Ian Schrager Helms the New Barcelona Edition
Date: September 2018
Location: El Born in the centre of the Ciutat Vella district, between the Mediterranean Sea and l’Eixample neighbourhood.
Name: The Barcelona Edition
No. of Keys: 100
Seller: The site was a office building.
Buyer: Developer KKH Property Investors, headed up by Josep-Maria Farre, Founder in 2007, who is a Barcelona based company established by KKH Capital Group and Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund II LP, with approximately €200 million in equity commitments and an investment capacity of approximately €500 million.
Mr Farre had been the CEO of Renta Corporación, Josep María Farré. He returned to Spain after a six-year break with the intention of building a portfolio of properties exceeding €300 million.
After undertaking acquisitions in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, KKH recently entered the Spanish capital. There, it purchased the former headquarters of the Caja Madrid Foundation, in Plaza de las Descalzas, which, in July 2017, it was going to convert into a 170-room luxury hotel.
The Barcelona Edition has opened as Marriott’s Edition brand’s newest European outpost. The design team for the hotel included creative director Ian Schrager, and Carlos Ferrater Studio and Lázaro Rosa-Violán as interior designers.
When entering the main doors, guests find a double-height lobby space dominated by a blue Eric Schmitt chandelier and a selection of furniture pieces originally designed by Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí.
To the right, there will be a black marble and walnut wood reception desk. The lobby lounge area is located to the left, as well as a bar/restaurant.
Composed of two spaces, the lobby lounge also includes furniture pieces with varying styles. The first of the two spaces has a more traditional living room ambience with four Christian Liaigre chairs and a games table in the center, as well as a pair of Yves Klein blue armchairs designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld.
The second space has a more intimate lounge area with low ceilings and sheepskin armchairs. An illuminated blue art piece by Carlos Coronas is framed by the space to the rear and will combine with dark wood wall finishes and off-white fabrics.
The lobby bar has an informal all-day dining restaurant, Bar Veraz, which can accommodate 87 guests.
A version of The London Edition’s Punch Room is located at the mezzanine floor. It is accessible via a spiral staircase of steel, marble and wood. This space overlooks the main lobby and dining area.
Located in the basement floor of the hotel, Cabaret restaurant has a lounge area and cocktail bar. The velvet curtains at the far end of the dining room may be drawn back to reveal a stage, framed by a large archway. A cocktail bar sits at one end of the space while the lounge area will be located away from the main club area.
The Roof, located on the 10th floor, has views of the city. It also has a kitchen, cocktail bar and lounge seating and sunbeds situated around a plunge pool.
The property has city views over Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, Santa Caterina Market and the district of El Born.
The rooms have custom-designed furniture with fabrics such as embossed Spanish leather headboards. The walls of the bedrooms are clad in walnut panelling, and the floors have whitened oak herringbone parquet.
Bathrooms are finished in white Sivec marble, detailed with contrasting brass hardware. Two penthouses have a “home-from-home” concept with their own private terraces with lounge areas and dining furniture.
THPT Comment: Marriott, whose owners are perhaps the most conservative of the major hotel groups, did well to marry up with designer Ian Schrager, the enfant terrible of the hotel/design world, to create Edition, a very refreshing brand.
First Seen: Hotel Management