What makes Barcelona so interesting to us?

By Luke Durden in Barcelona

Barcelona is so amazing that you just want to return again and again. You fall in love with it whenever you go. Barcelona is beautiful in summer and winter, but we recommend you to travel there in spring.

The sun shines perfectly. It’s not really hot and the university life stills active. There are fewer tourists and the squares and bars are full of locals and residents. Barcelona never sleeps, which is one of the charms of this Mediterranean city.

Its emblematic places are one of its main attractions, despite tourist agglomerations. One of them is Las Ramblas, a meeting point for all the people in Barcelona, where we can find some of the bests restaurants in the city, including traditional restaurants of authentic Catalan food.

If you are staying at Catalonia Ramblas Hotel, you will be just in the stroll in front plaza Grande. You can leave your room and easily reach and visit the stroll, buy some flowers and visit La Boqueria market calmly.

Rooftop pool in Barcelona

Rooftop pool in Barcelona

 

Book now directly at the lowest price online guaranteed through the official website: avoid intermediaries : )

Barcelona at Christmas: a design getaway

By Esther in Barcelona

Barcelona at Christmas is not a destination as popular as Madrid, which is and will be a reference desination at this time of the year. However, despite being ignored in many Christmas travel vouchers, the Condal City offers a wide range of possibilities for these cold and festive months. Besides, always with a touch of innovation and design that characterises the Mediterranean capital.

Christmas in Barcelona is different. Bid farewell to the traditional Christmas spirit, to street Christmas carols, to multicolour sparkling lights, to cotton candy stands, to chestnuts and nougat candies… The Catalan capital takes care of every detail and offers an exclusive image year after year, without giving up the charm of these dates but presenting it in a less kitsch manner… And, let’s say, more chic.

Christmas in Barcelona

Christmas in Barcelona

For example, the accommodations are always innovating. Although the boutique hotel is leaving a mark on travellers in Madrid and in many other cities, Barcelona is the one which sets the trends. In fact, all the hotel chains in the Condal City have been working in this sense for years: Vincci, Barceló, Catalonia…

The design hotels in Barcelona are a must if you want to enjoy the charm of the city: a museum hotel near Ramblas or Catalunya square, a modern inn or an apartment, all of them valid options as long as they have a state-of-the-art look that characterises a city famous for setting trends.

Even Christmas markets seem to be unique in Barcelona. The gastronomy is also varied and different to that of the centre of the peninsula, partly due to the weather: December is a month of mild temperatures and few rains in the Condal City. Thus, get ready for lounging in terraces with your sunglasses, going shopping to original boutiques, attending to shows and concerts of international groups, theatre in the streets and performances, art in every nook, exclusive parties… Activities that make Barcelona a first class destination, an original and incomparable setting for your Christmas.

Some of the design hotels in the centre of Barcelona you can book for these dates at affordable prices include the Vincci Bit and the Vincci Gala; the Catalonia Ramblas and the Petit Museum Barcelona. But make sure you make your reservation on the official website, avoiding charges for intermediaries.

Ideas for travelling before New Year’s Eve

By Loren in Destination

Countdown for the end of 2015. Supermarkets are crammed with nougat candies, firms start to look for a day for the business meals, mum has already called 5 times to organise Christmas gatherings… Everything smells of Christmas and we are still on November. But do not let yourself be carried away by the social Christmas frenzy and take a break before Christmas Eve. Make the most of your last holidays and enjoy a getaway on December’s long weekend. It’s now or never. Carpe diem and let’s dream.

We have asked different travel experts for advice and they have given us some ideas for travelling at the end of the year that will help you find the perfect excuse for getting into the adventure. Unique accommodations, snow and mountain destinations, getaways to the Mediterranean looking for the sun… Everything. Take note. And keep us informed about your plans 😉

Plan 1) Sierra Nevada from the highest mountain hotel in Europe

Do you fancy a snow getaway, taking out the skis, escaping from the city, getting to Granada and crowning Sierra Nevada? Then this is the perfect option for you. This year stay in a 5-star hotel with spa, gourmet gastronomy, state-of-the-art services in Monachil and direct access to the slopes: the Vincci Selección Rumaykiyya. It is said to be the highest hotel in Europe, and it is definitely a paradise for winter sport lovers. The average prices are about 150 euros per night (taxes included).

