Pikes Hotel has always been cool with a very pronounced ‘oo' and has traditionally been something of a magnet for raucous island parties. From Freddie Mercury to George Michael and Kylie Minogue, Pikes has a very impressive little black book of bona fide celebrity fans, and there's a reason for that, ladies and gents.
Quite aside from owner Tony Pike's turbo-charged party prowess, this boutique hotel, nestled into the hills around San Antonio is just far enough off the beaten track to feel like you're in a different World. A World of sequins, sparkle, glamour and just a sprinkle of rock n roll decadence. Its current incarnation as the home of Ibiza Rocks House has only added to the party kudos.
Your intrepid Spotlight reviewers rocked up last Friday, just before midnight at Seamless Recordings' 'Make It...' night, where Pacha resident DJ Graham Sahara was hosting a night along with We Love's Mr Doris, the fabulous Mr Andy Baxter and France Virgin Radio's extra-sparkling DJ Paulette - a seriously good quality line-up. To add to all this, it was Pikes public relations guru, Sunny Ramzan's birthday and a couple of days away from the birthdays of both Mr Doris and Andy Baxter.
We arrived just in time to catch an extravagant fireshow performance on the roof, with Sunny and the fire performer looking very pleased with themselves indeed, holding aloft a huge flaming love heart to the audience's thunderous applause. Mr Doris was on the decks and the place was already packed.
It took about half an hour to get to the bar, with so many familiar faces on the way that it was difficult to move further than 3 feet without another excited chat with someone you'd not seen since last spring…
The theme was gold and anyone wearing it was lavished with shots of the house punch. I can't tell you what was in it ladies and gents, but it sure tasted good!
By 1am we had bravely plunged ourselves into the heaving dancefloor and were unable to drag ourselves away from it until 4.30am, such was the tuneage in the zone. We caught the end of Doris' impossibly bouncy but cheekily twisted breaks, most of Baxter's expert mixing and irresistible Balearic grooveage and part of DJ Paulette's feel good, super-smiley funkiness. The bumping and grinding of the dancefloor was almost obscene, dear reader. It was almost rude to photograph it. Indeed, in many instances, in the interests of decency, lawsuits, divorces and such, we dared not.
Having an early start the next morning, we made a move, most reluctantly, to leave. Then they slammed in Kool and the Gang's retro party classic Celebration and we fell into another disco-dancing worm-hole before finally dragging ourselves away at 4.30am. We paused on our way out, catching a gold-bedecked glamour-puss swaggering in the bath with a microphone, crooning out the random karaoke blues. A clearly emotional Sunny looked on, his elaborately embroidered kaftan shimmering as he hugged a helplessly giggling female friend, beneath the watchful gaze of a stag's head, its antlers draped in faux-gold beads.
Parties at Pikes are in a different league ladies and gentlemen. Just to give you a hint at the fun and frolicks lined up for the next couple of Fridays, next week, Friday 12th will be hosted by We Love… El Salon residents Locura Lounge. On the decks will be David Phillips, Daisy Heartbreaker and Andy Livesey. Expect high quality tuneage, a super friendly crowd and some live rock-god guitar action from Da Rockabuddha mixed in with the Locura residents' well-honed, eclectic grooves and classics.
Friday 19th sees Our House Christmas party, with kids welcome and Santa himself live in the zone from 8-10pm. There'll be Christmas karaoke with Sunny Ramzan, a festive movie plus minced pies and mulled wine in the potting shed. DJ Bones and Andy Dean will preside over the decks and santa hats are obligatory. After 1am, the kiddie-winkles go to bed and the whole thing gets a bit more raucous.
Between 10pm and midnight is happy hour, with half price drinks at the bar and there'll be a very nice buffet by Cook Ibiza for as little as €5 a portion each Friday. So if you're in Ibiza this winter, we highly recommend you pop along to Pikes. It's a little bit naughty. But very, very nice.
WORDS | Jane Charilaou PHOTOS | Jane Charilaou
