FERGUS Style Punta Arabi — Hotel in Santa Eulària des Riu

Honest review... this place should be called 'Fergus Style over substance', they seem to care more about the market than their guests. It is not managed or up to standards of what you would expect of a 4* Hotel. This hotel has a lot of potential, but falls short in a lot of ways therefore, based on how it is currently run, I would not recommend or return, here's why...

CONS: FOOD - We had half board option and the food is very poor. Cold food not kept cold enough and hot food not hot enough. To make matters worse I ended up getting FOOD POISONING from the breakfast buffet ruining nearly 2 days of the holiday and making me not want to eat anything more from there and therefore costing us more to eat elsewhere. I had heard that this also happened to at least 10 other residents around the same time. To add to the dining experience, the tea, coffee and fruit juice is terrible and simply undrinkable.

CLEANLINESS - The room cleaning and changing of bedding and towels were hit and miss. Sometimes the bedding was just remade and not actually changed for clean. Same with towels, we had dirty towels just re-folded up sometimes. Once, towels were taken and not replaced so we had to ask for some. We had no shampoo or shower gel provided for nearly a week (which was ok as we had our own) but they obviously didn't check to provide this, I had to ask for some towards the end of the holiday. The cleaning products used were very strong smelling it was almost unbearable giving me a sore throat. I also don't think the shower area was cleaned, we had to wash away dirt on arrival..

PRIVACY - The room was totally open plan meaning no door between the bedroom and bathroom. You could sit in bed and watch someone on the toilet. If you need privacy this is non existent.

PARKING - There is no parking available for anyone staying at the hotel even though there are massive amounts of space and parking areas but it seems these are reserved for the hippie market which is only there once a week on a Wednesday! This means you have to park on the street nearby which is nearly always full. So you are likely to need to park 10 minutes walk away which is frustrating. Also they clearly don't have a good relationship with local taxi firm, we asked for them to book one which they replied 'yes, but it is not guaranteed they will show up', 1 hour later we were ready to go out and the taxi did not arrive.

OUTDOOR AREAS - The general outdoor areas are not swept/cleaned around the rooms and pool area with lots of detritus and bird droppings (we were here for 8 nights and it was not cleaned once). However, we did see them sweeping detritus off the road where the hippy market is, it seems like the hotel cares about the market, more than it's guests.

POOL - Most of the sunbeds are basic and plastic, they have a small number of wooden beds with cushions which inevitably get snapped up early doors. Don't be fooled by the instagram 'Bali four poster beds'... they are not included, and cost $50 per day which is extortionate! Most of the time they were empty and just taking up space.

FACILITIES - Only one bar area ever open at the pool at the top of the hill (three others always closed except for the Wednesday market day). Otherwise seems like a ghost town, not really any atmosphere. The gym is very basic and has minimal equipment.

It wasn't all bad though, a few positives were: The setting of the place is beautiful. Set in what is like a small village with attractive low rise buildings and lovely trees and greenery. This is about the only 4* aspect of the place. The pool area is great with lovely sea views, and does have lots of sunbeds with some always available (the basic plastic ones). You can watch a beautiful sunrise if you get up in time. Nice quiet part of Ibiza, if that is what you are after, hotel in short walking distance...

Nice stay at Fergus Style Punta Arabí – don’t believe all the bad reviews.

We stayed here recently and honestly had such a good time. A lot of the negative reviews nearly put us off, but I’m glad we went ahead because the experience was really positive overall.

Pool & Atmosphere: The pool is lovely – big, clean, and with plenty of space to relax. Pool view is beautiful and makes the stay feel proper holiday-like. The atmosphere is calm in the mornings.

Food & Dining: The food was expected – good variety every day. Not loads of vegetarian options but definitely manageable, and everything we tried was fresh and well presented. Breakfast especially was calm with plenty of choice. The dishes can be dirty, just extra cleanliness just needs to be taken care off in certain areas of the hotel.

Rooms & Housekeeping: Rooms are nice and modern but a little dusty near the entrance of the door. Yes, the shower does flood a little, but it’s manageable and didn’t ruin our stay. Housekeeping comes daily – fresh towels, bottled water, and everything kept tidy. That daily touch made the stay feel clean and cared for. The floors could be managed more with extra cleaning being done daily. I think some rooms vary , the rooms we stayed in were Ok. They could add few more amenities in the room.

Staff: This is honestly one of the highlights – the staff are so friendly, helpful, and approachable. They’re a big part of why the atmosphere of the hotel feels welcoming.

Location: Es Canar is a ok area – you’ve got some restaurants, cafés, and supermarkets nearby so you’re never stuck for options. It’s not the busiest part of Ibiza, which makes it a calm base while still being well connected if you want to head into the town or to other beaches.

Extras: On Wednesdays the famous hippy market sets up stalls literally in the middle of the hotel – at first we thought it might be disruptive, but it honestly caused no issues at all. If anything, it was fun to have that little bit of extra culture and atmosphere right on site. Some reviews talked about “bird poo” but honestly it’s gonna happen there is a lot of greenery around , pine trees etc nothing that ruins the vibe at all. Again here extra cleaning needs to be put in place daily.

Use taxiclick if travelling across Ibiza, sometimes waiting is a bit long during this peak season but there are buses close by:).

Overall: This hotel gave us exactly what we wanted – clean rooms, a great pool, friendly staff, and decent food. It’s definitely better than some of the negative reviews suggest. We’d happily come back again. Do not get put off by reviews which arent that positive, everyone is different but for a stay if you come for a good price you can afford its okay. They only recently renovated the hotel so improvements still are being made, who knows what will happen by next summer , this hotel...

An honest review. Easier to do a pros and cons list for this hotel as it was either good or bad and no middle ground:

Pros Blue sunbeds around the pool are free. Breakfast was good in the morning. Staff are all very friendly. Small gym is open all day. Pool is a good temperature. View from the pool is amazing. Close to bars and shops. Pool cleaned everyday. Had a dinner bag waiting for us when we arrived from a late flight. Concierge very helpful and insistent on taking bags up stairs to room for us. Lifeguard did a very good job of keeping the pool area for guests only during the hippy market. Had to eventually get crowd control to sit there to stop anyone just coming into the pool area.

Cons NO BATHROOM DOORS! Make sure whoever you travel with you are very comfortable with! Pool doesn’t open until 10 - too late for early risers! No balconies in rooms so have to wait in room as nothing else around. No housekeeping. Had to call reception multiple times for towel changes, toilet roll etc. Had to empty own bins. Dinner buffet not great for vegetarians - food isn’t labelled well enough. Food at the pool bar is expensive for lunch and the portions, if it isn’t a burger, are very small. We went out for lunch in the end. Can’t order chips with veggie options only meat options. Bars around resort not open - only on Wednesdays when hippy market there. The other restaurants only open on Wednesdays when hippy market there. Gym not really usable as not air conned - fans all around room only blow hot air at you. Late dinner bag was meat so vegetarian girlfriend couldn’t eat it. Guests are mixed nationalities and atmosphere is very stale - no interaction, manners or politeness throughout - ignorance is rife. No entertainment around pool or at night to embed/interact with guests. Not adult only as advertised on both the website and easy jet - kids and babies every day. Hippy market is awful! Loud from 5.30am. Set up right outside the rooms - it’s literally everywhere. Very clear the hotel is more about this than guests and facilities within the hotel are subject to this being on to open. Cars everywhere when hippy market on. One afternoon we literally had no...