Plan 2) Madrid with friends

Few destinations are as versatile and varied as Madrid for a winter getaway. During these dates, the capital shines more than ever, with endless plans, parties, new theatre and music shows and irresistible gastronomic options. Regarding the accommodation, Madrid is relatively cheap when talking about a good hotel in the centre (the best option if you want to travel around the heart of the city without worries). There are very interesting design hotels in Madrid for groups: the Clíper Gran Vía Hotel or the Alcalá Torre Hotel are two good examples, as both feature spacious and fully equipped rooms ideal to be shared. If you want to surprise your group of friends, the Vincci Capitol, located in the same building as the mythical cinema theatre of Madrid, may be the perfect option for you.

Plan 3) 5-star Majorca

The summer island may also be a perfect plan for winter. The actions taken to make Majorca’s capital, Palma, a complete destination for any time of the year are yielding positive results and today’s option is attractive enough for a long relax and leisure holiday in the city, beyond the typical sun and beach. If you do not want to miss any plan, either you travel with your family or with friends, the best option is getting an accommodation near Palma, like the resorts and hotels in Playa de Palma, which will allow you to stay within a 15 minute drive to the city centre, to which they are connected through a pleasant seaside promenade ideal for walking or cycling. Prices are affordable during this time of the year, whenever you do not include New Year’s Eve, when prices rise again.

Cabogata Garden Hotel, Almería

Cabogata Garden Hotel, Almería

Plan 4) Almeria, nature and sea

Maybe you haven’t thought of planning a getaway to Almeria in winter before, but it is during these months when the Andalusian capital shows a special charm and colours. Its stunning natural landscapes, full of contrasts and with the Cabo de Gata Níjar Natural Park as its main exponent, make it an ideal destination for nature, outdoor sports and trekking lovers. But Almeria is much more, it is relax and good gastronomy. Almeria’s gastronomy is one of its hallmarks: do not miss the opportunity to try some of the typical specialities of this magic land. Regarding accommodation, the most recommended establishments are the resorts in Cabo de Gata, near the park. Prices are usually cheap and include exclusive services.

Plan 5) Caceres, a paradise of golf and peaceful ambience

Heritage, culture, calmness and nature come hand-in-hand in Caceres to offer you the perfect winter getaway. The most interesting option is planning a trip to Isla Valdecañas, a natural oasis specially designed for the wellness and leisure of the most demanding travellers of the XXIst century. The most recommended accommodation in Isla Valdecañas is the boutique hotel near the Monfragüe Natural Park, which includes access to the spa, horse riding school, sport courts, areas for events, swimming pools, golf courts, gastronomy… It is a 4-star hotel with a good quality price ratio ideal for travelling with your couple or with children.

Plan 6) Barcelona and its coast

Visiting the great capital of the Mediterranean is always a good option, but we recommend you to travel along its coast. If you love outdoor sports, quiet villages and traditional cuisine, this coastal area will offer you everything you need for your last 2015 holidays. Besides, it is the cheapest plan of all: the hotels on Barcelona’s coast offer good prices and a wide variety of options which include from the classic hotels in Calella and the hotels in Costa Brava, specially designed for relax and entertainment, to the hotels in Santa Susanna or the accommodations in Pineda de Mar. All of them offer a good personal attention and exceptional locations.

Catalonia, an avant-garde hotel

By Loren in Luxury Hotels

Catalonia hotels made an all or nothing bet to the hotel industry: the future is now, and guaranteeing a renewing experience that goes far beyond the simple comfort and rest is mandatory. To succeed, each place has to stand out, create its own identity, but without losing the common thread and hotel chain portfolio. A defined line of work recognisable wherever it is.

