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‘You can check in…but you can never check out,’ reads the ominous words scrawled on the wall, as I step out of the taxi at Pikes Ibiza.
I’m following in the footsteps of some very famous faces who’ve walked through the doors of his boutique hotel, hidden up in the foothills of San Antonio – and it’s easy to see why this phrase is so accurate.
Since it was opened in 1978 by British-born Aussie party animal Tony Pikes, Pikes has hosted everyone from Kate Moss to Grace Jones.
It was also where Wham! filmed the music video for their 1983 hit Club Tropicana, and the location for Freddie Mercury’s 41st birthday party in September 1987 – which Tony Curtis, Naomi Campbell, Spandau Ballet, and Bon Jovi all attended.
According to People magazine, guests at the lavish event got through 350 bottles of champagne, and were treated to a firework display that could be seen from Majorca, as well as a dessert in the shape of the Sagrada Familia, which then collapsed, unveiling a two-metre-long sponge cake, emblazoned with the notes of Freddie’s song Barcelona.
Freddie was a regular at Pikes before he died, and, in his book, Tony said he and the Queen frontman would ‘often lie in bed for hours, talking, doing lines’ of cocaine.
It was even once claimed Tony would serve cocaine on cornflakes for guests at Pikes – although Tony later said this would have been a ‘waste’.
Having died in 2019 at the age of 85, Tony is no longer at the helm when I visit Pikes for my partner’s 30th birthday across the hotel’s opening weekend.
MailOnline’s deputy travel editor Hayley Minn checks into Pikes Ibiza, and quickly sees how true the phrase, ‘You can check in…but you can never check out,’ is, when it comes to this hotel.
Since it was opened in 1978 by British-born Aussie party animal Tony Pikes, Pikes has hosted a range of famous faces. LEFT: Tony with Freddie Mercury. RIGHT: George Michael, who filmed his music video for Club Tropicana at Pikes
The hotel-cum-club occupies a 15th-century finca, made up of just 26 quirky rooms – many of which are reserved by regulars with their favourite suites – surrounding a pool, with very comfortable (and much-needed) day beds
And while I, luckily, wasn’t served cocaine for breakfast (the one day I made it down!), the family feel of Pikes, that Tony created, is still alive.
With the hotel having been closed for the winter, we’re the second couple of the year to check in – and we’re immediately welcomed with open arms.
The couple in front of us – who just pipped us to the post, having been on the same early flight as us – are just as friendly, and inform us they come for the opening weekend every year.
Of course, they know all the staff by name, and vice versa – and they’re by no means the only regulars we meet across the weekend.
It’s no wonder people keep coming back to Pikes.
I’d been to the hotel’s club, Freddie’s – one of Ibiza’s most underrated venues – before, but staying at Pikes was a completely different experience.
The hotel-cum-club occupies a 15th-century finca, made up of just 26 quirky rooms – many of which are reserved by regulars with their favourite suites – surrounding a pool, with very comfortable (and much-needed) day beds.
We’re taken to Room 18 – and are greeted by a chilled bottle of champagne with a message from the staff wishing my partner a happy 30th birthday, as well as a huge, king-size bed and copper bathtub in the middle of the room.
We’re taken to Room 18 – and are greeted by a chilled bottle of champagne with a message from the staff wishing my partner a happy 30th birthday, as well as a huge, king-size bed and copper bathtub in the middle of the room
We head straight to the pool where the DJ is already spinning the decks at 11am, and have a couple of refreshing strawberry daquiris (right) – which are 15% cheaper than usual, due to us being residents – followed by an absolutely delicious meal at The Pike Restaurant, with top-notch service (left)
As the Freddie’s guests slowly start rolling in across the evening, it truly feels like there’s a house party being thrown at your home
We head straight to the pool where the DJ is already spinning the decks at 11am, and have a couple of refreshing strawberry daquiris – which are 15% cheaper than usual, due to us being residents – followed by an absolutely delicious meal at The Pikes Restaurant, with top-notch service.
On booking Pikes, I’d been warned multiple times that it was directly above the club, Freddie’s, and to expect a lot of noise until it closes at 4am.
But you wouldn’t be staying at Pikes if you didn’t want to party, and we were right in the thick of it, with a shared terrace on one side, looking over the courtyard where a DJ played, and a private balcony on the other, above the restaurant – where live music is played.
And as the Freddie’s guests slowly start rolling in across the evening, it truly feels like there’s a house party being thrown at your home.
There’s even cats wandering around everywhere, and a bathroom, where a DJ plays next to partygoers dancing in a bathtub that’s been transformed into a ball pit.
The only difference with this party is – thanks to an over-27s policy – everyone has learnt how to handle their drink.
There is a curfew of 4am for the non-residents though, but as our houseguests are ushered out by the bouncers, the party doesn’t stop for us Pikes residents.
Having been informed by an American couple we met earlier in the day (who’d visited Pikes for the first time last year and been twice since) that they have an open-door policy, we venture over to their pad.
Rooms at Pikes Ibiza start at €209/£176 a night. The writer travelled at her own expense, but Pikes provided a meal at The Pikes Restaurant.
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There’s even cats wandering around everywhere, and a bathroom, where a DJ plays next to partygoers dancing in a bathtub that’s been transformed into a ball pit
The only difference with this party is – thanks to an over-27s policy – everyone has learnt how to handle their drink
Checking out of the hotel really is the hardest part of checking in to Pikes. We’re already desperate to go back. Maybe see you at the closing party in October…
Who are we to turn down an invite?
True to their word, the tunes are being blasted out, and the party continues even later than 5am, when we make a swift exit to bed.
We somehow manage to do it all again the next day – and discover that checking out of the hotel really is the hardest part of checking in to Pikes.
We’re already desperate to go back. Maybe see you at the closing party in October?
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