Triple room at the Granvia Hotel

My parents and I stayed for two nights in a roomy and comfortable, triple room at the Granvia Hotel between 16 – 19 Sept 2012. It is a lovely building and retains its old world charm. The breakfasts were varied and filling. The staff were very friendly and accommodating.

The hotel is located within 5 minutes of Plaza de Catalunya and metro stations and Passeig de Gracia for the buses to get to Park Guell. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay and wish that we had planned another couple of days in the lovely city of Barcelona. I will definitely be coming back to stay at the Granvia Hotel.

Experience posted by Lisa Jones, September 2012.

MediaTic Barcelona: 2011 World Building of the Year

Only a few weeks ago it received the 2011 World Building of the Year Award at the World Arquitecture Festival Awards.

It combines an innovative and sustainable design. One of its more practical if curious features are the inflatable cushions on the facade. These control the light and temperature and make it possible to save on heating and air conditioning, because they inflate and deflate with the light and heat from the sun, preserving the heat and allowing the air conditioning to be switched off.

The way it works is simple but highly complex: the Teflon membranes inflate with compressed air to contain the heat when the light metres in the membrane detect a certain temperature. The system is controlled by 104 computers.

In fact, it is estimated the MediaTIC‘s design cuts carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 114 tonnes a year. “The MediaTIC is a very efficient building. It is a grade A building that cuts carbon dioxide emissions entering the atmosphere by 92%“, says Enric Ruiz-Geli, the architect from the Cloud-9 studio that designed the building, which is located in the 22@ district.

48Hours Open House Barcelona

48H Open House BCN will take place on 22-23 October in 2011, following the success of the inaugural event in 2010 – and being the first Mediterranean city to adopt the initiative. Hotels, palaces, apartments, churches and all sorts of other buildings will be open to the public this weekend as part of the 48h Open House Barcelona architecture festival. Architects and experts will be offering tours of 160 buildings all over the city.

The 48H Open House Barcelona activities program is built around the broad network of buildings that will open their doors to the public. The event is set within the ten Barcelona boroughs (Ciutat Vella, Eixample, Gràcia, Horta‐Guinardó, Les Corts, Nou Barris, Sant Andreu, Sant Martí, Sants‐Montjuïc and Sarrià‐Sant Gervasi). Architects are on site within many of the buildings, the event also includes special activities and conferences. Completely free and designed to enhance participation and encourage dialogue between all.

The event aims to encourage locals to appreciate the value of good architecture and urbanism, opening over 150 great buildings of different styles, forms and sizes to the public.

Plus, Open House, a free festival, is also running a range of activities, including routes, competitions and dance and architecture workshops.

Joan Miró: The ladder of escape

Renowned as one of the greatest Surrealist painters, filling his paintings with luxuriant colour, Joan Miró worked in a rich variety of styles. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy more than 150 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints from moments across the six decades of his extraordinary career. This exhibition is co-organised by Tate Modern and Fundació Joan Miró.

The exhibition also traces an anxious and politically engaged side to Miró’s work that reflects his passionate response to one of the most turbulent periods in European history. Working in Barcelona and Paris, Miró tracked the mood of the Spanish Civil War and the first months of the Second World War in France. It also shows that, behind the engaging innocence of his imagery, lies a profound concern for humanity and a sense of personal and Catalan national identity. Extraordinary works from different moments of his career celebrate his roots in his native Catalonia.

Fundació Joan Miró is located at Montjuic, accesible by Funicular from Parallel station, just in front of Hotel Barcelona Universal. You can reach Fundació Joan Miró also from Plaza Espanya, by bus line 50, stopping next to B-Hotel.

More information can be found at Fundació Joan Miró website.

Hotel Jazz: Great rooms, great pool, great price

This is our second time spending a week in Barcelona at the Hotel Jazz. For the price it’s unbeatable. Comfortable rooms with contemporary Spanish design. Great rooftop pool – not huge, but not a puddle like at some other design hotels like Cram. The rooftop pool has enough comfortable loungers, enough nice fluffy towels, and a nice little bar.

Very helpful and friendly desk staff. Great central location right in between the main square (Plaza de Catalunya, direct bus to airport, Corte Ingles department store) and the Eixample/Gracia shopping, restaurant and nightlife area.

Experience posted by brianscottgross, August 2011.

Barcelona Fashion Showcase

The city’s main fashion events coincide once again. The Brandery fashion show, which takes place from 13 to 15 July, features an area open to the general public among its new features. The 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, from 12 to 15 July, is being held at historical site of the Barcelona University, while the ModaFad parade and market will be on from 14 to 15 July.

While The Brandery, an urban fashion fair designed to show off the latest trends from the big brands, is organising a competition for new talent, the 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, an indie fashion platform, is letting in big names.

The Brandery is the new hotspot of urban fashion, a hub of trends, design, music, creativity and business. Exhibitions, catwalk shows, live music… all under the same roof which, for the first time this year, will have a new sector open to the general public: The Brandtown Fashion Xperience, which will coexist with the traditional The Brandery trade show.Such apparent contradictions share the same spirit, that of putting Barcelona on the fashion map, publicising successful businesses and introducing up-and-coming designers.

