Hostal Mar y Sal

About Hostal Mar y Sal

Hostal Mar y Sal suits travellers who want the salt pans, dunes and juniper of Ibiza's southern tip within easy reach, and who prefer a base with parking and a garden to one in the middle of a resort. The three-star guesthouse on the road to Ses Salines works for couples touring by car, for walkers using the park paths, and for anyone with an early flight: Ibiza Airport is 3.5 km away in a straight line.

The property is a hostal in the Spanish sense: a small, informal guesthouse rather than a full resort. Three stars put it in the practical middle ground, with air conditioning, free wifi, a safe and a terrace among the listed facilities. Hostal Mar y Sal also keeps a garden and a restaurant, which matters in a corner of the island where an evening meal takes a little planning rather than a short stroll.

Location: Ses Salines

Hostal Mar y Sal stands on the road to Ses Salines, in the salt country at the southern end of Ibiza. The land around belongs to the Ses Salines Natural Park, declared in 2001 and listed as a Ramsar wetland: shallow pans still worked for salt, low dunes held by juniper, and pine woods behind them. It is flat, quiet bird country, a world away from the club strip, though Playa d'en Bossa is 5.5 km off in a straight line.

Ses Salines, the small settlement by the pans, is 0.7 km away and easy on foot, and the dune paths begin 1.2 km from the door. Everything else is a drive: Ibiza Town and Dalt Vila 8.4 km off in a straight line, the port 8.9 km, Playa d'en Bossa 5.5 km. Midsummer can bring slow traffic on the salt road; May, June, September and October leave the same tracks much emptier, and the park is at its best for walking.

Rooms and facilities

Rooms at Hostal Mar y Sal are listed with air conditioning, a balcony, a television, a safe and a hairdryer, plus toiletries, with non-smoking rooms available. Couples can treat the balcony and the garden terrace as the quiet end of the day. Families should ask which rooms take an extra bed or a cot. The 24-hour front desk and the concierge service help late arrivals, and the restaurant means the first meal does not depend on finding somewhere open nearby.

Cleaning, laundry service, an iron and board and internet access are listed too, along with first aid provision and smoke detectors. Because the house is small, it pays to confirm the details that matter before booking: whether the balcony looks over the garden or the road, whether a cot fits your room, and how breakfast works. Parking is free and on site, which makes a car practical rather than a nuisance in this part of the south.

Getting there

Ibiza Airport (IBZ) lies 3.5 km from Hostal Mar y Sal in a straight line, so the transfer is short by island standards. The road distance is longer than that line, and the simplest option with luggage is a taxi from the terminal. Collecting a hire car at the airport covers the last few kilometres and then serves the whole stay, since the beaches and Dalt Vila are spread out. Seasonal buses run to the south beaches; the island bus operator has current lines and times.

From Ibiza Town port, 8.9 km from the guesthouse in a straight line, the route south passes Playa d'en Bossa, 5.5 km out, and then turns down the salt road. Anyone arriving from Formentera lands at La Savina and crosses to Ibiza Town port first, since Formentera has no airport. Sailings and flights thin out in winter, so a late-year arrival is worth checking with the operators before fixing plans.

Beaches, sights and food nearby

The nearest sand and swimming belong to the Ses Salines park itself: the dune walk is 1.2 km from Hostal Mar y Sal and the salt pans, juniper and shallow water lie beyond. Playa d'en Bossa, the longest beach on Ibiza, is 5.5 km away in a straight line. History sits equally close: the Phoenician settlement of Sa Caleta is 5.5 km off and the Puig des Molins necropolis above Ibiza Town is 7.7 km away, all part of the 1999 UNESCO listing.

Island cooking is built on fish and rice. Bullit de peix is served in two courses, the fish first and then the rice cooked in the broth; arròs a banda cooks rice in fish stock. Both are plain, generous dishes that suit a long lunch. Around the salt pans the choice of places to eat narrows outside high season, so an evening meal takes planning, and the desk at Hostal Mar y Sal is the place to ask what is open nearby.

A day from Hostal Mar y Sal

Begin on foot from Hostal Mar y Sal: the dune and salt-pan paths start 1.2 km away and are best walked early, before the sun is high and the light flattens on the salt. A car then takes you 5.5 km to the Phoenician settlement of Sa Caleta, a short visit on open ground, and on to Playa d'en Bossa, 5.5 km from the guesthouse, for a swim on the long beach before the afternoon.

Give the afternoon to Ibiza Town, 8.4 km away: the Renaissance walls of Dalt Vila, the cathedral at the top, then the Puig des Molins necropolis 7.7 km from the guesthouse, both inside the UNESCO listing. Drive back south in the evening, when the day visitors have gone. Dinner can stay at the restaurant at Hostal Mar y Sal, or continue to Playa d'en Bossa; a taxi saves parking in town.

Practical tips

Hostal Mar y Sal works best between spring and autumn. Much of the southern tip of Ibiza, from beach bars to seasonal buses, shuts roughly from November to April, so confirm opening dates with the guesthouse before booking a winter night, and expect midsummer to be the fullest stretch. On the bill, the ecotasa, the Balearic sustainable tourism tax, is charged per person per night by the accommodation; rates vary with the type and category of the property and the season, drop in low season and for longer stays, and children under 16 are exempt. Check current rates with the Govern de les Illes Balears.

Questions about Hostal Mar y Sal