I find xanax extremely recreational, more so than the other benzos/etiz I've tried. I"m always stoned when I use it and it enhances the high like crazy! Get the best munchies ever and my whole body feels heavy and slow and sleepy. I really enjoy that feeling I guess. Never tried opiates recreationally so I can't say whether it's like a nod or not but I'll end up on the couch between awake and passed out and it's just awesome. Also can sit around playing video games and watching tv/movies all day and not give a shit that you're not being productive.
I'm pretty conservative though, I don't use it any more than once every two weeks and usually not more than a full bar if I even take that much. I don't drink either so this kind of replaces that feeling for me, though GHB is used for that too in place of benzos sometimes, but I put both on the same schedule so I only am using a gabaergic once every two weeks.
I almost wish I didn't find it so recreational, because it's great for putting me to sleep when I want to take a tolerance break. Hard to talk myself out of that amazing feeling of the combination though!