Dezeen Magazine

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

Designer Armin Fischer has converted an old stone farmhouse in the Ibizan countryside into a rustic members-only retreat offering guests ritualistic activities like communal farming and meditation (+ slideshow).

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

Fischer's Germany-based interior design studio Dreimeta created La Granja Ibiza for Design Hotels, a booking company representing over 270 boutique design hotels worldwide.

The resort offers 10 bedroom suites within the 200-year-old farmhouse, as well as a separate two-bed garden property surrounded by citrus, fig and almond trees. It also includes a pool and restaurant serving produce from the grounds.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

The hotel's pared-back design, coupled with its emphasis on outdoor living, is intended to offer an alternative to Ibiza's clubber-oriented resorts. Instead, it is more in keeping with the hippy scene that dominated the Spanish isle in the 1950s.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

"In a world where travel and hotels are surrounded by technology, extravagant comforts and unnecessary distractions, La Granja encourages guests to return to the basics: modesty, rustic simplicity, and the beauty of imperfection," said Fischer.

"The design of the space honours rustic simplicity, growth and decay, modesty and intransigence," he added.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

Each room is finished with a palette of dark burnt wood, brushed and oiled ash wood, stone and slate – an antithesis to traditional whitewashed fare of the Ibizan coast.

Dark painted walls, distressed wooden furniture and free-standing baths are also used to give the rooms a "back to basics" appearance, explained Fischer.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

"The aim was to translate the basic concepts – focusing on the essential, the beauty of natural materials and imperfections – into a design approach," said the designer.

"While eliminating the non-essential, the hotel still provides guests with all the necessary comforts – less is more, as they say. "

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

"La Granja Ibiza appeals to a growing demographic of high-end travellers who seek meaningful, authentic experiences and a sense of connectedness with local communities, rather than typical, resort-like accommodation with little organic connection to the local environment," he added.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

La Granja is Design Hotel's first members-only venture. It is a collaboration with Friends of a Farmer – an organisation promoting sustainable crop growing, as well as art and music projects.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

Hotel members have access to a "programme of rituals" during their stay. These include slow-food workshops, meditation and yoga, music experiences and communal farming.

"La Granja Ibiza is a study in holistic hospitality born from the growing desire to connect in real time over shared experiences – an antidote to the increasingly online nature of our times," Design Hotel founder Claus Sendlinger told Dezeen.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

"La Granja is based on an experimental members-only model, with membership offering access to room reservations, as well as the full programme of holistic, gastronomic, and cultural events," he added.

La Granja Ibiza is a members-only retreat with a rustic "back-to-basics" design

Profits from La Granja Ibiza will be fed back into a number of sustainability projects in the community.

Photography is by Steve Herud.