I’m pretty fortunate in that during my working life various employers have paid for me to travel and to stay in some rather fine hotels all over the place. Often they’ve been the big brands and what they’ve lacked in terms of character they’ve generally made up for in efficiency which is generally what you look for when on a business trip. This week I stayed in quite the most elegant hotel that I have experienced. The Hotel Món St Benet in Sant Fruitós de Bages in Catalonia.
The hotel is straight out of Architectural Digest with elements of The Prisoner and Portofino. Everything is slate grey with touches of colour: grey suited staff, grey walls, grey stonework with flashes of colour. And every bedroom has a floor to ceiling full width window opening onto a balcony and a clear view of the monastery from which the hotel takes its name. The bedrooms themselves are spacious and functional without being spartan.
The hotel is part of a complex of the hotel itself, the monastry from which it takes its name, a conference centre and a gastronomic research project led by Ferran Adrià (said to be one of the best chefs in the world!). But surprisingly for such a new development in a country blessed with such a fine climate and where space is not at a premium there are no leisure facilities, neither pool, gym nor exercise trail. Maybe they’re coming.
And because it’s all so new the hotel is not yet busy so service was not only highly professional but also enthusiastic and ever present. Indeed this was my second stay and I was addressed as a ‘valued’ guest and the company responsible for my stay is regarded as a major client. This meant free drinks to which you can’t say no. And dinner was one of those multi-course experiences which the Spanish do so well: lots of flavours, nothing to heavy or over-indulgent and expert service. Plus decent wine and a Carlos Primera to finish.
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