Despite Barcelona´s new Mayor scuppering the plans of hoteliers and event planners alike with her ban last year on licensing any new hotels in the city there a still a lot of new facades that are worth checking out or even better, checking in to. The Factor 3 faves of 2015 are the Cotton House and the Serras and the H10 Cubik.
The Serras is a jewel in the design crown of Barcelona and with 28 perfectly formed rooms, 10 sumptuous suites and 5 twinkling stars it´s the perfect harbour-side city retreat for a small incentive group that likes to be on the cutting edge of luxury. Not only does it boast one of the most sought after terraces in the city, some serious in-room tech such as TVs the rotate to be bath facing and a Michelin starred chef, it was also the site of Pablo Picasso´s first studio!
For a similar group profile but on a larger scale, Barcelona now offers the Cotton House Hotel. An 83-room property in the centre of town that is simply exquisite. Colonial style and masculine colours predominate here in a building that was the former Cotton Producer´s Guild. With its rooms named after different fabrics, it comes as almost no surprise that a tailoring service is available to its guests! An elegant library, stunning restaurant and 300 square metre garden terrace brimming with banana plants and birds of paradise mark it out as an oasis of old meets new world calm and charm that is simply to die for.
The H10 Cubik has not yet had been officially inaugurated however since it opened its doors in December it has fast become a familiar sight in our proposals, this is a heavy weight new 4-star and seriously worth considering for any group with an eye for design. The interiors are by none other than wunderkind Lázaro Violán and common areas combine mid-century modern design with Mediterranean flavour and fun. The hotel features 101 rooms, 3 large meeting rooms, and a soon-to-be-opened tapas restaurant and terrace which we have a keen eye one.
This month will see the completion of the first stage of renovations at the newly-rebranded Fairmont Rey Juan Carlos with the full transformation set for July. Even with imposed restrictions Barcelona’s creative energy will innovate new ways to thrive ensuring that the MICE industry here will never stagnate.