This work philosophy might look very simple, but it’s actually a very detailed and complex system, supported by a large investment and an attentive and excellence taste. We’re not talking about 5 star hotels but 3 and 4 star hotels located from the most crowded urban areas to the usual touristic areas in holiday.

Some examples of this new concept are the emblematic hotels in Barcelona from Catalonia hotel chain, that offer and specialized service, with a distinguishing ambient, which varies in each hotel but with all the attractions of every location, with more services, and more free amenities, (Wi-Fi, breakfast, welcome gifts) creating full packages for each specific guest (businessman, youth, couples, group of friends, family, athlete, etc.)

The first thing you notice when you’re in a Catalonia hotel is the avant-garde taste, then you see the well maintained facility in both the private and common areas, offering the opportunity to enjoy an accommodation with a dreaming decoration that we all would love to have home.

Hotels like the Catalonia Atenas, the Catalonia Las Cortes or the Catalonia Sagrada Familia, will surprise you for they furniture care, they all have the avant-garde line of design, with modern style, and sometimes minimalistic, sometimes combined with baroque details or different styles that make them unique, far from those sad poorly designed hotels that look like an Ikea magazine.

It might surprise you that this avant-garde taste leaded them across the sea, creating two incredible resorts in Riviera Maya and Bávaro, some of the most care designed in the Caribbean. They services and facilities are excellent, despite not being deluxe resorts, nor the larger ones in the touristic area, they are starting a new wave away from the traditional Caribbean resorts, creating a beach hotel with good taste and art style, but the best of it is that it doesn’t take the tradition, and essence of the destination.

 

The best season to visit Barcelona has begun

By Loren in Barcelona

Barcelona in May, is a luxury, and those who ever made a reservation during spring in this Mediterranean capital know it. The design, fashion and trend city shines radiantly this time of the year, when the heat rises and the sun can be enjoyed since morning.

So if you’re able to extend your stay a few days from the weekend, we recommend you a short trip to Barcelona and enjoy every single thing. In order to do that we have a tip list to enjoy it the most, keep reading and take notes.

1)    Accommodation in Barcelona. First of all, start right away to look for a hotel in Barcelona, an Airbnb accommodation or a hostel, since the accommodation is very crowded on this month thanks to the events (festivals, fairs, concerts, etc) and the prices will rise along with the market demand until June.

You already read our advices like a million times: book in a hotel in the centre of Barcelona if you have the chance. You really don’t need a car to move in the city, unless you want to know some towns from the Barcelona’s coast. The public transportation is perfect to move around the capital and it save you money and time.

Some of the featured hotels in Barcelona are in the Ramblas and Boquería zone, at the beginning of Eixample y Gràcia. However, another option would be opt for hotels in Plaza de las Glorias, the Pobre Now, and near Forum since they’re more affordable.

Prices may not be cheap, Barcelona is an expensive city, even more than Madrid, at least in accommodation, but the quality services are excellent, a high level service.

2)    Interesting routes. Besides Borne, the Gótico, the modern routes, the commercial areas and the best tapas y tascas zone, Barcelona has a variety of alternative touristic routes that you shouldn’t miss. The GoBcn offers us different activities, such as the hidden Raval route or the hidden Gracia, that will change the way you see this peculiar neighbourhood in Barcelona. This tours usually cost around 14 euros per person, they are in the morning and includes a vermouth and aperitifs. The web Turisme,is the entity that promotes the city tourism. You also have the opportunity to know the centre of Barcelona, both the classical and the modern areas, one of them is the Contemporary Barcelona which makes an itinerary of the city through its architecture from the xx to the xxI century.

