 |
|
|
|
|
Banys Orientals is the result of an intelligent reading of Barcelona's hotel scene by one of its savviest restauranteurs, Ramon Parellada. He saw a gap between the cheap pensiones and expensive, impersonal edifices on offer and decided to plug it with a small, fashionable, inexpensive hotel in the heart of the city. Parellada closed his successful restaurant in the Old Town district of El Born for a year, gutted the 18th-century building above it, and filled it with a minimalist 43-room hotel, retaining the old stone edifice and internal courtyard. The hotel opened in May 2002, although the promise of the name - literally Oriental Baths - has yet to be fulfilled: the pool, massage salon and steam room are due to open in the basement later this year. In the hotel, everything is kept simple and sparse, soft lighting, gunmetal-greys and black tiles contrasting with the stone and deep ochre of the façade. There are no mini-bars in the rooms and small TVs have just been added. The hotel's staff are young, eager and still learning. In the reopened restaurant, however, the desire to provide a designer experience at low-ish prices has been less successful than in the hotel itself.
WHEN TO GO
Avoid July and August when it's too hot. Otherwise, the city is always visitable
WHICH ROOM TO BOOK
The best rooms give on to the pedestrian street
CONTACT
Argenteria Hotel Banys Orientals, Argenteria 37, Barcelona, Spain (00 34 93 268 8460; fax: 268 8461). Doubles €91-€95
|
|
|
|
|
|
