El Somni Ibiza Dream Hotel by Grupotel — Hotel in Sant Joan de Labritja

I’m shocked at the high rating of this hotel. Truly. I believe the guests writing the reviews are NOT used of 5 star hotels and therefore this must be a first time for them. My partner and I only travel to 5 stars and very high-end brands from Luxury collection, Ritz-Carlton, Six Senses, Four Seasons, One & Only, etc. but since we were traveling with friends we had to go to a more affordable option.

While the view from the hotel is incredible since it’s directly to the beach, this hotel is NOT a true 5-star. No idea who they bribed for the 5 star qualification but it’s not up to international standards. The service and rooms are definitely more of a good 4 star.

Let’s see why:

In order to save money for the rooms, they pretend to be “Climate/Green conscious” and therefore you barely have any toiletries in the room. They give you the shampoo, body lotion, conditioner samples at the reception if you ask for them. I never received my welcome drink since the guy completely forgot to give it to me, despite requesting it upon checking in. No valet service. One night at 1 AM we had to spend 25 mins searching for parking space around the hotel because every single parking was full. Internet barely worked and some mornings I couldn’t even check my emails and work. If you ask for a bottle of water during breakfast, you need to pay extra. It’s IBIZA, an island known for parties/fiesta, yet breakfast closes at 11 AM as if you were in Paris! In my hometown Lisbon we have 5 star hotels serving breakfast at ANY HOUR OF THE DAY. So if you order an espresso at 11:20 mins in the breakfast area, you’ll need to pay for it because breakfast already closed. Room is so tiny that it should be a crime to call it 5 star. The pictures are very misleading, the room is very small, like PARIS-SMALL. Photos were taken with a wide lens to look bigger than what they really are. Don’t expect spacious rooms. No humidifer in the bathroom and therefore once you shower, the bathroom looks like a sauna. No water to rince your feet at the entrance of the hotel from the beach, so you can’t enter into the hotel with clean feet from the sandy beach and you therefore bring sand into your room too.

The location is great if you want a beautiful beach and direct access, but remember that you are located at 37-40 mins from Ibiza town which makes it quite far if you intend on going several times there during your stay.

While I love Ibiza, I won’t come back to this hotel, I’d rather either stay in downtown or at the Six Senses which after going there for a day, seemed a proper five star while this one has a lot...

Overpriced for what it offers – not quite four-star level

We stayed at El Somni Hotel for five nights and booked two rooms. In total, we spent over €7,000 including food, drinks, and extras. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to expectations for this price range or star rating. • Rooms: space, but poorly planned There’s exactly one luggage rack – too small to open even a medium suitcase. If you bring two standard suitcases, they’ll live permanently on the floor. The wardrobe is more symbolic than functional. For a short weekend, it’s okay. Anything longer? Good luck. • Missing basics: No tissue box in the room. Sounds minor, but it’s one of those little touches you expect at this level. Toilet paper for a runny nose isn’t exactly four-star standard. • Breakfast with a stopwatch: On our checkout day, my wife was one minute late trying to grab a quick coffee. She was turned away. For a hotel that just took in €7k from us, you’d expect a bit of flexibility. • Pool drama, unnecessarily: We were two people using four loungers — with two rooms booked, that shouldn’t have been a big deal. Still, a staff member approached us like we were hoarding beds, even though plenty were available. They even had to “confirm” it with a supervisor. Not exactly the kind of hospitality you hope for on holiday. • Activities? Not really. Aside from swimming, there’s not much to do. No paddleboards, no rental options, no sport — quite underwhelming for a hotel on Ibiza.

Bottom line: The hotel looks polished on the surface, but behind that it lacks warmth, flexibility, and attention to detail. Not terrible — but for the price, definitely not worth a repeat visit. Ibiza offers better choices.

Update: After receiving a thoughtful and detailed response from the management, I’ve decided to raise my rating from 2 to 3 stars. It’s clear that the team genuinely cares about guest feedback and takes criticism seriously – something I really appreciate.

They addressed each point with transparency and respect, and while some aspects of my stay still left room for improvement, I feel confident that they’re open to change and willing to make things better.

That kind of attitude deserves credit. I’d be open to giving the hotel another try in the future – and I hope my next stay reflects the standard they’re aiming...

The hotel is located on the San Vincente Beach. The beach is really nice and our hotel room had great views! It is a new hotel and all the amenities are brand new! We appreciated the USB and MicroUSB ports! Every hotel should have this in 2023! We booked El Somni for 5 nights. We had to rent a car, especially to go to this hotel. The road from the Ibiza city and the airport to the hotel is long, dangerous and tiring. Besides, there are like 3 speed cameras on the way so be careful not to speed! Driving in the night can be dangerous on mountain roads without any light poles! The hotel room doesn't come with any shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, shaving accessories etc.. You have to request the reception to bring it to you?! There is no coffee machine or water boiler in the room. You also have to ask the reception to bring it to you. The room are extremely small and there was no place for the towels, so they just put them on the bed. The closets are tiny and there are just a few hangers. We asked more hangers as well. All rooms have 2 single beds which are very small (I think 80cm wide). We received complimentary water the first day, the second day we ordered 2 bottles of 50cl which they wanted to charge 18 euro?😳 There is no water pressure in the shower which makes it difficult to wash off the soap! Although the floor was washed, it felt dirty. Maybe they need to mop it everyday? There is no parking at this hotel, there is free outdoor parking 5 minutes walking from the hotel. One day after cleaning our room, they forgot to put towels, which I discovered when finishing to shower 😒. The closet has light sensors which should turn on when you open the door. Unfortunately the sensor in our closet was broke, so the light stayed on all of the time, which made it difficult to sleep. We paid more than 2500 euro for this hotel, it isn't worth it, it is better to book a hotel close to the city of Ibiza. The hotel is owned by Grupotel which owns 46 hotel with only three 5 star hotels in the group. TUI owns 50% of Grupotel. We will not go back to this hotel and feel that the positive reviews of this...