In Barcelona, ​​some hotels are reinventing themselves to survive - France 24

Barcelona (AFP)

Sergi Pino had to move to Barcelona for work.

But instead of renting an apartment, he preferred to put his suitcases in a hotel room, taking advantage of the new formulas imagined by some hoteliers to survive despite the tourist void created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The majority of hotels in this popular tourist city of Spain are closed, but the few that remain open are stepping up their creativity to attract new types of customers and offset the drop in foreign visitors in recent months.

Some adapt their facilities to telework, others offer long stays at reduced prices in order to compete with the traditional rental market, still others offer luxury experiences to residents who, deprived of travel, can play tourists. in their own city.

In his new "home" at the Hotel Gallery, Sergi Pino has, for 900 euros per month, a room, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a spa and an area dedicated to teleworking.

"There is more space, I am calm, focused on my work, and nothing comes to disturb me", he explains, gray suit and white sneakers, in front of his computer installed in a meeting room transformed into place of "coworking".

- The hotel cheaper than an apartment -

A former basketball player converted into an entrepreneur, Sergi Pino had to travel the 70 km between his home and Barcelona several times a week.

When he looked for an apartment to rent, he found that the hotel was more profitable.

At the hotel, he meets other professionals in teleworking, couples who have settled here the time to do work at home or people who had to go abroad and whose departure has been postponed due to the pandemic.

"We already have eight people living here and 24 other bookings about to be registered," says Marta Golobardes, general manager of the hotel group, which also has establishments in Malaga (in southern Spain) and on the island of Mallorca.

Between March and October, the hotel kept doors closed.

When it reopened, it had adapted its facilities to teleworking, with coworking spaces and bedrooms transformed into offices, the beds having been replaced by desks.

The incomes are far from those obtained in normal times, but constitute a complement and "make it possible to give work to the employees and to lose less money", she explains.

Several establishments have opted for similar strategies, going so far as to offer rooms at 600 euros per month, cheaper than the rent of a studio.

Others highlight high-end experiences, such as this hotel, which offers an overnight stay to those who dine in its one-star restaurant.

In a city accustomed to abundance, whose hotels welcomed 9.5 million visitors in 2019, the pandemic has caused a "tragedy", in the words of the president of the Barcelona hotel association, Jordi Mestre.

Over 75% of the city's hotels are closed and those that are not barely reach a 10% occupancy rate.

Many are on the verge of bankruptcy, which attracts vulture funds, those hedge funds looking for indebted companies they can buy out cheaply.

Only 1.5 million customers have slept this year in hotels in the city, which owes 12% of its wealth to tourism.

- "The Detroit of tourism"?

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In the local press, we are already starting to call Barcelona the "Detroit of tourism", in reference to the decline that the American city has known after the relocation of the powerful automobile industry which had made its wealth.

"I do not believe that it is the same situation, even if it is true that the sector is going through a very, very complicated situation", estimates Remei Gómez, manager of the Claris hotel, a five star hotel located in the center of Barcelona. .

If, in July, the occupancy rate had painfully climbed to 50%, the second wave of the coronavirus once again plagued the activity of the hotel, quieter and empty than ever.

At the door of the hotel, an employee loads the suitcase of a client, a German businessman who says he spent very strange days in this city he knows well, in the trunk of a car.

"It's really weird. I went to Las Ramblas this morning and it was almost empty. I had never seen it like this. It's almost scary," said Matt Wittberg, 48, after left his key at the reception.

© 2020 AFP