A little gem of a hotel in the cool area of Born in Barcelona is the brilliantly named Chic & Basic. Located within ten minutes of the beach, the Ramblas and some of the best tapas in Barcelona, this 31 room hotel is ideal for the design, culture and price conscious.
Designed by renowned architect Xavier Claramut who transformed the traditional Catalan building into a super chic and openly paired down space. Chic & Basic’s interiors are only partly basic, predominantly white with mirrors and tentacle like LED fibre optics hanging from the ceiling. You can almost imagine yourself on a ’90s film-set of the ‘future’ – but the Baroque mouldings, a vast marble staircase and cotton sheets fortunately ease you back from the S.S. Heart of Gold, to a tranquil and noble estate.
Our XL room was small but spacious, with a huge comfortable bed and a balcony, the designers interestingly omitted wardrobes, tea and coffee bays, and standard bathrooms. Instead designing a room with a glass shower pod set off-centre, screened off with fibre optics, somewhat lacking in privacy but cleverly your modesty stays intact.
This is where the basic comes in, the lack of unnecessary furnishings is a great idea, especially if you’re only there for a short time. Quite frankly there is so much to do in Barcelona that you’re not likely to be staying in much! Good quality free refreshments are available in the communal lounge (no hostel vibe I promise) including Nespresso, loose leaf blended teas and biscuits amid the rich yet simple decor of Isabelinos-style sofas and coffee-table books.
Photograph © We Heart
Chic & Basic’s branding was created by Espluga + Asociados – basic and stylish typographic designs throughout were a nice touch. The branded welcome pack was witty with a ‘stealable’ soap and body wash which read… “this is the cutest soap you’ll ever steal from a hotel”.
In between tapas overloads, bar-hopping and shopping we were really comfortable in the hotel, siesta time was spent messing about with changing the lighting – you could set your lights from ‘soothing blue’ to ‘passionate red’, or have a mini light show which was a lot of fun. How many other hotels around the £100 mark allow you to play in comfort and style?
Chic & Basic Born is definitely Chic and somewhat Basic, it’s playful, stylish, and most importantly the hotel is in one of the best areas for a few days in the the ever changing tourist hotspot that is Barcelona.
Photograph © We Heart
Photograph © We Heart
Photograph © We Heart
