Destino Five Ibiza — Hotel in Santa Eulària des Riu

Disappointing Decline in Standards at Destino Five Ibiza My family and I have been visiting Ibiza and staying at Destino Five Ibiza (formerly Destino Pacha Ibiza) almost every summer since its opening in 2013—with the exception of just two seasons. We’ve always considered it a special place and have, over the years, developed a deep appreciation for what the hotel once represented in terms of service, ambiance, and overall experience. While I’ve had reasons to raise concerns in past visits, I chose to address them directly with management rather than leave a public review. Unfortunately, the continued decline in service standards—paired with a lack of response from management—has now compelled me to share my experience more widely, especially for those considering a stay at Destino Five.

During our most recent stay from 10–21 August 2025, we booked seven rooms for our family and friends. Given the premium pricing and significant service charges, what we experienced fell well below expectations.

General Service Issues: Ice Charges: Guests are charged €10 every time ice is delivered to the room. There are no ice machines or alternative options available. Complimentary Water: Complimentary drinking water is advertised but not always provided. In one of our rooms there was no water and when requested, water was delivered with a charge. A staff member insisted the water they had delivered would need to be taken back and re-delivered for the charge to be removed—an unnecessary administrative absurdity. Housekeeping Negligence: Bedsheets in several rooms were not changed for at least three days, with visible blood stains left unaddressed. Noise Issues: Guests in the suite next to ours (Room 201) played loud music via external speakers. Despite complaints, there was minimal follow-up from staff and the noise persisted for days. Breakfast Service: Apart from a few standout staff (Fatima, Carlos, Camila, and Paula), the team seemed disengaged and apathetic. Staff actively avoided eye contact to escape interaction. On three occasions, our breakfast orders (e.g., eggs) were never fulfilled despite repeated follow-ups over 45 minutes. Bar Service: Despite being the only guests at the bar during early evening hours, service was exceptionally slow. When we requested nuts with our drinks, we were bizarrely told that the hotel's five-star policy prohibited serving them—even when we offered to pay. Poor Room Amenities: The quality of shampoo was extremely poor ( highly mixed with water and a bit of shampoo ). Room Service Delays: A simple order of baby food took 1 hour and 40 minutes to arrive. Day Guest Prioritisation: It’s clear that outside day guests are prioritised over hotel guests, likely due to the added revenue they generate. This comes at the cost of the experience for paying hotel residents who are charged premium rates.

Health & Safety Concerns: Dangerous Pool Design: The poolside edges are finished with slippery, glossy marble, and we personally witnessed five separate falls—a serious safety hazard. Hazardous Pathways: Walkways to rooms are made of polished surfaces that become extremely slippery when humid or wet. Private Pool Accident: The suite pool (Room 202) was finished with highly polished porcelain, causing me to slip during our stay.

Positive Mentions: Despite the issues, there were a few standout staff members who did their best to mitigate the situation and provide a positive experience: Pool Area: Pablo, Iván, Pilar, and Camila—all of whom were professional, kind, and attentive. Reception: Roberta was exceptionally helpful and accommodating throughout our stay.

Final Thoughts: Destino Five Ibiza was once a favourite destination for our family. Sadly, it no longer reflects the high standards it once upheld. For a hotel with such premium pricing, the service, safety, and overall guest experience have become increasingly substandard. Unless significant improvements are made, it is difficult to justify a return or recommend this...

Destino Five has recently been through a refurbishment. We stayed in early June, just a week after the opening.

First things first - I think it's a nice building. The rooms were nice, the shower was lovely, there are some good features (there is a large fire pit, which wasn't operational when we were there but looks like something that could be attractive). Reception is airy and spacious. The pool is good, we had a good lunch at one of the restaurants, I found the poolside service good and the staff likeable.

The crowd was generally quite dressy/showy. Lots of people taking endless photos of themselves. This is fine, it isn't really my thing, so if you are planning on staying here then be aware that this is the vibe (or at least it was when I was there).

When we arrived (we were early) our rooms weren't ready, we were invited to get changed and leave our bags with them, which was fine. We were a party of three people. After lunch we went back to reception at around 3 p.m., which was our scheduled check-in time. My room was ready, the other two supposedly not. We take all the cases to my room – we were told we were staying in adjacent rooms.

We sit by the pool until around 7 p.m. and head back to check the other two people in. One person was told that “they weren’t sure if their room was available yet and if it is, it still needs to be cleaned” (a full four hours after our scheduled check in time). By around 8 p.m. we eventually were given this room.

The second person was moved to an inferior room. They had clearly given his room to someone else. The room he was put in was smaller than what he had paid for. It also had electrical problems – the fuse would trip regularly.

