beast beach for luxury and relaxation

I wonder if Barcelona beaches would work?

Something exclusive in Ibiza? San Antonio might be a bit too "Brits on holiday" for you but there's a lot of choice at the higher end in Ibiza too, if luxury is your thing. I can't help with specifics, but if you have the funds for a nice villa or 5 stars in Ibiza, not a lot going to beat that.

Ibiza is a pretty good suggestion in my book. It's ace.

Ruminating on the subject, if you're talking luxury, a dream of mine would be to charter a yacht out of Ibiza. If you've got a party of four or five adults making stockbroker money, it might be feasible.

I think if you can make it a week it's going to open up more for minimums of getting nice places.

All the Balearics are worth considering. Regular poster JC did some great posts with some cracking info about Mallorca the other day which should be near the top of the Spain forum.

The poster further up the thread made a good point. There are good beaches in the US. Ibiza definitely isn't Florida, California or Kansas, Toto.

btw, the beaches in Barcelona are man made. They didn't exist before the Olympics in 1992. They're cool that they're in the city and everything, but not great beaches imho.

I'm going to Spain and Morocco this July with my family. We live in Florida on a canal, a block from the ocean, and while in Spain, we'll be spending 4 days at Iberostar Malaga Playa. Four days out of 20 gives us time to relax and reboot. We always do a beach resort for a few days if we're someplace the weather allows. My boys are in their 20's now and still traveling with us! They have made lifelong friends at these resorts; they're not able to do that in a museum.

My point is, no one walks in anyone else's flippy floppies. Families and interests are all different.

And a beach in Spain is not the same as a beach in Florida. Spanish people take holidays at the beach too! Some of the best restaurants can be found at beach destinations.

Obviously there are resorts that mainly cater for tourists from abroad but you’ll still meet a lot of people from all over Europe with very few, if any, Americans. The only American families I’ve ever chatted to on holiday in Spain were based in Germany or London for work.

Tell us about Malaga missconstrued. That has to be up there with Marbella for recommendations in the south. I've never been, but an old school friend lives in Benalmadena now and I have an open invite to visit. I'd like to take him up on that some time.

Maybe the Parador d'Aiguablava would suit your needs. It has a pool and is up on a rocky hill with good views of the surrounding area. If you wanted a sand beach you’d have to walk down the hill to the beach in the cove. I will add that it is pricey during the summer months and a couple hours from Barcelona airport.

For luxury there are definitely some swanky places on Ibiza with sun and sand. They are eye-watering expensive but I think they would be the best "beach" as Americans think of the term.

It's a really short flight out to the Balearics from Barcelona too. May be slightly more temperate than the Costa del Sol in July and August. I took an overnight ferry from Barcelona to Ibiza on a whim once years ago when I decided I didn't want to go home yet. Didn't book a cabin and don't think I slept a wink.

Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to visit a beach whilst in Europe, there are some stunning beaches here. I've been to beaches in Florida and they're nothing special, particularly those on the atlantic coast. I'd much rather relax on a secluded beach in Mallorca surrounded by fragrant pine trees and the odd chingurrito selling cold drinks and fresh seafood than a long expanse of sand in Florida flanked by huge condos, parking lots and souvenir shops. Even the beaches in Barbados paled in comparison to some of the beaches I've been to in Europe.

There are plenty of luxury hotels and resorts in Mallorca, many with direct beach access and easily reached via a short flight from Barcelona. There are far too many to list on here but an internet search will provide plenty of results. There are none that I can recommend as whilst the resort I stay in is a luxury resort it isn't near a beach.

If you want something more exclusive in the Balearics, maybe Formentera? Never been, though.

markgoldentyer

Are you still reading along? Do you have any thoughts? It would be great to have some input from you now the thread has settled down again.

Places we've mentioned:

Ibiza
Mallorca
Formantera
Malaga
Marbella
Costa del Sol including Benalmadena
Parador d'Aiguablava (near Girona)
The beaches in Barcelona (Mar Bella, Bogatell, Barceloneta)

If you didn't want to fly anywhere from Barcelona you could also research

L'Estartit
Lloret de Mar
Sitges
on the Costa Brava coast near Barcelona.

What's your thoughts? Is the luxury element important to you?

I've made some edits to this thread. Let's avoid that side commentary I referred to in my recent PSA. It has the power to set the tone in an unhelpful direction.

Since Webmaster has bumped the thread, I'd probably remove my suggestion of Llorret de Mar on reading a thread again that contains "luxury" in the title. It's not known for luxury :) Tossa de Mar is close to Barcelona too, and nicer.