My review of the Sala Lounge Cap Des Falco at Ibiza airport

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This is my review of the Sala Lounge Cap Des Falco at Ibiza Airport.

It followed my review trip to the Gran Hotel Montesol in Ibiza (Hilton’s Curio Collection) which you can read here. My next stop was to be Madrid.

If you find yourself at the airport in Ibiza in Winter, there is one sign you will see a lot:

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport closed for season

Unfortunately the F*** Me I’m Famous Lounge (officially the “airport lounge club in conjunction with DJs Cathy and David Guetta, which includes a cocktail bar, dance floor and chill out area“) was also shut. I made my way to the only other lounge at Ibiza airport – only to be turned away.

I entered the Sala Lounge Cap Des Falco, showed my boarding pass (business class) and asked if I could use this lounge. The lady said no as I didn’t have an Iberia Gold card and started to explain that this lounge was only for Iberia Gold card holders as the lounge was so new. Not even BA Gold would be accepted. Ehm, ok…

After checking the website where I was reassured that a Business Class tickets WAS going to get me in, I went back to ask why she turned me away. Her explanation was that she thought I didn’t have a Gold Card and she didn’t know I was flying Business Class – telling her AND showing her my boarding pass had not convinced her?

If you don’t have the right credentials, the airport website says that you can buy a lounge pass via the Aena app for €20.10 or pay €28.70 at the counter. Not that I would have paid this, but it would have been nice to at least be informed about this option. You cannot get in with a Priority Pass or Lounge Club card either. (EDIT: the lounge joined Priority Pass in February 2017).

Anyway, I did get in in the end and here is what I found:

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge entrance

First of all the lounge was empty. There were two people in the lounge and only two more came a bit later during my visit.

To be fair the design is quite nice and simple (and screams for red wine stains – probably the reason why there was no red wine to be found in the lounge).

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge seats

Considering the size of the airport there were enough seats, however I assume that the lounge will get pretty busy once the summer party season starts.

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge middle of room

The food selection was rather disappointing. There were two lonely bread rolls on a shelf on the counter

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge food

…. and a couple of sandwiches and salads in the fridge.

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge fridge

The salad was ok-ish. The coffee was good.

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge food reception

This was the magazine and newspaper selection with Spanish and English titles.

sala lounge cap des falco aena vip ibiza airport lounge magazines

Conclusion

What can I say? Last time I was at Ibiza airport in winter I had three hours to kill and no lounge access. As there was only one cafe airside open, it was a painful experience. At least this time I didn’t have to pay for water and coffee.

Having an ‘Iberia Gold Card Only’ policy sounds almost understandable when the airport gets busy during summer. The failure to accept any sort of British Airways card, even when flying on BA, is more likely down to BA’s refusal to pay – or I just wasn’t lucky with the person working in the lounge that day.

From the outside you get the impression of a classy lounge with decent drinks and food (hey, it’s a ‘VIP lounge’ after all). Once you get inside the only decent things are the armchairs.

Don’t get me wrong – any lounge is probably better than no lounge at all. However if you don’t get lounge access with your boarding pass or status, I wouldn’t recommend paying for it.

Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, here are the three options to get FREE airport lounge access via a credit or charge card:

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta and Eurostar lounges. Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with two free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £20. You get two more free visits for every year you keep the card.

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus. Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free LoungeKey card, allowing you access to the LoungeKey network. Guests are charged at £20 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer. Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Radiata says:

1 Feb1 February 09:03

Source of ire in comments mystifying.

The good news perhaps that complaints about a German with a sense of humour help bury the stereotype.
- Alan says:
  
  1 Feb1 February 17:17
  
  Haha love it 🙂
  
  I though Anika’s points were entirely sensible – Davis added useful info too, just a shame it was with a lot of attitude thrown in too (I’m not entirely sure why!)
Kinkell says:

1 Feb1 February 09:03

Perhaps Davis would like to write the review,as he has such a lot to say. Surprised he didn’t jump on the chance to do this when Rob was looking for folk to write lounge reviews.
Granted there may be aspects missing,but usually the helpful and obliging commentators on HFP will add them in graciously. My interpretation of your tone, Davis, was majorly critical and I didn’t like it.
- Rob says:
  
