Holiday destinations tend to drift in and out of favor: one minute a previously under the radar Greek island is all over your Insta feed, the next everyone you know is in Albania, or swapping a fortnight’s sun-baking on Ischia for two weeks spent going off the grid in British Columbia.
Not Ibiza, though. The island has retained its spot at the top of travel wish lists ever since a young Princess Caroline was checking in at the original Hotel Montesol (now rebranded as Montesol Experimental following a chic refurb), and Freddie Mercury was throwing a birthday bash for the ages at Pikes. Save for an Ibiza Uncovered-shaped blip in the late ’90s and early Aughts, the White Isle has always been in style.
Still, it’s far from the Balearics’ only big draw, especially this year. Yes, the superyachts continued to glide into Magna marina as reliably as Casa Jondal oysters from their shells, but certain high-profile holidaymakers kept right on sailing for Ibiza’s smaller, sleepier southern neighbor this season—Kendall Jenner among them.
Back in August the supermodel slipped on her The Row flip-flops and stepped ashore on Formentera, where she enjoyed a lazy seafood lunch with friends at Es Molí de Sal, overlooking the pink-tinged sands of Ses Illetes. Perhaps she also took the opportunity to catch up with Sabato De Sarno while she was there. Gucci’s creative director, who cast Kendall in his Valigeria campaign for the house earlier this year, vacationed on Formentera with his husband and parents over the summer, an experience that inspired his spring 2025 collection (and one could certainly see Kenny taking one of Sabato’s printed headscarves for a spin around Sant Francesc).
Formentera has always had wild beauty to rival its sibling’s, and is similarly steeped in the lore of 1970s counterculture (Joni Mitchell wrote Blue here). Now, a smattering of luxe hotels are inviting holidaymakers to view it less as day-trip territory (accessible only by boat, it’s a 30-minute ferry ride from Ibiza), more as a destination in its own right. Pacha arrived in 2021, not with a superclub, but with Casa Pacha, a gorgeously understated, 14-suite hideaway that reflects the island’s resolutely unflashy vibe. The newly opened Dunas de Formentera, meanwhile, combines glorious views and vast suites with an “eco-luxury” ethos that acknowledges the importance of protecting the unique natural environment of this magical isle.
