Hostel Territory

So we've set off to Barcelona to live the dream and open our very own hostel. We're keeping this journal online to keep everyone updated of our progress, adventures and mishaps navigating Barcelona's booming tourism industry, Spanish bureaucracy, and daily life in Catalunya.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

And just because I really love the lobby, here are some more photos....


Construction is only two/three weeks away from being completed. The walls are nearly all painted and the floors are sanded. The construction on the lobby is almost completed. Here are new before and after photos.












Wednesday, January 30, 2008


We placed our order for sheets and towels today.

I think anyone looking to furnish/accessorize a new home should just pretend to be opening a new hotel and contact a lot of suppliers for test products. It's amazing what free stuff people will send you without needing any information about your business. Mattresses, sheets, towels, shampoo, all kinds of fun stuff!


Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Usually Monday night is when I lie around bemoaning the fact that I didn't accomplish nearly any of the chores I should have done over the weekend and instead went out too late, spent to much money, ate/drank too much, etc. But for a small set in Barcelona, Monday night is party night. To be more specific, really rowdy, semi-professional Karaoke party night. I'm talking about Anti-Karaoke. It's something I'd definitely recommend to locals and tourists alike looking for a way to spicy up otherwise boring Mondays.

I'd heard about this weekly event before, but chalked it up as another stupid karaoke bar. Instead, the night is hosted by a multi-talented American comedian and produced more like a well rehearsed show than disjointed karaoke performances. She kicks of the night with a number, and then invites other people who have signed up to sing up to the stage. There are no screens with the words, only a page of lyrics that hardly anyone used. Most people had terrific voices and good stage presence (ie they've practiced). In the case of a few sad souls, the hostess helped out with some funny backup dancing or singing along.

Our friend Amy and her high school friend easily topped all of the night's performances with their rendition of "It's Raining Men." Amy danced up a storm, and Amanda belted out the lyrics. Hopefully there will be video to follow....

Friday, January 25, 2008

We're still having the same old electricity problems as before, but we've received the good news that the power company is going to allow us to up out kilowattage without charging us the 18,000 euros our engineer (ever so expertly) predicted. Now there is a whole new set of issues involving a new ground wire, installing another meter, getting inspectors in, and more. It's a little frustrating to have to leave it all in the hands of the supposed "experts," but I'm confident that we'll find a way to make it work.

And on the bright side, at least I avoided this fate by leaving banking before my soul was completely sucked from me. I always thought rogue trading sounded kind of fun though.

Lee and I are embarking on some fun DIY craft projects for the hostel. We've searched high and low for the perfect head-boards for our beds, but we can't find anything that isn't hideous or doesn't cost an arm and a leg. So we took a wooden board and stapled batting and some fabric to it. The plan is to affix said board to the wall somehow. It turned out just okay. I think we need to re-work the design a little to make it more sturdy, but it's a start. Round 2 might involve bright primary color t-shirts and a time limit. Where's Ty Pennington when you need him?

Yesterday, Lauren and I met with a man about some cleaning products. While the sponges and tubs of industrial cleaning solutions were highly fascinating, Lauren and I couldn't help but focus our attention on the most important item:

THE HAZ-MAT SUIT

The cleaning supply guy seemed to think that arm-length gloves would suffice but he probably hasn't stayed in too many hostels recently. Of course, we want to be a cut above the rest of the market and will do all in our power to discourage binge drinking. Ultimately, we have no control over the situation. I'm already mentally preparing myself for the family feud that will ensue once we have our first bodily fluid situation in the hostel.

Monday, January 21, 2008


How can you say no to that face?

Lee and I are now proud Nespresso machine owners after falling hook line and sinker for all their gimmicks and gadgets. If you join the Nespresso Club (ie spend a lot of money there), not only do you get a faux-leatherbound binder with information on all of your membership perks, you can stop in the store for free coffee whenever you want. Considering we normally spend 1.20 a pop on coffees, we'll only need about 144 trips to the store to make it worth it.

I'm sure the hostel guests will appreciate our fine taste in Italian espresso though. Choose from our assortment of 12 premium blends. Would you like to try the Arpeggio? Or perhaps the Capriccio is more to your liking?

Friday, January 18, 2008

We picked colors for the floors stain (dark) and all the walls today (beige with some light blue accent walls). Our contractor was pretty sure we had no taste when we picked out our bathroom tiles, but it wound up looking really great. So I think he's trusting us a little more now.

I've updated the construction section on our website here. It's a pretty good timeline of the work being done plus some pictures. It's hard to capture everything really well since there is a lot of construction dust, and my flash always reflects off of it. Here's a few more pics of what's going on now. They've started priming all the walls, so everything's very white. They're also getting a lot done on the lobby this week.




Thursday, January 17, 2008

These were our Christmas presents from Mom and Dad. They're original vintage posters printed by the Spanish State Tourist Department. I think this could be a much cooler thing to collect than keychains.


Uh yeah, that might be a problem...

