The prices of the last available rooms have skyrocketed. At this point, booking for the days of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which begins on Monday, is not an easy goal, much less cheap. The occupancy is close to full starting this weekend and until Tuesday. Judging by the reservations, the congressmen extend ahead, it is practically impossible to find a room for less than 250 euros per night and the most common price exceeds 600 euros on bnetwork, the official agency of the MWC. The restaurants with the greatest projection, which have practically all the tables reserved for dinners, are also preparing for a week of maximum activity.
“We are at 98%. The majority of congressmen arrive on Sunday and leave on Wednesday morning,” says the director of the Gallery Hotel, Lourdes Grau. At El Palace they agree: “It seems that this year the congressmen do not extend their stay so much behind; The strong days are Monday and Tuesday.”
Last year the MWC organization reserved 18,500 rooms in Barcelona (the record year of 2019 was 26,000) and this year the Gremi d’Hotels maintains that there are more than in the previous edition but does not specify any figure. The truth is that the organizers expect around 95,000 congressmen, after last year’s successful edition, in which the forecasts (80,000 attendees) were exceeded to reach an entry of 88,500 people.
On bnetwork there are 27 hotels with a room available, including six five-star establishments with prices that range each night between 520 euros (Torre Melina), 1,560 for Le Meridien or 3,960 euros for the Mandarin Oriental. The rate of the nine four-star establishments available is between 339 and 684 euros and that of the three stars, between 258 and 365 euros. The cheapest room, at 164 euros per night, is the one-star Praktik Garden hotel.
During the days of the congress (between next Monday and Thursday) “84% of the accommodations are not available,” warns one of the main online search engines, Booking.com. According to its director, Toni Raurich-Marcet, the concentration of demand translates into an average price increase of 58%. “And just as happened before the pandemic, occupancy is almost 100% in Barcelona, ??which forces some congressmen to look for accommodation in other nearby municipalities.” According to this search engine, the average stay is three nights starting on Sunday.
The best hospitality industry in the city is also preparing for a week of maximum activity. The new three-star restaurant in the city, Enjoy, has reservations that, well in advance, were made by several companies linked to the great telephony meeting. Even so, they will not close the restaurant exclusively for any firm nor have they altered the closing days due to weekly rest. They say the same in the exclusive Pur, by Nandu Jubany, which for the occasion will serve groups that will occupy tables of 12 or 14 people but without closing exclusively.
The relationship between the owners of another of the three-star restaurants, Cocina Hermanos Torres, with the Samsung brand, of which they are ambassadors, has led them to close their large warehouse in Les Corts on Monday at noon to offer an exclusive meal. “We have prepared a very special menu and we will also participate with them in the talks that will be given during the event,” explains Sergio Torres, who adds that, as something exceptional, they have decided to open during Mobile on Sunday and Monday, usually rest days. “We have some tables reserved by companies but we also wanted to offer the possibility of coming to Barcelona clientele.”
For two nights, Rafa Zafra’s Amar will close for the exclusive use of two groups. The dimensions of Estimar, the other restaurant of this chef and his partner, Anna Gotanegra, and its uniqueness make it one of those chosen by the top managers of some of the companies in the contest.
As in Amar, in Moments, at the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona, ??there are nights when they have table reservations and others when they have rented the entire restaurant space. “Mobile days are a great opportunity for us,” says Raül Balam, head of the kitchen. Romain Fornell explains that in his case it is not a year in which the entire place has been reserved, but he does have quite a few reserved tables. “There are many with three, five or eight diners.” They also have some reservations for several groups of around 40 people in their large Azul Rooftop Barcelona space, which has just started its season.
