achieved the hotel license in extremis, with a permit for major works processed at the beginning of 2015 that resulted in the green light at the end of that year. For this reason, it was able to avoid the hotel moratorium and the subsequent approval of the special urban plan for tourist accommodation in Barcelona (Peuat) approved in 2017, which blocked the growth of beds in the most central areas. After a whole epic of works, Old Buenavista House raises the curtain this Tuesday as one of the last hotels (if not the last, depending on some possible pending contentious process, the city council specifies) that wins old city, with the peculiarity of a family management and eyes on the local identity.
Territorially, the establishment is located within the limits of the Raval (Ronda de Sant Antoni, 84), although it contains DNA from the adjoining Eixample from which their architectural details and modernist elements drink. They also embrace boom in the neighborhood of Sant Antoni, fashionable and with market that has boosted its visibility and from which the new restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel is supplied.
In fact, it all started there, when the Andorran family Mollevi opened that eating house that since 1918 took root in the area, a stone’s throw from the Teatre Goya. On the upper floors, for years their family home and several rented flats lived together, until two decades ago the same owners (with a hotel tradition) began to develop the idea of a future medium-sized hotel and gradually withdrew from the market the properties that were leaving. remaining free, they detail.
Centuries of history underground
Finally, in 2018 the works began, which were delayed not only because of covid, but also because of archaeological finds: 24 tombs from the 14th and 15th centuries from the cemetery of the old Santa Maria de Natzaret priory, and later remains of structures from the Valdonzella convent. Without forgetting that being a listed and protected buildingdespite its poor condition had to be demolished internally, conserving the front and back facades. In fact, the result brings together two constructions and the one that faced Joaquim Costa was even older.
The result is a hotel of four stars and 43 rooms studio artwork TDB Architecture, which in its new interior reproduces elements from the past (moldings, flooring, Catalan vault…) combined with other contemporary ones, with an eclectic result and a lot of personality. Outside they have recovered sgraffito and wrought iron balconiesrestoring its splendor.
Related news
Under the management of Àlex Molleví -who together with his brother Guille reactivate a legacy transmitted by their great-grandparents- is the challenge of creating a family accommodation, where the guest “feels at home”. But also focused on attracting Barcelonans to their tables with the gastronomic advice of chef Marc Roca, with traditional market cuisine and modern touches.
In its eagerness to distill the local spirit, the interior design, furniture and textiles are the work of designers from the city, while the Altell windows on the first floor even exhibit products for sale in neighborhood shops.