Mr Pikes: The Story Behind The Ibiza Legend

Product Information

Much-married, hedonistic hotel owner who partied hard with many a pop star and was known as the Hugh Hefner of Ibiza; John Donne may have written that no man is an island, but Tony Pike came close. Known as Mr Ibiza, he was the embodiment of Balearic hedonism, a brash, hard-drinking, drug-taking philanderer whose way with women would have made even the love poet blush.

THE TIMES: Much-married, hedonistic hotel owner who partied hard with many a pop star and was known as the Hugh Hefner of Ibiza; John Donne may have written that no man is an island, but Tony Pike came close. For instance Known as Mr Ibiza, he was the embodiment of Balearic hedonism, a brash, hard-drinking, drug-taking philanderer whose way with women would have made even the love poet blush. Pike’s road to publishing his first book was convoluted. On Facebook, he recalled going to a writer’s conference where he met an agent named Ashley Grayson. “He was just starting out as an agent; he was willing to read The Starlight Crystal,” Pike wrote. “Ashley felt Starlight was a mess but he thought I had talent.” Eventually, Grayson called Pike with an interesting opportunity: Write two chapters for a “line of teen books that dealt with the supernatural.” The chapters were ultimately rejected; “the editor in charge of the series thought my book was too good for his series,” Pike wrote. Grayson then sold the chapters to Jean Feiwel at Avon, who soon left for Scholastic to head up the publisher’s preteen and YA divisions. Avon lost interest in the book, but Grayson, undeterred, took it to Feiwel at her new job. She commissioned a whole novel, which she named Slumber Party. Tony was in his sixties, not that you’d know from his memories of the time. He’s on a boat with Kylie Minogue; fighting over a girl with Mike Oldfield; having lunch with Tony Curtis; sharing a shower with Brigitte Nielsen. “And working,” he says. “Always working. I built a bloody room for Tony Curtis.” THE SUN: HE was the sex-mad playboy who provided a tropical retreat for A-list celebrities to indulge their wildest fantasies.

Heard It Through the Grapevine

A jubilant sense of joie de vivre alongside a mountain of achievements makes this a very fun read. Just like Ibiza and Pikes the book probably isn’t for everyone… but they might just be missing out. Tony remains touched by his time with her. “One night at Ku, Roman Polanski asked me if I could fix him up with Grace. I said I was her lover. He said, ‘But I’m famous!’ But she chose me. She was wonderful, she had an aura like a rainbow.” Some of these mind-boggling stories will have you sitting on the edge of your chair, never wanting to leave. Mr Pikes: The Story Behind the Ibiza Legend by MT INK is one of the greatest books of all time to read.

Much-married, hedonistic hotel owner who partied hard with many a pop star and was known as the Hugh Hefner of Ibiza; John Donne may have written that no man is an island, but Tony Pike came close. Known as Mr Ibiza, he was the embodiment of Balearic hedonism, a brash, hard-drinking, drug-taking philanderer whose way with women would have made even the love poet blush.” It’s probably because his little sister is named Ann. “She is very dear to me,” he wrote on Facebook. 17. A columnist called the Final Friends trilogy “sort of a homicidal version of Beverly Hills 90210.” Pike recalled that when he penned the book’s final words, “I want people to remember me,” things got spooky: “Someone tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Goodbye, we’ll meet some day.’ This absolutely happened. I jumped so high I almost hit my head on the ceiling.” He felt that “it was like a person was done telling me their story and they were moving on. Like they were saying goodbye and thanks.” As an octogenarian, doctors had called Tony a walking miracle. In recent years, years, Tony had been quietly battling cancer and was hospitalised with pneumonia just a little over a week ago. He cited the medical treatment he received throughout his life as amazing, and while doctors and nurses would continually tell him to slow down, Tony would insist on living his life to the fullest – even in his 80s, he was known to jump off the roof of Room 39 into the pool. “I’m an old man, but I don’t feel it,” he said of his behaviour. When recalling Freddie Mercury’s death, Tony once said: “Freddie was a very brave man. He partied to the end and he entertained to the end.” He could have easily been describing about himself.

Gemma Ogston, of Gem’s Wholesome Kitchen

In 1995, a girlfriend told Tony she had Aids. Tony was tested. He had it too. He was to join the friends he’d started losing, fallen comrades in a war of debauchery. Doctors gave him five years maximum, and he decided to sell up to pay for his care and provide for his children accumulated over four marriages. Uncover the true story of Mr. Pikes, a hedonist at heart that went from a terrible upbringing to a dream life only a handful of people ever achieve. At night he lay and watched the stars through a hole in the ceiling. He thought about his previous lives. He thought about the brother who had abused him. Then he got up in the morning and worked even harder.

Right now, all over the world, there will be people doing their nine to five then going home and watching TV, seeing a more exciting world and thinking, ‘Why can’t I do that?’ Well, they can! They can! If I can do this,” he gestures to the hotel, to the dream he carved from the hillside, to the memories and the ghosts, “then anyone can do anything.” He spent years trying to get the book adapted, including writing a script for a movie that led to a cease and desist letter from Pike’s publisher. Now, finally, his adaptation—a series co-created with Leah Fong, which will cover not just The Midnight Club but other Pike books—will debut on Netflix on October 7. 11. Something spooky happened when Pike finished Remember Me. The story, much like Tony’s life, hits the half way mark before he we even hear of Ibiza. It is at this point in which he decides that the white island is where he wants to settle down and set about building his very own private paradise, much of it with his own hands and sweat. All of it straight from his legendary double-aorta heart. Learn how Mr Pikes became friends or “lovers” with the ‘A’ List celebrities; including Robert Plant, Kurt Cobain, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Jean-Claude Van Damme Boy George, Kylie Minogue Julio Iglesias, Mike Oldfield…the list goes on and on. Tony’s hand-built naughty boutique hotel helped thousands of the guests fulfil their wildest fantasies – an abundance of pleasure…an often drug-fuelled orgy of life.His medication was improving, the virus controlled (and eventually dormant). He met and married his fifth wife. He threw himself into Pikes, which battled the island’s new five-star hotels. He built a final room by hand and the effort left him struggling to get out of bed. Ibiza legend who founded legendary celeb hangout Pikes Ibiza and helped turn island into party paradise The roll call of Pikes hotel guests reads like a magazine gossip column at times: Mike Oldfield (who stole Tony’s girlfriend at the time), Joan Baez, Frank Zappa, Boy George, Kylie Minogue, Spandau Ballet, Brigitte Nielsen, Robert Plant, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Kenny Everett, the English football team, Bon Jovi and even Tony Curtis (who Tony Pike refused to lend his car to!). There were the iconic songstresses he famously romanced, Sade and Grace Jones, (this gentleman did indeed kiss and tell in his memoir) and the many superstar DJs of the world who passed through the island as Ibiza cemented its reputation as the clubbing capital of the world. In between romancing his glamorous guests over the years, Tony also committed to two more marriages, which in turn produced two more children. Freddie Mercury would summon Tony to his room to debate the meaning of life while he spooned cocaine onto one of Pikes’ laminated menus. The hotel hosted Mercury’s legendary 41st birthday party. Tony invited 500 people – 700 showed up for a party that lasted three days. The front of the hotel caught fire, a wall collapsed, and Tony found himself playing tennis with “Freddie, Kenny Everett and the chairman of Colchester United”.