I wake from a sleepy airline haze, just connected from LAX (Los Angeles) to ZUR (Zurich), and after 10 hours on that flight, I’m finally tired enough to sleep. The thought of Barcelona and Formula 1 racing keeps my mind buzzing, and now, after a relaxing stop at Zurich Flughafen, I’ve dozed off to a peaceful slumber. But now I’m confused as hell as the plane begins its descent, the window slides open, and where the hell are we? We’re over water and I’m confused. The plane touches down, nice landing, and I just roll through the scenarios: Did we board the wrong flight? Was the plane diverted while I was asleep? We exit the plane and yes, thank God, the F1 signs let me know I’m in the right place. I’m in Barcelona.
“This is cool”, I think to myself as we pull into the Hilton Barcelona driveway. Or is it a courtyard. Or outdoor reception area. There are no real designating lines or curb of any sort to make it a parking lot. I don't realize it, it's my first encounter with Barcelona design. A subtle, yet powerful design nod. Oh look, there is a restaurant next to the driveway, Piscolabis, and it looks like the spot we should check out for our first meal in Barcelona. Sure, some people would prefer to do massive amounts of research, check out international Yelp, and find the listing with the most stars. Not me. I like wood and glass restaurants, well lit, and with people smiling in them. And this place has the all the markings, so I'm in. After all, we're hungry and I want some fresh air and to start exploring. Our cabbie opens the door, we step out, and our Hilton adventure begins.
Ziko greets us at the entry. We enter through the revolving door, and the space speaks to me. Clean white floors, minimalist Euro design, splashes of color and wood provide a real design feel to the place. This design is supposed to mean something, like the red streamers dangling over the bar. The front desk is responsive and we have our room in a minute. Even the fact that we had two reservations under one name, one with points and one with cash doesn’t faze Alex in the least. Hilton’s system is sharp, and he takes care of the dual reservation with a single room effortlessly. We walk over to Nico and tell him the room number, “Yes, of course.” He responds in a manner that says he knows. Duh. I didn’t realize these guys were mind linked.
We leave the counter and of course, I have to check out the bar. A nice sized rectangular setup with a white counter-top over a gold base. And then I look up and I realize the red streamers are in fact a 40ft art installation. A Murano-glass sea kelp forest hanging over the bar turning us little fish swimming in an aquarium. Where’s my diving helmet? This was an amazing piece of work for a mid-level hotel like this. And as I would find out, Barcelona is one artistically expressive town. This would be par for the course throughout the city. After spotting my wine chair, we head up to the room to scope the layout.
We get off at the 9th floor. The elevator opens to an opens as the top floor of an open atrium lobby space. Stepping out of the elevator, we can see the top of drapes and no floor. Interesting. 
We walk over and look down on 4 lounge chairs, 2 coffee tables, and a dazzling carpet display of vertical lines. I've never seen anything like this, well, yes, I've chairs and tables before, but not in a quiet little 8th floor elevator lobby space like this. The ceiling to floor sheer drapes that partially shade the glass wall that reveals the…wait…yes, that’s the fire stairwell. This place is just too cool! Is this related to the history of Spaniards and their mid-day siestas? Maybe it's more of a new take on an old tradition. Maybe our diets don't welcome the midday snooze, but more about taking time to decompress, relate to one another, and just have some quiet time in an open space that frees the mind from its physical restrained surroundings. Whatever the reason, it goes to show there's a lot more to the design than just plopping some paintings on the wall.
We head into the room, and it’s a clean, smooth design. The focal point of the room, the bed, has a bed-to-near-ceiling fabric headboard with wood planking trim and the coolest floating lanterns for side table lights. Good thing they thought of outlets on either side for charging the phones. Always intrigues me when hotels don't have outlets next to the bed. Guess they have never stayed in a hotel and need to charge a phone overnight, the same phone that is also the alarm. Yes, that happens sometimes so it's nice to have the phone next to the bed. Another cool feature is the sliding glass closet door that is some sort of red/gray artistic pond scene. Or maybe they're just geometric coordinations. More design! The glass door slides to reveal the closet, a good sized space with the daily amenities of ironing board and safe. But, in an effort to maximize space, the sliding open of the door does cover the bar area. So slide the door close and expose the bar counter top, glass shelves and storage drawers. And that's Europe: Clothing dresser storage is just 4 small drawers. For the whole room. Hence the term, "living out of my suitcase". No problem. A simple TV, desk area and a little catch-all glass topped table accompanied by a sitting chair round out the room. A very relaxing room, visually pleasing and spatially engaging.
But the scene stealer for me was the bathroom. Porcelanosa finishes throughout rock the place! The wall tiles, the bath fixtures and lighted mirror knocked it out the park. And irony of ironies, I had just received the latest Porcelanosa catalog at home, and just dreaming of finishing my house with pages 23, 48 and 58. I wish! But now, I’m living that dream. Unlike a lot of European bathrooms, this one is very spacious. Easy for my wife and I to maneuver around during our morning shower routines. A large shower space with fixed glass and open entry has my favorite feature: Separate water and temperature knobs. Get in turn on the water, and its the same perfect temperature everytime. The large mirror helped with me shaving at the same time Nancy was doing makeup. One large single wash bowl worked equally well. The porcelain wall tiles were subtle, yet playful. Very well thought out.
The next morning we head down for breakfast, and even the breakfast area was exciting. This was more like a nice dinner restaurant than breakfast. And the food offerings was more than I could have imagined. The normal chaffing dishes of eggs, bacon, sausages also were home to fried eggs, and beans. But turn around, fresh fruit is waiting for you. But wait, walk to the backside of the fruit, and there are assorted Spanish favorites of meats and vegetables. Tomato and Mozarella, jamon serrano, olives, and much more. Quite a turn out. Turn around from there, oh my, a cooler with assorted cheeses, both fresh Cheddar and Jack slices and Laughing Cow wrapped varietals. Yogurts and milk. And it just keeps getting better, around the other corner, juices and Cava! I love sparkly in the morning! Wow, what an offering. Everything for everyone. I could just sit and eat this all day! But we have to leave to head out now, and as we do, I look closer at this little office area off to the side of the restaurant entrance, maybe the coordinator’s space. It's was just flawless in its design. I so want to work here! White tile, geometric walls, a cool astro-tech feel. And then when it couldn’t any better, I notice the dining lounge is just decorated in the latest cool colors, Purple and Teal. Wow, this place was just a feast for the eyes. If more hotels like this designed at this level, life would be great.
On the way back to the room, someone gets off on the 4th floor. And what's this? I inquire, it's the Hitlon Honors member lounge. Again, beautifully designed, a sepearte lounge for Honors members where they have a complimentary happy hour in the evening. Pretty cool, this hotel has it all. Oh, and the bed was pretty comfy too!