3)    Downtown tapas Barcelona has thousands of excellent places to go and have some tapas and fresh cañas right in the centre of the city. The atmosphere in both the street and the buildings will captivate you, we recommend the Quimet I Quimet, the Esquinica (typical aragonese cuisine), the vermouth in the Xampanyet, the best cañas in El Vaso de Oro, the unique environment in the Gata mala and the unmissable San José Market (Boquería)

4)  Music and more music. May is the month of music in Barcelona, with international concerts with the best bands such as AC/DC, and to end the spring we will have the Primavera sound with the best independent groups nowadays, an excuse to come to the city and enjoy with your friends.

 

Design hotels for your holiday 2015

By Loren in Urban Hotels

Simple lines, sober colours and touches of citric, fluorescent and primary colours creating wider, more illuminated and quiet spaces. Simplicity is fashionable in hotel design for holiday 2015. Many of the Spanish chains specialized in urban hotels in Madrid and Barcelona work hard in order to offer the new interior decoration trends in their most emblematic hotels.

Small changes on furniture, bed clothes, curtains and some basic decoration objects could transform an entire hotel, without needing to make a big refurbishment. This is why there are many hotels using for the first time a more detailed, novel or just equally surprising appearance.

Hotels in Barcelona

Hotels in Barcelona

PHOTOS FROM: PETIT MUSEUM BARCELONA, OPERA GARDEN Y MADRID AEROPUERTO

Other hotels, such as the beach hotels in the coast of Barcelona, Andalusia or the Canary Islands, will begin to work on decorating again their spaces in order to offer a 2015 summer season full of new sensations for their guests. In these holiday destinations, hotels are mainly investing in rooms where light prevails: white colours, big windows, outdoor spaces (from small balconies to terraces), very simple furniture, functional lines, inspired by Nordic design but always keeping a detail or relation to the essence of the destination.

Some of them take elements of the environment and promote them, representing a continuation of the sensations and experiences offered by the destination. Other hotels opt for taking advantage of the most traditional culture, recovering the typical details and creating a connection between guest and destination: famous quotes, images of renowned places of interest, small pieces of local crafts, traditional symbols…

FOTOS DEL FERGUS CALA BLANCA Y DEL IBEROSTAR JARDÍN DEL SOL

A good example of this game consisting of eliminating borders between outdoor landscape and hotel interior decoration (especially in the rooms) are the spaces design made by FERGUS Hotels, specifically, in FERGUS Cala Blanca Suites Hotel, and by IBEROSTAR group, in its IBEROSTAR Jardin del Sol. Curiously, both hotels are located in the same area of Santa Ponsa Bay, just some metres away from each other, with views of one of the best Majorca sunsets.

In addition to the hotels, the rural accommodations and villas complexes in Minorca,Tenerife and the rest of the Canary Islands, are also investing in refurbishing their rooms and spaces. Apartments and hotel complexes with new areas for spa, relax and wellness; area with special spaces for children, such as swimming pools similar to water parks; fitness rooms, beauty salons and special health treatments, gourmet restaurants, even some of them with Michelin Star.

FOTOS DEL ROYAL CUPIDO EN PLAYA DE PALMA Y SU SEA SOUL BEACH CLUB

Beach clubs and Chill Out bars are some of the elements which have become a key space for hotels design. Places inviting to relax and comfort, where interior décor plays the most important role, since it must fill the space with sensations and transport the guest from an atmosphere to another one. Even opposite spaces in the same hotel. IBEROSTAR’s Sea Soul, for example, is an authentic cult of aesthetics, present in their spa hotels in Chiclana and the Royal Cupido spa hotel in Playa de Palma, among others.

By chance, these design spaces made for relaxing, the select wineglasses and music, are almost exclusively offered by Adults Only hotels and apartments, hotels for friends and, as an exception, All Inclusive Hotels in places such as Majorca and the Canary Islands. Precisely in the Canary Islands you can find some family accommodations with these beach clubs and cocktails included. A clear example is Fuerteventura Palace, hotel in Playa de Jandia where we can enjoy a exclusive VIP area for adults, combining the typical services of a family beach hotels in the Canary Islands, with the singularity and elegance of an up to date design hotel.