Creativity and innovation are the concepts that inspire 080 Barcelona Fashion, an initiative driven by the Catalan Government, as an open, plural multidisciplinary, international fashion platform.

This July at least sees these two events coinciding with the ModaFad events and activities once again to provide a highly unique fashion week. And B-Hotel features Fitting Room, an event where design, fashion and arts come together.

The ModaFAD activity consists of the international showing of emerging fashion designers to boost the interdisciplinary, drive the concept of the designer and promoted, and encourage the relationship between the design schools, the young designers, the specialized modes of communication, and the industry.

Detailed information can be found on each event website:

• The Brandery
• 080 Barcelona Fashion
• ModaFAD
• Fitting Room at B-Hotel

Frederic Marès Museum reopens

The Museu Frederic Marès is a unique collecting museum that preserves the collections assembled by its founder, sculptor Frederic Marès (1893-1991) in a part of the old Royal Palace of the Counts of Barcelona in the heart of the Gothic Quarter. Its original Verger or courtyard garden, still remains intact.

Throughout his lifetime he amassed an extensive Hispanic sculpture collection, as well as tens of thousands of objects that make up a vast collection of collections that documents past lifestyles and customs, mainly from the 19th century. There you can find amusing, unique items like fans, pipes, clocks, jewellery, photographs, toys, keys, pharmacy bottles and reliquaries, all presented in an intimate atmosphere.

The Verger of the Royal Palace is a courtyard filled with orange trees surrounded by arched galleries, a pleasant spot in fine weather; and its open from April to September, both for museum visitors and promenaders.

Frederic Marès i Deulovol (Portbou, 1893 – Barcelona, 1991) came to Barcelona with his family in 1903, when he was ten years old. He immediately started attending classes at the School of Fine Arts, La Llotja, where he received training as a sculptor, and where he would later work as a teacher until 1964.

However, in addition to being a sculptor, Marès also felt a passion for collecting from a tender age. He discovered the world of antiquarians and auctions in Paris back in 1911 and purchased his first collections. He gradually expanded them and gathered them in his sculpture workshop and at his home until in 1944 the Association of Friends of Catalan Museums held an exhibition with a selection from his collection at the City History Archive, and he publicly expressed his determination to donate his collection to the city.

More inf@: Museu Frederic Marès.

B-Hotel Barcellona: Tutto perfetto

Abbiamo soggiornato al B-Hotel per una notte, il 10 ottobre 2010.

Tutto perfetto: lo stile, i colori, le luci. Camere praticamente insonorizzate pur essendo ubicato lo stabile in Plaça de Espanya; colazione ottima, latte e caffè caldi, brioches, pane e affettato a volontà.

Gentilezza e disponibilità del personale… un tre stelle che potrebbe essere un *****!!!
Consiglierò ad amici e parenti il soggiorno in B-Hotel, senza dubbio. The best in Barcelona.

Experience posted by Simona, Oct. 2010.

Open House Barcelona: 48h of the best architecture

The first 48h Open House BCN, on 16th. and 17th. October, invites Barcelona residents to visit some 130 buildings throughout the city which are noted for their architecture and interior design. The initiative, which has been a success in London and New York, offers a unique opportunity to see inside houses, offices, hotels and mansions.

48h Open House BCN offers views ranging from the latest architecture in 22@ to Art-Noveau gems and 18th-century mansions. The intention is to hold it every year and include every type of building.

We also find variations in the way they are used. There are libraries, churches, restaurants, shops, flats, company headquarters etc., where you will be able to observe how architecture and interior design are adapted to the needs of each.

Visits to some buildings, like private residentials, will be restricted to small groups. Each building will have its own specific visiting hours, so we advise you to consult the 48h Open House BCN website.

Most of the buildings will have architects and other notable people, such as their current owners and users, who will be giving discussions and offering guided tours to explain the most characteristic and distinctive features of each one.

Furthermore, a bike tour round several buildings on the city’s seafront has been organised by the architect Pablo Pluvinet, on Saturday 16 October, and a photography competition aimed at everyone visiting any of the buildings involved in this festival of architecture.

Xavier Mariscal at La Pedrera

Xavier Mariscal, Valencian-born artist working since 1970 in Barcelona, presents a new exhibition at La Pedrera, the famous building by Antoni Gaudí.

With drawing as an essential instrument, Xavier Mariscal has developed his own artistic language which has gone beyond graphic design. The creator of Barcelona’92 Cobi has become an all-round multidisciplinary artist. Mariscal’s language is synthetic, with few strokes and a great deal of expressiveness. His works have been already on exhibitions at Memphis, Milano or Paris. He is also the “father” Twipsy, Hannover 2000. Thanks to his designs and ideas, he has partnered with architects such as Arata Isozaki or Alfredo Arribas.

It is a nice coincidence for Núñez i Navarro Hotels, as Alfredo Arribas designed our B-Hotel and Hotel Soho Barcelona.

Discover him at the exhibition “Mariscal a la Pedrera”, which looks back over this designer’s forty-year career. Also, discover the working methods used by this tireless creator who has created a five metre high work entitled Alegria for this exhibition.

Where: La Pedrera
Passeig de Gràcia, 92. <M> Diagonal
When: Until January 30th 2011.
Cost: Free

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