Six Senses Ibiza

There is no sand at Six Senses Ibiza. The shore of Xarraca Bay, at the island's northern tip, is rock, and stone staircases go down it straight into the sea, which spares everyone the sand in the bag afterwards. Jonathan Leitersdorf's resort opened in 2021 and steps down the hillside to the water, under timber pergolas roofed in brushwood, to an infinity pool on pale stone whose far edge seems to run into the bay. The 137 rooms and residences face the pines or the sea. Ask for the sea: a bedroom can come with a metal bath beside a potted palm, and glass doors onto a balcony over the water. Top of the list is the South Mansion, ten bedrooms and room for twenty: a family reunion with a sea view.

Recommended for couples who want the spa and families who want the kids' club, and here neither has to give way: the spa, with its indoor pool, is for adults only, and the club takes five- to twelve-year-olds. Six Senses builds programmes of several days around the spa, sleep and detox among them, for anyone who has come to Ibiza to go to bed early on purpose. Below, the bay has kayaks, and cliffs to jump from for the brave. The breakfast, which guests praise, comes with the room; dinner belongs to Partal, Andalusian and Moorish cooking under century-old olive trees, with produce from Can Tanca, the hotel's 400-year-old farm near Santa Gertrudis. Sunday is the day to get in the car: Sant Joan's hippy market is ten minutes away, and Cala Benirràs, twenty, has its drum circle at sunset, as near as the north comes to a night out. A dog is welcome, up to ten kilos and on a lead, and like the children it stays out of the spa.