In the summer of 1928, the King of Spain Alfonso XIII and the President of the French Republic, Gaston Doumergue, met. But they did not do it in any protocol room or official office. They were seen on the platforms of the Canfranc international station located in the Pyrenees of Huesca. The occasion deserved visitors of such substance since a railway line was inaugurated that linked both countries thanks to a tunnel of almost 8 kilometers under the mountains
For such an infrastructure, the appearance of this hidden Aragonese spot had been completely modified. The river was canalized, thousands of pine trees were planted on the slopes, anti-avalanche barriers were created, an entire town for the workers was built from nothing and above all an exceptional railway station was built for the time and place.
A colossal and Frenchified building 240 meters long. An architectural jewel conceived with the most innovative and even luxurious materials. Over time, anti-Nazi spies, European businessmen, traffickers, intrepid mountaineers or modest travelers passed through there. But such a flow of people and goods stopped in 1970 when a train derailed on the other side of the border. That gave way to a long period of decadence, looting, vandalism and neglect.
However, this cycle has concluded after years of works financed by the Government of Aragon, owner of the building. It has been brought back to life and now the person in charge of its operation is the Barceló Hotel Group, which this winter of 2023, in the middle of the ski season, has opened the doors of the Canfranc Estación, to the Royal Hideway Hotel.
When the international station was inaugurated almost 95 years ago, among its many services there was also a hotel in part of the building. But now it has become its preferred use and with a commitment to quality, since it is a 5-star luxury hotel with the standards of the Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels brand.
The new establishment spreads over the first and second floors a total of 104 rooms, including a few luxury suites. While on the ground floor you can have a drink at the cocktail bar or a wellness area has been set up that includes, among other spaces, a large gym and a heated pool.
Also on that floor awaits the hotel reception, heir to the old railway hall. The place with the most historical charge in the entire population of Canfranc Estación, so apart from hotel use, it is accessible to the general public, and travelers who use the train to reach this town go through it with a feeling of traveling back in time.
Perhaps that is the differential fact of this luxury hotel. It is not just about offering high-end facilities and services. The perception of staying in a space with memory and events to discover is also transmitted. That is the reason for the historicist mime devoted to any ornamental detail, and even to the hotel staff’s wardrobe, which is clearly vintage-inspired.
Added to this singular game between the atmosphere of yesteryear and contemporary comforts is the third distinctive element: the relationship with the world of trains. After all, the Canfranc international station is part of a railway complex distributed throughout the esplanade of the place, where there was a gigantic beach of tracks, depots for locomotives, workshops, hangars and merchandise warehouses. Many of these things in duplicate, given the different gauge between Spain and neighboring France.
That almost literary spirit of the old railways inspires the new hotel. It sits in the lobby, corridors or in the rooms. But it will still be more evident in restaurants. Two of them, both the à la carte restaurant and the gastronomic space, are located in separate wagons recovered and set in the convoys of the early 20th century.
And in the locomotive of those restaurant-cars, that is, in the kitchens, will be Eduardo Salanova and Ana Acín from Huesca, one as chef and the other as room manager. A tandem that has been shining for some time with its Michelin star and its Repsol Sun in another restaurant in the province. They are the icing on the cake for this Canfranc Estación hotel project, which was born with the aim of becoming a benchmark for tourism in the Pyrenees. Of course, on both sides of the border, just as the impressive international station was imagined from its inception.
