Spain Travel Guide
Tags: NYT Reviews / Barcelona Hotels / Design Hotels / → All Tags
NYT Finds Plenty To Like (But Not Enough Towels) At Barcelona’s Hotel Denit
It’s not every day that you find an affordable hotel right in the center of one of Europe’s most popular destinations. That’s why The New York Times decided to check in and check out Barcelona’s new Hotel Denit.
The hotel, whose name means “at night” in Catalan, is located right in the city’s historical heart, the Gothic Quarter, mere steps from La Rambla and Plaça Catalunya, as well as the city’s Contemporary Art Museum. Not to worry about the noise level from the surrounding bars and clubs, though, because the hotel is set off down a quiet brick alley, ensuring both peace and privacy.
As for the rooms, “chic” these days seems to be a code word for “white on white,” and the Hotel Denit is no exception. The Times called it “spar and functional, not unlike a massage therapy room,” but notes touches like a flat-screen TV, an iPod docking station, and windows that actually open. The rest of the furniture looks Spartan to us, though, especially the mismatched lamps, the tiny desk with a canvas chair, and the open wardrobe-closet-armoire thingy.
Tags: Snapshot / Nude Hotels / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
The Naked Truth About the W Barcelona
Does this count as an anti-view?
With all the talk over its late opening, stonking views and questionable levels of service, you’d think you’d heard it all about the W Barcelona. Not so.
A friend of ours stayed there a couple of weeks back, and returned with the revelation that the beach it sits on appears to be a nudist beach. Que?
We didn’t quite believe her until this morning, when she sent over this picture, taken right outside the hotel. And while we’re doing our best to concentrate on the seagull (nice composition, btw) we’re acutely aware that she might not have been exaggerating.
Her verdict:
I didn't see an official nudist beach sign or anything - but there was a lot of naked people and they weren't getting arrested
Kept that one quiet, didn’t you, W? Maybe it’s because middle-aged nudists aren’t quite as sexy as the hardbodied exhibitionists we’re more used to.
She also snapped a more conventional view from her bedroom window here. Good job you can’t zoom in!
Tags: Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel Rumors / → All Tags
Is There Another Mandarin Oriental Hotel Planned for Barcelona?
Update [2009-12-1 11:51:44 by juliana]:: A source tells us that the hotel in Puerto Rico that designer Patricia Urquiola is working on is the W Retreat & Spa – Vieques Island. It is owned by the same company that owns the MO Barcelona, REIG Capital. The sources surmises that Urquiola is probably working on another REIG hotel in Barca, not necessarily a Mandarin Oriental.
It happens to the best of us. You put off a task forever, and when you finally do it, and it goes smoothly, you wonder what the problem was. And if it goes particularly smoothly, you start wondering about whether you should do it again for good measure.
That’s the mood we figured Mandarin Oriental must be in when Design Week dropped the bomb that they’re planning a second hotel in Barcelona, when their first one only just opened (late, obviously) on Thursday.
In an article about Patricia Urquiola who designed the interiors of the hotel, it said:
Mandarin Oriental has also engaged Urquiola to work on the interiors of its new resort in Puerto Rico, which will open in March, and a second hotel in Barcelona.
Tags: NYT Reviews / Spain Hotels / Cinematic Hotels / → All Tags
The NYT Gets All Cinematic at Hotel Astoria7 in San Sebastián
If you were in New York at all over the weekend, you would have noticed the throngs of European tourists enjoying our thoroughly American holiday that is Black Friday—we mean Thanksgiving. To return the favor and send American tourists back their way, The New York Times profiles a European hotel—Hotel Astoria 7 in San Sebastián, Spain—in its latest Check In, Check Out review.
The first thing we learn from the Gray Lady is that while San Sebastián “may best be known for stars of the gastronomic variety,” it is also a cinematic center, and the Astoria7 is happy to indulge in this theme. A handwritten sign above the reception desk even reads, “Which star will stay with you tonight?” (If we answer, will room service send them up?)
Highlights: The hotel is just one block from the main bus terminal and close to central bars and shops. The Times enjoyed a double standard room with “a dash of 1950s-style Modernist panache” (mock-Danish midcentury modern furniture and fabric accents that “recalled the set of Mad Men. The cafeteria downstairs does “an excellent Spanish-style buffet breakfast (toast with tomato, hams of various incarnations, yogurts, fresh fruits, eggs on request)”— free with the room—while room service was cheap (16 euros) and “arrived in 14 minutes, hot and perfectly prepared.”
Tags: Hotel Elevators / Hotel Services / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Technology / Seville Hotels / → All Tags
Seville's EME Hotel Gives You A History Lesson With Your Stay
Don’t ya just love learning something new every day? Especially when it takes zero effort? The EME Hotel in Seville hears you. And to save you precious holiday time swotting up in an encyclopedia, it’s selecting random facts for you.
In just one visit the week before last, we came away with the following facts: the date of the philosopher Hegel’s death, the scoop on a Formula 1 rivalry, something Robert Pattinsony (which we forgot, what with gawping at the picture used to illustrate it), and the date the Whigs and Tories split in England in 1680. Not bad, huh?
The fount of all our knowledge? The elevator, which flashed various factoids at us as we cruised to the Santo Terraza bar on the fourth floor. We couldn’t take our eyes off it, and are much the wiser for that.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Hotel Delays / Hotel Hype / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona Is Sticking to Its Opening Date This Thursday
Well here’s a nice surprise to start the week. Despite our fears, the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona is going to open on schedule this Thursday.
When we say schedule, of course, we mean delayed schedule. The hotel was originally down to open 29 October, but when the date came and went, it was pushed back to 26 November. Although we weren’t so sure it was a goer, given that the website wasn’t taking rezzies until 15 December.