We spoke to them about the second room several times. The hotel manager was pleasant but unhelpful (this would be how I would describe most of the staff). We eventually got this person moved one night before we went home. I am not sure exactly how much, if any, financial compensation he was given for such an unsatisfactory stay.

There was no iron or ironing board in my room. I phoned reception and asked for one and was told “they are all out at the moment, I don’t know where they are, sorry”. I didn’t see an iron or ironing board all weekend.

Given the number of people complaining in reception, we were not the only people that were having such a poor experience.

To summarise:

1. The hotel itself is nice.
2. They are having a lot of problems – these go beyond teething problems. They are unable to operate this hotel to a satisfactory standard, particularly given that it is not cheap. Having spoken to a few people (concierge company/taxi drivers), the general view was that this is unlikely to be resolved quickly and may take all summer to fix. That the hotel is a disaster area seemed to be openly discussed by the taxi drivers.
3. The staff are nice but are generally unable to resolve issues (see ironing board comment above). There are exceptions – Pedro, who drove us to a couple of places, was enthusiastic and helpful and is a credit to the organisation.
4. On a short break we spent far too much time talking to staff to try (and mostly fail) to get them to resolve issues. That isn’t how anyone wants to spend their holiday.
5. The product is sold at a premium price. You aren’t at present getting a premium service. That they are under financial pressure to do a full summer season should not be a concern to your guests
6. I would strongly recommend going somewhere else until these issues are resolved if you have a viable alternative place to stay.

To Destino management – I’m sure you’ll write some nice words here about how you value my feedback and you are trying to resolve issues. That is not good enough. The hotel is fully booked a week after opening. Everyone at Destino knows that you cannot operate the hotel to a reasonable standard at present. Therefore your guests need to be compensated generously, or sent to...

DESTINO NIGHTMARE

We were looking forward to the „Ultra-chic adults-only resort with Japanese restaurant, pool bar, yoga, and spa“ that was the description on the internet.. Unfortunately our stay in the Destino hotel ibiza was a completely Desaster and it really had nothing to do with ultra chic or something like this!!!! We are really love to travel and we are traveling around the world every week but I've never seen anything like that anywhere. The problem already started when we wanted to check in - we called the reception before because we know the „Spanish 10 minutes“ and we asked if the rooms already ready because we need to change quickly and then we have a reservation for lunch - the reception told us that’s not a problem at all everything is ready we should come in check in. When we arrived there were 6 people behind the reception but no one knew anything - they told us rooms are not ready we have to wait - we waited for 2h and nothing happened - we missed our lunch and our backstage entrance in ushuaïa - I told the hotel what happened because they are so unprofessional but they only told us that’s not theire problem. The private pool suite for around 2000€ per night was so small we couldn’t barely turn around or open our luggage and it wasn’t private at all - upstairs at the small old building was another room and the guests were looking directly at our„private“ pool. The room was small, very old and cold. We were freezing all night. The staff couldn’t speak a single word English especially the cleaning staff every morning you have to fight with the stuff what time they can come for cleaning. When you wanna shower and warm water comes, which happens very rarely, the tap drips for 2 hours - very pleasant if you want to fall asleep. The mini bar was completely empty our whole stay there wasn’t even water on the room. I asked the reception if there is any spa, sauna, indoor pool or spa treatments she just replies snippy „no we don’t have something like this“ the question is why do they write it on the hotel website if you they have it - I’m asking myself what does the hotel have to be a 4 star hotel?

The hotel is very very old and can only be solved by a complete renovation. The pool area outside looks like an old public outdoor pool, the staff is totally unprofessional and unfriendly, no security on the area of the main building and the rooms, everyone can walk in at no matter what time of day or night..

On the day of departure, the reception started calling continuously at 11 am - check-out was at 12pm . I was wondering why the service suddenly worked so well. At 12pm a man stopped in front of our hotel door and asked more than rudely why we didn't leave our room and what’s our problem. I politely tell him it will take us another 10 minutes to finish packing I haven’t closed the door completely yet, a lady from the reception was standing in front of our room with two bodyguards and said if we didn't want to leave our room then.. It all happened at a few minutes after 12. i was more then chocked like is it really not possible to have 10 minutes more to pack my stuff. what kind of guests do they have in the hotel when they storm the room with bodyguards 10 minutes after check out Our security had to help us that we weren't kicked out of the hotel, which is incredibly cheeky.

I hope this can save many people from a holiday at the Destino hotel in ibiza filled with anger and disappointment - because let’s be honest, Ibiza is where you come to have...