HISTORICAL VALENCIAN HOTELS WITH STYLE

 VINCCI PALACE

During the Spanish Civil War, the Republican intellectuals lived on Peace Street (Calle Paz), which is I suppose comforting when Franco’s bombs are falling all around you, courtesy of the Luftwaffe.

Today, the building that they occupied, and where they organised their cultural activities, led by the famous poet Antonio Machado, has recently been converted into a four star hotel, largely respecting the original façade and interior structure.

Black is black on the inside, where the hotel chain’s own decorating team have striven to give a touch of elegance to walls, floors and ceilings by playing with that colour.

The house is still owned by the Count of Trenor, from an important Valencian family whose title dates back to the 19^th century, and it was a difference of opinion between the two sons who inherited the building that led to only half of it being finally rented out and transformed into the hotel.

It was a hotel from 1906 until the war, when it became the ‘Casa de Cultural’ during Valencia’s brief period as capital of Spain when the government had to be evacuated there from Madrid on 6^th November 1936 as Franco’s forces approached.

In November 1937 the government moved north to Barcelona, but for that year the building that is now the Palace Hotel again was the cultural centre of Spain and a reference point for left-wing intellectuals all over Europe and the world.

After the war, control of the house passed back from the anarchist trade union CNT into the hands of the Trenor family again. The family’s coat of arms can still be seen, at their insistence, on stained glass windows at the top of the original stairwell.

The black furnishings and draping curtains certainly add a touch of elegance to the corridors and reception area, as they do to the rooms, which have a number of unusual attractions. One of these is the fact that the wall between bedroom and bathroom is transparent, allowing a proud husband, should he wish, to watch his delightful wife in the shower without having to peek around the shower curtain. Such knee-trembling pleasure is certainly worth paying a little extra for.

The hotel also offers a pillow menu for those who feel the harsh peas through the fabric, including latex, feather, hard and anatomical.

Getting back to the bathroom, as one does, there is surely no better sight to greet your sleep-shuttered eyes after a night out on Valencia’s excellent tiles, than the bathroom lamps; the only name that comes to mind to describe them is that of a sputnik undergoing an explosion in deep space.

There are also four different light settings to define the four moods of man as described by Aristotle.

Antonio Machado may or may not have felt at home in this modern hotel; his Spain was one divided by politics and religion. In fact he invented the phrase “the two Spains”, which is still widely heard today. For Machado, the two Spains were: “one that dies and one that yawns”. Among those that yawn he would probably have included the Count of Trenor, where he and his associates squatted during the war; fortunately, that is all history now and they no longer ask to see your party card in order to rest your weary head and yawn yourself to sleep on one of their extremely (but not extremist) comfortable pillows.

The Vincci Palace is in C/ La Paz 42

HOTEL SOLVASA

Not many people would choose to spend their holiday in a flour factory, but then again, if Spain is different, Valencia is differenter.

Transforming a 19th century flour factory into a comfortable hotel requires a lot of imagination and a lot of bread. Fortunately Valencian architect José Plaza had the ideas and the Solvasa hotel group provided the money to prevent the destruction of Valencia’s industrial heritage and to help conserve for practical use a curiously attractive building, considering its past use, and to transform it into a delightful and original hotel close to Valencia city centre.

With its interior patio, where meals can be taken and even weddings celebrated, the Solvasa feels more like a reconverted monastery than a factory, and the fact of the matter is that a lot of effort has been put into making staying there a very unique experience, particularly considering that it is in the maritime centre of Valencia’s busy Avenida del Puerto, which went under the name of Lenin Avenue during the Civil War.

It is in fact the only building in the whole avenue with a garden at the front, where you can also sit down and enjoy a drink while others pass by in the street casting envious gazes.

Valencian artist Peris Carbonell added his own personal touch by filling the hotel with attractive paintings, which are mostly a mixture of colourful, abstract and impressionist landscapes, done on canvas, and even on skylights.

A number of suites are on offer and there is a small gym and sauna in case you got carried away at the mini-bar.

Being close both to the port and the city centre, Solvasa is ideal for business people, having as it does two large function rooms, which can be divided up into five smaller ones.

A traditional British breakfast is available for those in need of calories before the daily slaughter of mergers and acquisitions, or alternatively, they offer romantic candlelit evenings for those who are tired of talking business over their champagne, with succulent dishes from a predominantly Valencian style of cooking but with a touch of flair and imagination from their cook. Whether you use flair and imagination afterwards, is of course up to you.

