Category: trips

Barcelona | Hotel Room Mate Emma

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bcn emma (1)
After my pleasant stay at Hotel Room Mate Lola in Málaga last December it’s probably not surprising that I would choose to stay with Room Mate again on my recent trip to Barcelona. I’d actually looked into a couple other hotels there but, as usual, Room Mate came through first with a good four-night offer, plus Emma is just three metro stops from the Renfe Sant station, where the AVE stops. And it felt good – a bit like coming home – when I arrived and got settled into my comfortable Deluxe room. It had a nice big window, a very comfortable bed, a desk for my laptop, mini bar, safe and a good amount of closet space. My only small complaint was that the bathroom had very dim lighting, making “hair and make-up” very awkward. Had no idea what I actually looked like until I got into the lift.

bcn emma (2)[click on image to enlarge]

I was up on the sixth floor with a window facing the street, which turned out to be very quiet. I’d recommend a street-facing room for the extra light, unless you are a very extra-light sleeper, in which case there are also rooms facing the interior patio. There are seven floors of standard and deluxe rooms, with two floors of suites with private terraces above. I was actually surprised that the ultra-modern décor could feel so cosy, but it did. As always with Room Mate, breakfast is served until noon, but I just opted for a quick morning cup of coffee while I plotted out my day.

Room Mate Emma is located in Carrer Rosselló, in the chic Eixample barrio, a stone’s throw from the elegant Paseo de Gracia and close to just about anywhere you’d want to go. In fact I walked everywhere during my four-day stay and found lots to do nearby. There is also a small supermarket right across the street to pick up “supplies” like mineral water, juice, wine and snacks. Great customer service, as always. Recommended!

Hotel Room Mate Emma
Carrer Rosselló 205
Barcelona
Tel 932 38 56 06

For restaurant recommendations have a look here… Eating Out in Barcelona

Málaga Street Art

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malaga street art (1)
Just before Christmas I took a trip to Málaga and stayed at the Room Mate Lola, smack dab in the centre of the new Soho district, which turned out to be an excellent location for getting around. The “Barrio de las Artes”, once a dodgy area of town, has been transformed into a bohemian rhapsody of street art with international artists being invited to add their creations to the walls of the neighbourhood buildings. Somehow I missed getting a photo of the two biggies – massive murals just behind the Contemporary Arts Museum put up by D´Face and Obey – but you can see them here at East of Málaga.

My favourite is the chameleon by ROA, and below you can see some others that I liked. Click on any image to enlarge and begin slideshow…

As much as I like the new Soho, it feels a bit like doing things backwards. “Traditionally” in most urban areas you’d get artists taking over low rent places filled with the usual array of drug addicts, prostitutes and other ne’er do wells, and as they upped the “trendy” the middle class would start moving in and jacking up property prices, eventually pushing the artists out to start the cycle over again elsewhere. But this Soho is a government promoted project, with “street art” being commissioned by city hall, creating an artificial boho feel to the area, which is pleasant to look at but yet feels somewhat contrived. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops.

Casa de Huéspedes Santa María

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casa huespedes bed
This quirky and charming family-run guest house was recommended to me by a friend who lives in El Puerto de Santa María and I have to say it was perfect for my overnight stay there mid-November. My room was on the ground floor at the back of the house, so not much light from the row of small windows just under the ceiling (presumably opening onto a patio), but it was brightly decorated in primary colours against white walls and bedding, which made it quite cheerful. The bed was super comfortable and everything was clean-clean-clean. I had an ensuite bathroom (some of the rooms share) which was small but serviceable. In fact, my only two complaints about the place had to do with the bathroom: no hand-held showerhead option, and the opaque window in the bathroom that opened onto the hallway (which wasn’t actually opaque enough and – bizarrely – had a curtain covering it on the hallway side of the window). I don’t know, just made me feel a bit “exposed” late at night.

casa huespedes room

[my room]

Owners Carlos and Myriam were very welcoming and helpful. I arrived with about fifteen minutes to spare to make my appointment for a sherry tour at Bodegas Gutierrez-Colosía, which happily was not far away, and Carlos not only gave me easy directions but also a couple of recommendations for places to have tapas afterwards. Unfortunately this meant I didn’t have time to take a peek at some of the other rooms and by the time I got back after lunch they were all occupied.

casa huespedes common spaces

[common areas of the hotel – click to enlarge]

Nice touches included a small kitchen where you could make tea or coffee and snacks. The fridge was stocked with bottled water that you could take and leave payment (1€) in a tin on the countertop. There were two complimentary coffee capsules with cups in my room and additional ones were also 1€ each, which seemed reasonable to me. The common rooms on the ground floor were also charming. A TV/reading room with a stack of books and comfy retro chairs, and a typical patio Andaluz, not-so-typically decorated. There was free WiFi in the common areas. All in all a pleasant stay and, at 40€, also a very good price.

