Barcelona adds a new international reference brand to its hotel offering. If just a year ago the Intercontinental chain was incorporated, now it is the Sofitel brand that lands in the city, with a 225-room, five-star hotel, which also contributes to increasing the high-end segment of the market, with a price per night exceeding 300 euros. The establishment's restaurant, Tendiez, is advised by chef David Andrés, head chef of Via Veneto.
The new Sofitel Barcelona Skipper is located next to the Hotel Arts, the Biomedical Research Park (PRBB) and the Blue Building office building, a few meters from Somorrostro beach and the Olympic Port. It will begin to receive its first guests this Friday after the establishment's owner fund, Propreal Capital Partners, has made an investment of 40 million euros.
This budget has been allocated to transform the old Hotel Pullman Barcelona to adapt it to the standards of the Sofitel chain and to increase the category of the establishment, which goes from four to five stars. Headquartered in the Swiss city of Geneva, Propreal bought the property in 2016 from an Axa real estate fund for around 90 million euros. Since then, it has repositioned and completely remodeled the establishment in two phases.
In 2018 and 2019, when it was Pullman, it renovated the lobby, the restaurants and the two terraces, one lower and one on the rooftop, both equipped with swimming pools. The second phase, after the forced closure due to the pandemic, began in 2021 and has focused on renovating the facade ---which now features a 300 square meter vertical garden--- and on renovating all the rooms ---before there were 242 and now there are 225, of which 25 are suites---, as well as the convention area, the rooftop, the gym ---the spa has been removed--- and the parking lot.
"Since Propreal acquired the property for our investors, we have managed to increase the hotel's value potential by applying a cutting-edge design in its renovation with a strong focus on updating its gastronomic offer or its dazzling rooftop terrace," says Marcus Siggelow, Director of Asset Management at Propreal Capital Partners. "Barcelona Skipper represents a spectacular entry of Accor's Sofitel brand into the Spanish market in a privileged location facing the city's best-known beach, Barceloneta, and a few minutes' walk from the historic center of the Gothic Quarter," he points out.
Both Pullman and Sofitel are two brands of the French hotel giant Accor: the first is positioned in the premium segment, while Sofitel is one of the multinational's eight luxury brands, along with other renowned brands such as Fairmont, Raffles, and Orient Express.
The Sofitel brand, which has a very loyal international clientele and 120 hotels worldwide, had never been present in Barcelona. In the past, it did manage an establishment in Madrid for a brief period, but currently the chain did not operate in Spain. "Sofitel has chosen Barcelona to enter the Spanish market; we are very optimistic about our business forecasts for 2023. We have put together a team of one hundred people focused on providing impeccable service to our clients, interested in l'Art de Vivre français, but also in the modernity of the city of Barcelona," explains Matthias Bernard, general manager of the hotel.
To supervise the opening, Accor's CEO for Southern Europe, Maud Bailly, visited Barcelona and assured that the Sofitel Barcelona Skipper is "the new jewel of Sofitel" and is destined to be the flagship of the brand in Southern Europe. "Accor was looking for the perfect location to introduce the luxury Sofitel brand in Spain... and without a doubt, the incredible city of Barcelona is the right place," highlighted the executive, who is in charge of a portfolio of 1,900 hotels in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Malta, and Israel.
According to Bailly, with this new five-star hotel, they wanted to make three major commitments in the areas of diversity, sustainability, and design, with the premise that it had to live up to the city. Thus, the hotel has a high presence of women (they make up 60% of the management team) and applies a zero-plastic policy, to the point that the electronic room keys are made of wood. The new Sofitel is equipped with 82 solar panels, incorporates the latest advances in energy efficiency, and does not use chlorine for the treatment of its pool water. A strict program has also been adopted to avoid food waste, and the offerings of the three restaurants will be based on 100% local products. One of the most iconic elements of the hotel is the 300-square-meter vertical garden that presides over the main facade and has a computer-controlled irrigation system.
After the renovation, the hotel's two outdoor terraces stand out, the lower one for its spaciousness and the upper one for its privileged views of the beach and the rest of the city. Another space that has been carefully designed is the area for congresses and conventions, with 845 square meters distributed in 9 modular rooms around a large atrium bathed in natural light entering through a striking glass pyramid reminiscent of the Louvre's. The area has been decorated with a mural painted by urban artist Albert Mir that recreates the skyline of Barcelona and also commemorates the celebration of the Olympic Games.
The hotel's 225 rooms ---36 with sea views--- evoke a Parisian apartment, with a predominance of white, which contrasts with the floor, covered with oak wood. A decorative element has been installed on the headboard of the beds that pays homage to Barcelona: the famous hexagonal panots created by Gaudí for Passeig de Gràcia. In each room and in the hotel corridors there are also paintings and sculptural pieces made by Catalan artists Ya ya Tur and Mario Ruiz.
The Tendiez restaurant is not just for guests, quite the opposite. It has a separate entrance from the hotel to encourage Barcelonians to include it among their options when going out for dinner. Chef David Andrés has designed a menu of gourmet tapas such as escalivada of sun-dried tomatoes and smoked sardine with endive salad; calçot croquettes with romesco sauce or Ebro delta rice carbonara style with a fake fried egg.