Today, the tourist heart of Barcelona only has one way to increase the offer of hotels in the luxury segment due to the municipal moratorium: the transformation of existing establishments that decide to upgrade. This is one of the routes followed by the old Crowne Plaza (four stars), on Rius i Taulet avenue in Montjuïc. After a total investment of 18 million euros, the hotel, owned by the Diagonal Plaza company, became a five-star hotel under the InterContinental brand, of the British group IHG. And it did so in the midst of a pandemic, thus becoming the first luxury hotel to open in Barcelona in 2021.
The 273 rooms, the common spaces and the gastronomic offer were completely renovated to raise them to a higher level –they have a Michelin star restaurant–.
The result: a change in clientele, comments the general manager of the hotel, Enrique Escofet. Guests arrive from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the rest of Spain – as before the transformation – but the weight of tourists from the United Arab Emirates, Korea or Singapore has increased with the leap to the luxury offer. “It is a client with high purchasing power, who values ​​the culture of the city and gastronomy, is respectful and who spends more,†Escofet points out.
Its occupancy this 2023, as in the rest of the sector, has improved compared to last year, which began with restrictions due to the omicron variant of the covid. Just before Easter, the Intercontinental was at 74% capacity, 25% more than in 2022, while the rate has increased by 18%. A standard room does not fall below 350 euros per night – it is usually around 400 euros.
For this coming week they expect occupancy to increase, although Escofet points out that, now more than before, filling as many rooms as possible is not its main objective. “Our driver is not the quantity, but the priceâ€, he emphasizes.
It is the type of tourist offer that, in his opinion, Barcelona should bet on. “The city has challenges, but it maintains a great brand power; we have GaudÃ, we have the sea… we just need more direct flights to distant destinations and some other luxury hotel brandâ€, he considers. The arrival of a Four Season or a Bulgari –he continues– would boost the quality of the demand for the entire city and the average prices of the set of establishments.
While demand and prices rise, the hotel is immersed in an improvement plan as a result of its transformation into a five-star hotel. One of his latest initiatives at the Intercontinental has consisted in the creation of a 2,000 m2 garden roof. In this way, the roof that covers the area corresponding to the meeting and congress rooms has been converted into a garden with native varieties and an orchard that supplies the restaurant. “This allows us to save 30% energy in the roomsâ€, comments Escofet.
