feast on Spanish cuisine including Iberian meats and cheeses, seafood paella, suckling pig or monkfish a la basque.

But when it comes to affordable local food you still can’t go wrong if you head to Calle San Vicente, often referred to as the Street of Restaurants. Wander down this road when it’s closed to traffic in the early evening when the restaurants have reclaimed the road with chairs and tables for guest to dine alfresco. For fresh fish, my father and stepmum (long time residents of the island) swear by Juanitos. Ran by Juanito and his wife it offers friendly service and is inexpensive at less than £25 per couple with house wine.

Nearby tree-lined Calle San Jaime was our preferred place to go late morning for an expresso and to people watch. My guide books says that the Royalty is preferred by local aristocracy, whereas the café opposite Bar Cosmi has a slightly younger crowd. I couldn’t notice the difference. For an evening drink as sun goes down, head for Sinatra’s on the promenade.

When the sun’s shining, slip on your flip flops and head for the beach. Forget Santa Eulalia’s sandy shores and head instead to some of the nearby stunning beaches and coves from Aqua Blanca in the north all the way down to Ibiza Town. New roads and underpasses means it’s now pretty easy to get anywhere on the island relatively quickly, even to the hippest beaches by the airport at Playa de Ses Salines where bronzed, half-naked bodies dance on the hot sand to the sounds of hip tunes from trendy the beach bars Jockey Club and Sa Trinxa.

Alternatively, throw caution to the wind and charter a boat for the day and head out from the marina to the nearby island of Formentera with its Caribbean-clear waters and soft white sands.

If you’re a partygoer on a short break, you might want to be closer to the action. The popular resorts of Antonio and Playa d’en Bossa can be a little overwhelming, and, quite simply, tacky. For something more upmarket stay in the Dalt Vila of Ibiza Town, around the marina or just on the outskirts in an agrotourism hotel or villa.