Magical “accommodation”, where you can “feel the pure relaxing atmosphere of Ibiza”, with chill out areas, tree houses and “funky baths” in the open air. Spaces for “cool” people, “beautiful souls” or “lovers of yoga and pure nature”. This is how some people sell accommodation on the main tourist rental platform which, although the page places them in the category of “singular”, they are in reality, in most cases, substandard dwellings. Tents, huts, teepees, yurts and even shacks.
“We call it the cell because it looks like one”. This Airbnb hostess does not mince her words when it comes to defining one of the many accommodations she offers on Airbnb on her estate in Sant Joan, very close to Benirràs. Just look at the pictures to understand the name with which this yoga retreat has baptized the space as ‘The jail’: a stone space of just a couple of square meters in which there is only room for a 90cm bed which, as you can see in the photos, the door almost crashes against when it opens. “Originally the boiler room of the villa,” says the hostess about this space she is promoting “for those who don’t mind small spaces, have a limited budget, but want their own private semi-outdoor space.”
She says the latter because there’s only a grilled door and a sarong. The concept of limited budget is a bit generous. Because How much does it cost to sleep in this tiny cell with “the right to use the nearby shower”, “shared toilet” and through whose door constantly pass the guests of the other accommodation offered in the garden? The not inconsiderable amount of 104 euros per night: 80 euros for the accommodation and 24 euros for “cleaning costs”.
It must seem like the bomb to many (you know, the magic of Ibiza and all that) because there are barely a couple of nights left in such a dungeon-like accommodation, located on the same estate where two summers ago, following complaints by this newspaper, the Sant Joan Town Hall removed tents, hammocks hanging from trees and even an old bus that were used as tourist accommodation.
These 104 euros per night can increase depending on the “services” that are added: ten euros for a fan, eight for breakfast, ten for food, 25 for arriving or leaving between eleven at night and one in the morning, ten euros for bringing a pet…
Tents
Steeve offers five different types of accommodation (two tents, a teepee, a tree house and a caravan) on his Airbnb profile. All of them are in the middle of the countryside, somewhere between the Camí Vell de Sant Mateu and Cas Ramons. “The exact location will be provided after booking,” he says.
Five spaces for which the days they are all occupied (and many are) he gets more than 150 euros. More than 5,500 euros a month just for a full house 20 days out of the month. All of them share common areas: an open-air kitchen and an open-air living room which, from the photos, seem to be located under a wooden platform and are surrounded by stones and rubble. In the case of tents (20 euros a night) one would only need to rent one out for three nights to offset the cost of purchase from a sports shop.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.