We met with our architect and engineer yesterday who broke the news to us that we don't have enough power to run everything we've installed in the hostel. Fantastic. This came as quite a surprise to us considering the electricity is all completely wired, the AC units, lights etc are all installed, and well, we know nothing about electricity. It has something to do with a dead wire, our building overloading the power grid as it is, and the engineer clearly not doing his job very well. Now we have to petition the power company for more power, which they'll likely deny us or make us pay thousands to update the building's system. Plans B-Z involve taking out AC units, controlling what people appliances can use or illegally sucking more power from the grid (I like the last option, but I'm not sure what the consequences are).

The good news is that we will open in March as planned, and this doesn't become a big issue until summer heats up. Hopefully we'll have a solution by then!




Wednesday, January 16, 2008

TimeOut Barcelona has just launched here. It's great for locals, but unfortunately, it's only published in Catalan making it a little difficult for tourists to read.



Monday, January 14, 2008

Taking down Christmas trees is depressing.




Sunday, January 13, 2008

We got to go to an FC Barcelona game last night (thanks to the family we tutor for)! The view was way better than the first time we went and sat in the nose bleeds. I have to say that my favorite part of the game was leaving early and taking the bus home with all the other old people who wanted to beat the crowds. Nearly everyone on the bus had earphones on listening to the game, and it was just as fun as being at the game. They would all erupt if a goal was scored, player fouled, etc and then announce to the whole bus what was happening. Everyone was so excited. And it wasn't even an important game. You don't really see fans like that in the States (for professional sports at least).



Friday, January 11, 2008

Lee and I hosted our first soiree in the new apartment before the 3 Kings parade last weekend. It was great. We'll have to throw a big party before we become working stiffs again. I didn't get too many great pictures, but here's the couch I'm really proud to own and a gorgeous float from the parade.




Clearly someone takes his siesta very seriously. . .


Honestly though, this guy's a really hard worker who often comes in on weekends to do extra projects. That, as you can probably guess, is not a very common practice in Spain.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Pulling the trigger...

After countless delays and a few false starts, we've decided it's time to start pulling the trigger on some decisions (big and small).

The first involved going into the home decor store near our apartment and completely wiping out any gray colored decorative pillows that they owned. It was very Super Market Sweep-ish (replace the large hams with large pillows) and very satisfying.

Probably more importantly, we've decided to declare ourselves open for business on March 1st. I hope guests aren't stepping over uninstalled toilets and touching wet paint, but by god, we will be open. Additionally, we're going to host our grand opening weekend on March 28, 29, 30. More details to follow.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Probably the most difficult part about opening a hostel in Barcelona (second only to finding real estate) has been dealing with the City and State goverments to get a license to open. There isn't any one source to find the rules, and everyone has a different story. We've met with the Town Hall on various occasions, and most of the experiences have been grim. The first time we went, we brought along our then-architect. The town hall "tecnico" spoke only in Catalan, and ignored Lee and I completely. So we had no idea what was going on and could only go off of our architect's comprehensive recap afterwards - "yeah, I think we're okay."

Then there was the time when we walked out of a meeting seriously contemplating booking the next flights home. The tecnico told us that it's nearly impossible to find a place for a legal hostel in Barcelona and denied about five options we brought him.

So today's meeting with the Town Hall to check on the progress of our permit had me a little anxious. Fortunately, we've met with the same guy four times now, and I think we've finally worn him down. The meeting had a definite "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" feeling about it so we didn't get any definite answers. His general message was that if all we're waiting for to open is a little tiny insignificant piece of paper from the Town Hall, then we're total idiots that shouldn't be trusted to run a business. Not quite a victory, as things usually are here, but it's a step in the right direction.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Oh, Lauren. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. But really, the sweet ice creamy aftertaste was really something. I'm afraid I might lose her to the ice cream industry.

On to more relevant topics, things are coming along quite nicely with the hostel. Things slowed down a bit over the holidays but it has been full steam ahead the last two days. What Lauren and I are now struggling with is deciding upon an opening date. The uncertainty of booking a room that's not yet ready is a bit nerve racking. At this point, we're moving beds in on February first and hoping to open by March first. The opening festivities are tentatively planned for the last weekend in March. We'll keep everyone posted.
I know my next career move - ice cream producer. I whipped up my first batch tonight with my new Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Ice Cream maker. (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

My plan is to offer my homemade ice cream to our hostel guests, build a global brand and become the next Ben or Jerry. So far Lee told me she enjoyed the "sweet aftertaste." I'll probably need a few more similarly eloquent reviewers before taking it to a wider audience.

Friday, January 04, 2008

We've accepted our first reservation today! Considering we're opening in less than two months, I'd say it's about time. Hopefully they'll start rolling in now.

Relying on the whole "if you build it, they will come" theory was starting to concern me a little.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thank you to everyone who helped us out this past year - realtors, contractors, architects, lawyers, friends, family and more. It was a pretty challenging year for Lee and I, but we've had a lot of fun getting to know the city, hosting many visitors and launching the business.

I think 2008 is going to be a very good year. We're planning on opening the hostel by March. There's a lot to do between now and then, but it's exciting to think we'll be hosting our first guests very soon.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Our parents are in town for the holidays, and we took a small roadtrip up to Costa Brava and France (Montpellier, Arles, and Carcassonne). I'll post some pictures later.