2. Breakfast at Pikes

Not many hoteliers can say they built their hotel with their own hands, especially one as beautiful as Pikes. Sitting next to the pool made famous in Wham’s Club Tropicana video, Anthony Pike explains how he built the poolside bar, despite never having laid a stone before in his life.

It is this personal touch that makes Pikes such a special place, and the hotel of choice for countless celebrities, including Freddy Mercury, Grace Jones, Julio Iglesias, Kylie Minogue and Naomi Campbell.

The hotel, hidden in the hills outside San Antonio, has just had a huge facelift. Each room has been refurbished, a poolside entertainment programme planned for the summer and a new restaurant created, which will be open to non- residents. One important feature, revived from the early days, is the Pikes Breakfast Club. This is guaranteed to be the place to be seen sipping coffee and tucking into scrambled eggs.

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Everything from the classic full English breakfast (€14), cream cheese and smoked salmon bagels (€10.50) to homemade granola with sun-dried fruits (€8.50) is available, including the obligatory glass of champagne and the new frozen Bloody Mary. This has to be the most fabulous hangover cure on the whole island. For more details and bookings visit www.pikeshotel.com

“My secret Ibiza has got to be Es Xarco, a little restaurant on Ibiza’s southern coast. You have to drive through hills to get to it and they serve superb, locally-caught fish and sea food”: Jason Bull, owner of Es Vive hotel

3. Visit a yoga retreat

The hippy travellers who stopped off in Ibiza on their way to Morocco in the 1950’s and 1960’s are usually credited (or blamed depending on who you talk to) for starting the club culture that has dominated the islands image abroad for the past 20 years. The legend has it that they got together and performed music and chanting (and maybe smoked something herbal) in a barn near San Rafael that is now the site for the superclub Amnesia and therefore the resultant explosion of people looking for a more modern take on smoking something herbal and chanting is subsequently down to them.

This rather simplistic notion of the current state of tourism in Ibiza isn’t particularly accurate or fair, but there’s no denying that the hippy travellers from that time have left an indeligable mark on the culture of Ibiza and there is definitely a liberal attitude that you don’t find in many other places. Another positive by-product of well-travelled hippies arriving in Ibiza from the Indian sub-continent is that the island is now one of the best places in Europe in which to practise yoga. The choice of classes and styles is extensive and there are many retreats that that cater for all levels.

One of the best and most scenic retreats is Ibiza Yoga. Situated in the hills behind the beautiful Benirras beach it caters for all budgets. The choice of accommodation ranges from pagodas and teepees set in pine woodland to a luxury villa with breathtaking views out to sea. The instructors are all highly trained professionals in their respective fields – British Ashtanga expert Jax Lysycia is a regular instructor this summer. After a three-hour yoga session in the morning guests have the rest of the day free to soak up the sun or explore the island.

Retreat manager Benoit Fox says: “We’re lucky to have such a great location. The views from the yoga decks are amazing and all our staff work really hard to make our guests feel at home visits. In fact we had a Dutch girl who came to the retreat in the early summer one year who didn’t leave until November. That’s the kind of place this is. “ For more information and booking go to www.ibizayoga.com

“My favourite thing to do is to go to Formentera to Juan y Andreas. It’s a beach restaurant that serves the most amazing fresh fish. I always go over there on a friend’s boat, so the whole experience is fantastic. It’s one of my favourite things to do in the whole world, not just Ibiza”: Danny Whittle, Brand Manager Pacha

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