It’s also an excellent location. It was about a 15 minute walk from the train station and just a 5 minute walk to the catamaran, which I took to Cádiz city the next morning.

Casa de Huéspedes Santa María
Calle Pedro Muñoz Seca 38
El Puerto de Santa María
Tel 956 85 36 31

Hotel Argantonio | Cádiz

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argantonio beds

The Argantonio is a small 2 star hotel in a traditional style building, not luxurious, but with considerable charm. I stayed there with a friend mid-November and our room on the third floor was simply decorated, clean and comfortable with a good sized bathroom that had a walk-in shower. Tip: ask for a room with a balcony on the (very quiet) street as these get better light than the interior rooms. Also, the rooms with two beds are considerably larger than those with a double bed. There was also a pleasant little terrace on the roof with a couple of comfy chairs for relaxing with a drink and a book, though the day I was there it was a bit too cold to take advantage of it.

Breakfast was included in the price (79 euros, double occupancy), with fresh hot coffee made to order from the bar, juice and toast, charcuterie, pastries and some hot dishes of eggs and sausages. Another plus was that the staff were friendly and helpful. We came back around midnight from our evening tapeo and a couple was being served a nightcap at the bar in front of the reception area, which I thought was a nice touch. And very important: there’s free WiFi with good reception throughout the hotel.

argantonio hotel

[click on image to enlarge]

 The location was excellent, on the edge of the old town and not far from the train station, giving easy access to both. Overall I thought it was good value for money. My only tiny “complaints”: the lack of a detachable shower head, and that the safe in the closet wasn’t bolted down, rendering it pretty much useless. But I would definitely stay here again.

Hotel Argantonio
Calle Argantonio, 3
Cádiz
Tel 956 21 16 40
Hotel Argantonio Website

Córdoba | Palacio de Viana

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blue potsCórdoba is undoubtedly one of the most important historic cities in Europe, with a list of world-class monuments topped by the splendid Mezquita. But it also has quieter, less obvious charms. Among these are the famous Córdoban patios and courtyards (which even have their own festival), decked with flowers, often in the distinctive dark blue flower pots that can be seen all over the cities. Of course, patios and courtyards are not unique to Córdoba, being a typical architectural form all around the Mediterranean, but here they have been developed more than almost anywhere else, and have become almost a local art-form.

For this reason no visit to Córdoba can really be considered complete without going to see the Palace of Viana, the Museum of the Patios, and a few days ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a tour both of the patios and the palace of which they form a part (it was actually my second visit as last year I saw the patios shortly after the museum had opened). In fact, I have only been in summer (first last June and now August) and really must go again in the spring.

viana collage

[a few of the Palacio de Viana patios]

The palace is known to have existed since the 14th century, and in the 15th became the home of the Don Gome family. In the 17th century it became known as the Rejas (grilles) de Don Gome, because of the barred windows of the patio giving on to the street outside. The original palace occupied a much smaller area than the palace as it is now, but under a succession of owners it has grown and changed over the centuries. In the 19th century, when it was the residence of the Marques de Villaseca, the house of Torres Cabrera, another palace that lay alongside, was taken over in its entirety. In 1902 the Palace became the property of the second Marquis of Viana, and over the next two generations completed its evolution into almost the form we see today. In 1980, on the death of the third Marquis, the Palace was sold to the CajaSur foundation and registered as a monument of national historic importance.

The palace today has twelve courtyards and a garden, intertwined with the various wings and sections of the palace, whose rooms and galleries house important collections of artifacts and artworks, including Breughel and Goya, tapestries and furniture, as well as an impressive library with over 7,000 books. I recommend taking the guided tour of the upstairs rooms. Although it is only given in Spanish there are printed handouts in different languages that give you a brief description of the rooms and collections.

There are also nighttime events and concerts which must be magical in that setting. You can check events, dates and times on the Palacio de Viana website.

Palacio de Viana
Plaza de Don Gome, 2
Córdoba