Room Mate continues with its ambitious expansion plan and opens fifth hotel in Madrid

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Room Mate Hotels, the design hotel chain founded and chaired by Kike Sarasola, continues to execute its ambitious expansion plan for the main capitals of the world

Room Mate Alba is the fifth hotel that the chain opens in the city of Madrid and the twenty-seventh worldwide. In addition, at the end of the year the chain will open a sixth hotel in the capital, Room Mate Rex, located in the heart of Madrid's Gran Vía.

Located in one of the most noble and emblematic historic buildings of the Barrio de las Letras, Room Mate Alba has wanted to preserve the elegant vestiges of the construction, original from the 17th century, such as its facade, the staircase or the hallway. Located in the street of Las Huertas, a pedestrian enclave in Madrid, the neighborhood is characterized by the emblematic literary fragments along its route. Likewise, its cozy atmosphere, its gastronomic offer and its historical baggage make it a perfect destination for the chain, which already has in this same neighborhood the Room Mate Alicia hotel, designed by Pascua Ortega and inaugurated in 2006.

Room Mate Alba, designed by the interior designer and antiquarian, Lorenzo Castillo, has facilities taken care of to the last detail and has 80 rooms divided into 5 categories: standard, superior, attic, suite and deluxe suite. In addition, it offers two panelable meeting rooms perfect for corporate events or presentations that can be converted into a large room. The inner courtyard of the building has also been preserved, a place that will host part of the events held at the hotel and will serve as a relaxation area for customers.

In the words of Kike Sarasola, president and founder of Room Mate Hotels:

“We had not opened a new hotel in Madrid for more than 12 years. I am especially excited because the Barrio de las Letras is one of my favorite areas of the city. Working with my great friend Lorenzo Castillo is always a pleasure. I am convinced that Room Mate Alba is going to make everyone fall in love.”

On the other hand, Lorenzo Castillo:

“I wanted to be respectful of the aristocratic Galdosian style, but to turn it towards the exoticism that was also characteristic of the time, although it is true that in Spain it was only used in very small doses in the royal palaces or in those of the nobility closest to the King. Thus, Room Mate Alba is a true work of art. Continuing to collaborate with Room Mate makes me very happy.”

The building remodeling works have been carried out by AQ Acentor, promoter of Aquila Capital, current owner of the building. “Being with Room Mate Hotels is synonymous with guarantee, because it is a recognized operator of a type of boutique hotels, with a lot of personality and that gives us all the guarantees to get into that sector,” says Sven Schoel, CEO of AQ Acentor .

Following the late motive of Room Mate Hotels where “the best way to travel is visiting friends”, the chain presents Alba as a young ballet dancer sophisticated, elegant and sweet. She is a muse capable of inspiring anyone. He lives in "Las Letras" where culture and art emanate from all its streets. Everyone knows her in the neighborhood because she doesn't go unnoticed.

In this new hotel, guests can continue enjoying all the innovative services that have made Room Mate become a love Brand listening to their customers: breakfast always until 12 noon and WiMate, free Wi-Fi throughout the city , among others.

With this opening, the company continues its international expansion that will be completed in the next 18 months with 10 new projects and is already preparing its landing of what will be its first beach hotel in Mallorca.

Room Mate Alba was inspired by the Turkish, Chinese, Indian or Arabic style, mixing it even sometimes without any respect for the rules or the respect to the measure. A clear example of this style could be the Royal Palace of Madrid where Alfonso Xll decorates the men's room (where they met after dinner to smoke and talk politics) in Japanese style, with wood paneling and lacquers in the oriental way. Unfortunately disappeared in the war.

“The use of this nineteenth-century Alfonsian style seemed to me something completely new and out of fashion. In addition to being very Madrid, it is very international, because throughout Europe and in America the same trend back to the past developed. It is a rich style, which seeks a warm and cozy feeling based on burgundy, orange, terracotta and dry green colors, in prints taken from old Ispahan carpets, ”explains Lorenzo Castillo.

The highlights of the gilded brass lamps of the 70s and glass lanterns of the Farm on the ceiling also stand out. And within the naturalist taste and the Enlightenment, the walls are covered with an immense collection of 18th-century zoology and botanical prints framed in Sangre de Toro lacquer. All this creates a sense of richness, of mixtures of textures and finishes, shellac shells with backgrounds of Indian Paisley papers and marble floors of geometric colors. In the dining area, something quieter and cooler than the lobby and lounge part, Lorenzo Castillo has created an aged gold box.

Of course, the salons and common areas allow this creative lightness that, however, is more contained in the rooms, where the palette is fresh based on greenish blue, turquoise, with white prints to cool. The use of solid oak wood in an artisanal way in cabinets and headboards, with a lamas decoration reminiscent of the Bauhaus.

In other cases, the wood, omnipresent, forms plinths and moldings that are mixed with wallpapers of various types, smooth in blue with gold texture and in the high part as a frieze with floral print or the Op Art mode typical of the years 70.

The bathrooms follow this Viennese Secession fashion, with classic materials such as ceramic tile, but modern in its way of using it, with two-color geometries, inspired by New York Art Deco spaces.

The corridors finish off this feeling of exotic luxury with patterned papers emulating the Agate of the Urals with the mixture of different models of wall light sconces: some of baroque gilded wood and others of bronze and glass with red patent leather screens, all pieces with a quality level difficult to find.

In short, a hotel that mixes endless styles and reminiscences that pay tribute to the Spain of tradition and intellectuality.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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