Island Hospitality Moves Within Ibiza’s Layered Identity

Mediterranean roots and contemporary experimentation: a journey through Ibiza with Island Hospitality, exploring three places where hospitality engages with the land and local community

Island Hospitality: Where Ritual Meets Innovation

On Ibiza, the travel narrative is a constant dance between complementary poles. Inland lies a slow-motion world of casas payesas, farm fairs, and patron-saint fiestas: you might meet elders shelling fava beans beneath almond trees, browse raku-ceramic stalls, or taste wine made using ancestral methods. Along the coast, meanwhile, thrives a laboratory of modern sociability: beach clubs experimenting with botanical mixology, boutique hotels hosting artist residencies, and nightclubs blending electronic sets with immersive light-art performances.

The resulting aesthetic is singular—textural and honest, anchored in marés stone, juniper wood, and sun-crystallised salt, yet refined by architects, floral designers, and sound curators who practise subtraction rather than addition. Minimal by choice, artsy by vocation, every space—from a barefoot chiringuito to an underground gallery in a former fish warehouse—becomes a canvas for international creatives. Everything is conceived through a sustainability lens, from solar power to hyper-local menus.

Island Hospitality transforms each venue into a shared rite of design, gastronomy, music, and sustainability. With eight locations across the Balearics, the group balances Mediterranean roots with contemporary experimentation, offering immersive experiences that regenerate both land and community.

Island Hospitality: Genesis, Vision, Portfolio

Founded in London in 2012 around the chino-décor triumph of Alan Yau’s Park Chinois, Island Hospitality began its Balearic expansion in 2015 and now counts eight addresses. While the London flagship epitomises Asian-inspired opulence, the Ibiza chapter—under the guidance of Gennaro Vitto—operates on an unwritten principle: every venue must, first and foremost, be a shared ritual. Finca La Plaza, Beachouse, and Club Chinois fuse cuisine, design, music, and environmental activism into immersive, identity-rich experiences.

Gennaro Vitto, Director of Food & Beverage, Island Hospitality

Vitto also nurtures a deep love of wine. Between Finca La Plaza and Beachouse, Island Hospitality maintains a private cellar of over 500 European labels. Cocktail and mixology programmes are helmed by long-time collaborator Toni Cabrera, sharing an approach that values craftsmanship, creativity, and ingredient integrity.

A native of Puglia, Gennaro Vitto honed his palate in France, Italy, and Spain, also serving as an executive chef. He joined Island Hospitality in 2012 and moved to Ibiza in 2019 to oversee the group’s expansion. Today he leads its entire Food & Beverage division, flanked by Sergio Cardeñosa (Executive Chef), Brian Olocco (Head Chef, Beachouse), and Davide Roana (Head Chef, Finca La Plaza). His culinary philosophy is rooted in respect for tradition, provenance, and the soul of ingredients. Faithful to ancestral techniques, he works with fire, fermentation, and citrus to exalt Mediterranean produce.

Finca La Plaza – Santa Gertrudis. A garden home where time slows

Arriving at the Finca at sunset is an annual pilgrimage for Ibiza regulars. Passing through a gateway of polished marés stone, you feel the light shift. The inner courtyard, cocooned by white-lime walls, smells of orange blossom. The late-18th-century farmhouse is the village’s oldest building after the twin-bell-tower church. A 2021 restoration—by payés artisans and Catalan designers—preserved irregular plasters and replaced original beams with regenerated-oak tables.

At Finca La Plaza, dinner begins with simple gestures: rustic sourdough torn by hand, dipped in local EVOO and citrus butter. Roman-style artichoke with truffle sabayon evokes Capitoline memories. Mediterranean tuna tartare, cured in local bitter lemon, arrives like a coral-pink jewel crowned with Oscietra caviar. Eighty percent of the ingredients are sourced from Ibiza.

Playful and pan-Mediterranean, the menu embraces Italian classics: fettuccine Alfredo, carefully emulsified with cheese, receive lavish shavings of black truffle. Regulars swear by the hot-dog de costilla: Iberian pork rib pulled and tucked into almond-milk brioche, dressed with smoked pimentón mayo—a comfort food that marries payés tradition with urban irony.

Beachouse – Playa d’en Bossa. Barefoot luxury, from sunrise salutations to moonlit revelry

From moonlit dinners at Finca La Plaza to sun-kissed days by the sea. At dawn, Playa d’en Bossa unfurls as a golden crescent. Designed by Berlin studio Lambs & Lions under Annabell Kutucu’s curatorship, the beach club completed its grown-up makeover in 2022.

Kutucu has reimagined this long-loved beach bar on Playa d’en Bossa’s quieter south stretch, giving it a more mature yet still carefree character. Drawing on the thatched roof and swaying palms, the redesign heightens the tropical mood without losing the site’s authenticity. Interiors are pared back to earthy tones so raw materials can shine. Graphic openings and a central skylight pour soft daylight onto hand-pressed concrete floors and classic limestone plaster. Rounded forms and touchable surfaces ground the airy layout, whose movable furnishings suit both convivial gatherings and intimate moments. Local artisanship takes pride of place in hand-woven rugs and sculptural ceramics. Effortlessly calm and understated, Beachouse stands as a timeless ode to the island’s mindful, free-spirited way of life.

Celebrating over a decade on the island, Beachouse is a laid-back yet luxe destination that distils all-day island living. Under Gennaro Vitto’s direction, the menu champions Mediterranean simplicity: fresh seafood, vibrant salads, and share-friendly plates such as Smashed Avocado, Tuna Tartare, Corn Ribs, Formentera Langoustines, and Spaghetti Vongole.

Beyond the table, Beachouse is renowned for sunrise beach yoga, the family-friendly Little Beachouse kids’ zone, and its signature Beach Experience, with luxe Balinese beds overlooking the sea. After dusk, it morphs into a stage for moonlit dining and barefoot dancing, celebrating the island’s bohemian spirit.

Club Chinois – Marina Botafoch. Shanghai déco among yachts and immersive LEDs

If Finca speaks the language of rural quiet and Beachouse that of coastal ritual, Club Chinois embodies nocturnal glamour. Opened in 2022 in the former HEART space, it was transformed by Paris-based Laleh Assefi into a cinematic cabaret of crimson velvets, gilt columns, and a wrap-around LED wall projecting visions inspired by Dalí and Gaudí. With capacity capped at a thousand—one-third that of neighbouring mega-clubs—Club Chinois offers boutique luxury through curated programming: Bedouin, Honey Dijon, Francis Mercier, plus free pier performances during San Juan week.

Perched in Ibiza Marina, the club hosts world-renowned DJs across classic house, afro, Latin house, minimal, melodic techno, and breaks. Its discerning yet open-minded crowd embraces both icons and emerging talent who earn their first island residencies here.

Design references London’s West End and 1920s colonial Shanghai: gold swan-neck taps, vintage lampshades, plush cushions, orientalist columns, atmospherically lit bars, and marble floors. A single hall holds 1,000 guests, encircled by a 360-degree digital wall, a giant strobosphere, and a mobile lighting rig.

Matteo Mammoli