15/02/2010

SITE INSPECTION IN HOTEL SKIPPER IN BARCELONA!

Im preveledged to have one of my best friends as my best clients! – Ten years ago me and Mrs Beatrice Joseph were colleagues in an event department in one of Sweden’s biggest travel agencies! Our work relationship was the start of a long friendship that has grown strong through the years! We share a special mutual “cariño” for the Mediterranean as she is half spanish just like me! With her roots just outside Barcelona, namely Valencia, no nead to say that our flow create a special magic when we put programs together for our clients!

As we have several groups in the pipeline this year, Beatrice came down for a site inspection to get an experience on some of the sites included in future programs!

We started off with one of my absolute favorite hotels of this city, the 5-star Hotel Pullman Barcelona Skipper, that I have worked closely with the last three years with many succesful events to think back on!

One of the key persons behind the succesful hotel is Mr Nicolau Gruart, Director of Sales, who makes sure that me and my clients always feels extra special! Apart from being a pro in the hotel business, Nicolau is true connaisseur of life and has a “savoir faire” as few people I have ever known! Of course these ingredients is a guarantee for a fun and enjoyable evening in his company!

Bea, Nicolau and me enjoying a nice dinner in the Syrah restaurant of the Hotel Pullman Barcelona Skipper! A fabulous start of a successful and intense site inspection!

Nicolau chose a fantastic wine from Priorat!

It didnt take long until Nicolau wrapped us around his fingers with his catchy stories! He is a true entertainer!

And you will never ever have a dull moment in his company!

Apart from the hotel’s high comfort and exclusive design it is famous for its reinventive cuisine and can boast with two chefs who previous were working in world famous restaurant El Bulli by Ferran Adriá, now working in the Syrah restaurant!

The interior design is modern and descrete and they manage to make the cold concrete into a warm inviting space!

The rooms are spacious and elegant, facing either the Mediterranean or the vibrant city with views over Sagrada Familia, Torre de Agbar etc! You know what city you are in when looking out from one of its rooms!

The Attic roof terrace overlooking the beach and the Mediterranean, a perfect place for welcome cocktails or lazy afternoons in the sun!

And if you are looking for a bigger party the ground level pool area is an ideal place for food stations with mingling to the sound of a dj toasting mixes in the Mediterranean breeze!

I will return soon with more reports and pictures from other venues of the site inspection!

Coming up shortly!! Keep your eyes open!

02/02/2010

A MONDAY CELEBRATION IN HOTEL MANDARIN BARCELONA

If you feel like spontaniously go out and celebrate on an ordinary Monday evening Barcelona boasts with various top level places to chose among! My favorite restaurant since a couple of years now, Me, is closed on Mondays so I was thinking why don’t try the new 5-star hotel, HOTEL MANDARIN, that recently opened its doors to the public in the end of 2009!

The fact that it is located on the very parade street of Barcelona, Passeig de Gracia, where the two most famous Gaudi houses are prominent neighbours, adds a golden shimmer to the hotel and the world famous reputation of the Oriental chain! Already upon the doorstep where the doorman greets you to enter the elegant ramp that leads into the more descrete small lobby with two desks on each side, one reception and one concierge, the stiff upper lip tells you that this is a high end top level environment!

Before the building hosted a prestigous bank, and therefor the bar is funnily named to The Banker Bar, fully decorated with safe deposit boxes in the ceiling! Very chic and very cosy actually! And one of the best shaken not stirred Dry Martini’s I ever have been served in Barcelona (I dont know how many times I have ordered this very classical drink and been served a Martini Bianco in a tube glass, surprisingly enough in a cosmopolitan city like Barcelona….but instead in the end I have to come up with something that is understood here so a “jotabeeeeeeeeee con gingerale to make the Spanish bartender understand what they should do..ufff, and for those who dont speak Spanish this means a JB with Gingerale)

Anyway, getting back to the very pleasant experience in the Mandarin I just want to warmly recommend a dinner in their restaurant Blanc! Everything from start to finish was an enjoyable theatre play with excellent food to accompany it! The Maitre, Chris, from London, who has eyelashes that you can rest on, gives you a full show without ever being too much in the middle! Our asianlooking waitier with a spanish touch name, Marco Antonio, was impeccable in making sure everything was to our satisfaction from start to end!

The environment is exclusive, a touch of design concept without being too much hard core design like most of the hotels recently in Barcelona, no W for Wannabe…but truly genuine materials and choise of art, design, decoration etc, a very positive surprise in the headquarters of the Modernism of Barcelona!

I have a site inspection coming up to see the hotel from inside out, so I will be back to give you a full report on the rooms, the luxurious spa, the gourmet restaurant, and of course, the ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS roof terrace!

By the way, no need to say that my simple Monday celebration was a SUCCESS?! :-)

01/02/2010

MY FAB “HOME” IN STOCKHOLM

I just spent the whole last week in a snow white and crispy Stockholm!

This capital used to be my home base during 12 years ( I just counted and thought it was much more…Barcelona is closing in with its 9 years this year!), and now living in Barcelona still working with Swedish clients, I realize I have the best of two worlds! Stockholm has such an added value for me today when Im not living there anymore… Actually the best in visiting Stockholm is to know it is for a limited period of time! Don’t get me wrong, I dont mean to sound negative about this beautiful place, it’s just that I have found my flow down by the Mediterranean and feel priveledged to get a small dosis of the Swedish capital…small dosis of the darkness, the cold, the long winter, buying wines at Systembolaget etc…and instead an overdosis of sun, blue skies, the Mediterranean, cava- and wine country with looong summers and nice and mild seasons!

My fab home in Stockholm is actually not on one of the many fab sofas offered from friends and family living there, it is on my absolute favorite hotel all times – HOTEL DIPLOMAT! When I am on business and have to be full on with a clear focus at all times, it is of utmost importance for me to feel grounded, to have a private place to withdraw myself to, back into the silence, to my inner source. The ambience of Hotel Diplomat have all the ingrediences for me to really feel at  home, like I have my own home still there on Strandvägen, the location, the cosy lobby with its reception and armchairs infront of the fire place, the restaurant and T-bar! One of my dearest and”oldest” friends, not that we are old neither one of us (!), only that we have been friends since 21 years when we used to work together in the Sheraton in Stockholm, is the Hotel Manager of Hotel Diplomat, Madeleine Barck, something that adds some golden shimmer durig my stays! But not all the staff knows that Madeleine and I are good friends, and yet they pay that extra attention to me asking if I need anything or have everything I want in a very nice way! A big thank you to Le Chef Benny who has put love in my “havregrynsgröt” that I ordered extra every morning! :-)

So if you ever doubt about where to book your hotel nights while in Stockholm, I hope the message is clear! There is no home away from home like good old “Dippan”! And exciting renovations of the restaurants is soon coming up! Keep you ears and eyes open!