  1 Feb1 February 09:05
  
  At least he cares! I doubt I could get that passionate if someone dissed my favourite lounge
  
  You need to remember that as most HFP readers will have to pay to enter this lounge (no BA status cards, no Priority Pass) the question is whether it is worth €28. Looking at the food and drink selection in those photos I can imagine better ways to spend close to £100 for a family of four.
  - the real harry1 says:
    
    1 Feb1 February 09:20
    
    rather better value once your kids are old enough to dump outside with a Burger King & can of Coke
    - dps says:
      
      1 Feb1 February 16:31
      
      If that’s how you feel about your kids’ enjoyment of the last day of their family holiday, why not leave them at home and save even more?!
      - the real harry1 says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 17:18
        
        you got that in the wrong order! I dump them outside @ LHR on the way there, I’m not driving at destination as we get picked up – so I can get my money’s worth/ value from the lounge pass – I do normally bring one of my sons in for safe-keeping but the other 2 get to slum it haha!
        
        On the way back it’s a truly excellent terminal IMV, clean, comfortable & spacious – so I just get us BK or KFC etc and we all stick together outside, not much point in using a lounge there anyway as mentioned above, we’re only 45 mins from the airport so can time it nicely not to be there too long
      - Alan says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 17:51
        
        You’ll soon be able to get chauffeur-driven by the oldest one and enjoy the lounges even more 😀
      - Genghis says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 17:27
        
        I thought it would be some pan rustico and quesos from the local shop? 🙂
      - the real harry1 says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 18:00
        
        @Alan – good thought – the second eldest in our case as the first son won’t ever make it driving, good happy lad that he is, though – so that’ll be in 2020, I think I will expedite his driving lessons/ pay through the nose in time for Easter hols 🙂
      - Alan says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 18:06
        
        Excellent, you can enjoy the payback after being his chauffeur for many years! Even more value out of all your lounge pass skills 😀
      - the real harry1 says:
        
        1 Feb1 February 18:18
        
        I might even get him into the lounge on the way out on the strength of it!
        
        My daughter, otoh… 🙂
        
        Horrible early teens lol rather rude – I guess we all went through it/ anticipate it with horror (and you’re right about the horror)
Triple Pinch says:

3 Feb3 February 14:56

As a frequent traveller to Ibiza out of season I thought this post was useful. However it’s the comments that have amused me the most and I feel compelled to add my two cents….

– firstly, I wouldn’t usually qualify for comp access to the lounge there unless travelling last minute and club tickets are cheaper than economy, which sometimes happens, so it’s well worth knowing it’s not worth the cover price. It also seems that it’s not even worth turning up a little early to enjoy a free glass of wine even if I did qualify, as I’m a red drinker and therefore wouldn’t be catered for 🙂
– Although not a fluent Spanish speaker and am not from Spanish decent I’ve spent enough time trying to get things done in Spain to know that Anika’s experience is indeed typical of the rigmarole one often encounters in Spain. In fact, that part of the review made me chuckle.
– Although entertaining, David’s response seems a little fishy to me. Why on earth would someone be compelled to defend a faceless corporation so aggressively. I mean if you really want to right the wrongs of inaccurate journalism just take your pick of the national press in any country- and scarily those titles have real influence. And don’t get me started on social media…..

Finally, Ibiza is increasingly a year round destination and does not solely attract holiday makers. The Island can be at it’s most beautiful at this time of year with tons of diverse culture happening! So the report is appropriate to an audience who are a little more savvy, which I assume anyone following head for points would consider themselves to be?

For full the pedants among you, and there seem to be a few, I have a property on the island so perhaps my out of season comments are biased, but in fact it’s very easy to verify for yourself by looking at the press or even better raw evidence such as airlines increasing their year round services from multiple countries.

The airport is so small and turnaround times are so quick out of season that I probably wouldn’t bother with the lounge even if I qualified.

Finally, I had also thought the F**** Me I’m Famous Lounge was still there and as I mentioned I;m a frequent traveller to the island! But as I also mentioned there’s no need at all to hang around in this airport to consider the banal nuances of who has secured the lease to which spaces because it’s very small and very quick to manoeuvre through, even in August!

Peace & Love.