But hallelujah! We just called the hotel and spoke to a delightful man who told us that it is indeed opening Thursday, although plebs like us would not be welcome – it’s a private inauguration and opening do. Guests can arrive on Friday, but he said there was very little availability till December.
Tags: Hotel Pool Scenes / Hotel Pools / Boutique Hotels / Seville Hotels / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
The Best Rooftop Bar in Seville Is At The EME Hotel
As we said yesterday, rooftop pools and bars are all the rage in Seville at the moment.
But nice as the others can be, there’s one place that stands head and shoulders (or maybe that should be a couple of floors) above the others – the Santo Terraza Bar at the EME Hotel on Calle Alemanes.
For a start, the position is unbeatable – it’s in the cathedral square, facing the Giralda and the north side of the cathedral, with all its balustrades and flying buttresses and other architectural delights.
And they’ve really made the most of it, singling the hotel out from the touristy bars and shops dotted around it, by laying out a red carpet to its entrance.
Tags: Hotel Pool Scenes / Hotel Pools / Seville Hotels / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
Which Rooftop Pool Should You Go For in Seville?
The pool at the Hotel Doña Maria
As we told you yesterday, we noticed last weekend that the hotel pool scene is really taking off in Seville.
The poor old Alfonso XIII may not have a particularly sexy offering, but some of the rooftop ones are good enough for you to book a room on the basis of the pool.
Perhaps the best known is the pool at the Hotel Doña Maria, just off the cathedral square, which makes for stonking views of the Giralda. The terrace is split into two levels, with the bar and some tables down below, and the pool and a few more tables up some stairs.
Obviously, the views are pretty gorge. But the place seemed a bit tired. The chairs were tatty plastic faux-rattan affairs, the tables were a bit smeary, and the pool, with its lion-head fountain, was a bit too 80s. The staff were nice, though. Rooms start at €83 - the corridors looked dowdy to us, and the lobby was a bit overspun, but a friend has stayed here and says her room was whitewashed and nice.
Tags: Hotel Pool Scenes / Hotel Pools / Seville Hotels / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
The Hotel Pool Scene in Seville is Taking Off
Yesterday we lamented about the lack of decent WiFi at the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville. Today we’re going to tell you about its pool. Why? Because we noticed this weekend that the pool scene in Seville is really taking off. But as with most hotel trends, the newer and hipper places do it best.
When the Alfonso XIII was built, back in the 19th century, they preferred to stick turrets and stuff on hotel roofs, rather than pools so because of the gorgeous façade of the place, there’s not exactly room to stick a tub up there.
Thus the pool is in the traditional, round-the-back-of-the-hotel position. It's a nice size with a bar nearby and lots of birdies tweeting among the orange groves that surround it. (Tweeting as in the sounds that birds make, not people on Twitter.) As far as a city pool goes, it's a relaxing little haven.
But let’s be honest, pool scenes aren’t about swimming. They’re about swanning around, looking good, and drinking more. And it always looks better on the roof.
Tags: Hotel WiFi / WiFi Hell / Starwood Hotels / Seville Hotels / → All Tags
The Alfonso XIII May Be Seville’s Grandest Hotel, But Its Wifi is Less Than Grand
Relaxing weekends never pan out the way you planned them do they? And our trip to Seville this weekend was no exception. Leaving aside the whiplash from the crashy landing on Sunday night (thanks Ryanair) and the fact that we didn’t partake in enough cerveza sessions, we spent much of the two days seething about the dire internet situation at the Hotel Alfonso XII, where we were shacked up.
Switching on the laptop as is our wont on arrival at a hotel, we were sad to see no WiFi networks showing. Yes there was an ethernet cable, but our 'pooter lacks the requisite hole.
We called reception, who told us not to worry, that there was a computer downstairs for us to check our email. So we worried. Is there no wireless, we asked. The answer came back: "Yes, but it’s better to use our computer. " Ugh, we worried even more.
Tags: Hotel Delays / Hotel Hype / Hotel Openings / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
Mandarin Oriental Barcelona Will Now Open on November 26th
Oh Barcelona, you’re pretty n all, but we could do without your mañana mañana attitude spoiling our hotel plans. First the W pushed back its opening date no less than three times, and now it’s the turn of the Mandarin Oriental.
Last time we checked, the hotel was due to open on October 29. But when we hadn't heard any fanfare today, and checked out the hotel’s website to find the calendar showing “no availability”, we smelt a rat.
So we just called Mandarin Oriental’s PR people, and they told us the hotel is scheduled to open on 26 November. So that’s delay number one. But we’re expecting a delay number two, seeing as the website’s not taking reservations until 15 December. Hmm.
Opening rates, if they are opening December 15, are showing up as €284 ($421/£254) at the moment, although there’s an intriguing note on the booking page saying that “most rooms accommodate 3 people.” Er, surely the kind of people paying that amount of money won’t want to share with two others? Unless, of course, we're being, um, naive.
Here’s hoping all will be revealed on 26 November. In the mean time, how nice does that rooftop pool look? Shame it'll be too cold to use when they finally let us in.
Tags: Checking In On / W Hotels / Hotel Openings / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
W Barcelona May Be Stylish, But Still Needs To Work On Service
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Last time we looked, the W Barcelona wasn’t going down so well with its clients. But then that was after opening weekend, nearly a month ago. Is it time to give it another chance?
The Independent reviewed it this weekend and, going by the review, it'd seem the “abysmal” service and “no edgy people” may have been teething problems.
The hotel is “nothing if not striking”, they say, and the pool is “bracingly cool” (we're assuming that's in a literal sense - it's nearly November, after all). The views from the 26th-floor Eclipse bar, meanwhile, are “bewitching”.
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