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| Barcelona hotel is a museum-wannabe |
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| Europe » Spain | ||
| By Marc Atchison | ||
 Barcelona’s hotels and public buildings are works of art. As we left the lift - that's what Europeans call elevators - on the ground floor of the chic Claris Hotel, we bumped into a 2,000-year-old Roman named Aesculapius - or at least a statue of the God of Medicine that experts say dates back to either the 1st or 2nd century AD. A few minutes later, while enjoying a glass of wine in one of the hotel's three chic restaurants, East 47, a friend and I sat admiring what I thought was a copy of one of Andy Warhol's famous paintings of Marilyn Monroe. "That's a very good copy," I told the man serving us. "That's not a copy," the young man dressed in Armani black responded. "That's the real thing. And we call the restaurant East 47 because that's the street where Warhol had his studio in New York. "You obviously like art," he noticed, "and we have lots here in the hotel to see. Over 400 works. In the lobby, the restaurants and all the rooms. We also have lots of treasures from Egypt on display in our first floor gallery." "Is this a hotel or a museum?" I asked the server. "Many people who stay here often say that if the Claris were not a hotel, it would be a museum," he said. The Claris is one of Barcelona's most talked about hotel properties. Each of its 124 rooms are bigger than the rooms in most European hotels and not one (including 20 junior suites and 18 duplex suites) is the same. Each is crammed with priceless works of art - from Roman mosaics that date between the third and fifth centuries to Greek Apulian vases that are displayed in the Principe de Asturias lounge. Oh, did I mention the 100 or so original engravings - commissioned by Napoleon in 1812 during his Egyptian campaign - hanging in some of the rooms? Or the 100 Turkish kilim rugs, part of a collection belonging to Lord Cromwell, that the hotel now owns. This is one place you don't want to break anything. The facade of a former 19th century neoclassical palace (the Vedruna Palace, circa 1892) welcomes guests to the Claris. Once inside, a modern world of Danish-designed television sets and glass-walled lifts shares space with the ancient art treasures that the hotel's owner, Jordi Clos, has assembled for his guests' enjoyment. The Claris is a pretty nice museum but it's an even better hotel. The rooms at the five-star property, part of the prestigious Derby Hotels Collection, are unique. Each door, each piece of furniture, each decorative object - everything in the rooms was coordinated with different designs. Each room and suite is decorated with hardwood floors and designer furnishings are featured. Unlike most European hotels, where bathrooms were modelled after telephone booths, the ones at the Claris are overly spacious, with corner bathtubs where you can soak your aching tourist muscles after a long day of sightseeing this remarkable city. The Claris also offers guests a rooftop lounge, where you can sip wine while looking out on Gaudi's Barcelona creations or lounge around an outdoor pool. The hotel's small workout room is also located on the rooftop, where many business functions are held. If the hotel does not fill your appetite for Egyptian treasures, the Claris can arrange a visit to the city's nearby official Egyptian museum - free of charge for guests. Rates at the Claris range from $180 U.S. to over $1,000 per night. But hey, how many times will you get a chance to sleep in a museum?
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