The young, cheerful staff all speak English, although when I arrived and was asked if I had a ‘date’ with the manager I did think that my luck might have changed for the better for an all too brief moment.

The Solvasa Hotel is in Avenida del Puerto 129

HOTEL CONSUL DEL MAR

Also in Avenida del Puerto is this curious old house built in 1905 with its labyrinth of corridors filled with old maps and period prints. The foyer reveals its stately origins, with plenty of space for the horse and carriage to drive in and at the top of the stairwell is a ‘rosa del viento’ (compass rose) showing the maritime associations of the house, as is the case with its name.

All the rooms have an old-fashioned feel about them but for me undoubtedly the most outstanding discovery is the small indoor swimming pool with trees growing through the roof. I didn’t have time to check whether it’s permitted to swing from the branches and dive into the pool beating your chest Tarzan-like, but it might be worth a try.

The Consul del Mar Hotel is in Avenida del Puerto 39

HOTEL DEL CARMEN

The Hotel del Carmen, opened in October 2007, is one of Valencia’s newest and, as its name implies, it is situated on the edge of Valencia’s historical ‘Carmen’ quarter. It faces the old river bed of the Turia River, now a park, and stands in Calle Blanquerias, which takes its name from the tanners who used to occupy this street.

Tanners were never popular with their neighbours, because of the strong smells and pollution they caused, which is why their street is right on the edge of the city. The Hotel del Carmen however is becoming decidedly popular among visitors to Valencia who look for modernity with style, rather than a classical hotel or a super-modern but impersonal one.

The Carmen is directed by Roberto Gonzalez, whose excellent English owes a lot to his English mother and the fact that he studied at Sheffield University and worked in Perth.

The hotel’s slogan is ‘Beds and Style’ and they certainly take great care to offer stylish, colourful bedrooms (a different colour for each of its five floors) with a different, artistic photograph showing some aspect of the Carmen neighbourhood in each room.

Up on the roof, you won’t find the Drifters, but you will find some amazing views across the city and dream of Oxfordian spires. You’ll also find a non-heated Jacuzzi and a sauna, a nice touch of luxury before heading down to breakfast in the downstairs lounge area; or you can cross the street to one of Valencia’s most-liked restaurants, La Tacita de Plata, who take care of the kitchen for Hotel del Carmen and who also own the immensely popular ‘Burdeos In Love’ restaurant, just around the corner from Finnegan’s Irish pub.

Hotel Del Carmen doesn’t really look like a hotel from the outside, in fact I walked past it twice before I realised what it was. Blending in is not just an accident here, it’s an attitude, and the friendliness of the English-speaking staff is noticeable from the moment you step up to Reception. None of that snooty “I’m going to spend a few minutes playing with some papers before I deign to notice you” here.

The Hotel del Carmen is in C/ Blanquerias 11

La Casa Azul (The Blue House)

The Blue House is one of Valencia’s best kept secrets, which probably explains why on my visit, the guests were Norwegians and British, but most local people wandered past not realising that this unpretentious little wine shop is in fact also the reception of what may well be the most unusual and luxurious hotel in all of Spain.

It is the brainchild of Valencia’s foremost jeweller, Vicente Gracia, described by Vogue magazine as being among the world’s top 20 jewellers, with Spain’s Queen Sofia among his clients, an impressive fact which didn’t prevent him from allowing Valencia Business News to interview him without an appointment while sipping a glass of his exclusive wine from a friends winery in the Enguera mountains.

The hotel only has three rooms, but each one resembles a film set, and in fact nearly everything inside each distinctive room is provided by local antique shops and is for sale.

Each room has a theme: the notorious Borgia family on the first floor, then the silk route (reminding us of Valencia’s medieval role as an important silk producer), and finally a more modernist moon of Valencia.

The attention to details is characteristic of the meticulousness and stylishness of a top jeweller, from the expensive perfume which changes with each floor to the silver key ring designed by Vicente showing a sword and a heart to symbolise his own struggle for achievement and passion for life.

Guests and visitors alike can take advantage of the remarkable rooftop terrace, where they can sit sipping wine perched over the Central Market while the restaurant next door whips them up a meal of ingredients that they themselves have bought in the market, probably the most vital, colourful and sensual one in all of Spain.

Press cuttings in the reception from all the top British newspapers show that Vicente’s international reputation doesn’t require him to make his hotel obvious; in fact it’s easy to walk past the blue, 19^th century townhouse without realising what’s inside. Even the stairway up to the rooms is unimposing, but the rooms! Que glamour!

Calle Palafox 7 Telephone: 963511100