Awkward Hostel Moment #2425: Wake-up "nudges" in the dorm.

So, if a guest asks, we'll agree to give them wake up knocks at a requested hour. Sometimes, guests in our shared dormitories ask for a wake-up nudge.

Today, I had a wake-up nudge on the docket for a Norwegian kid in the male dormitory at 10am. I understand that he went to bed at 6:30 this morning. So it goes.

This kid WON'T wake up. I nudged, shook the bed, shouted (how I think you pronounce) his name, turned on the lights. NADA. At one point, he opened his eyes (although he was clearly out of it), acknowledged my presence, and responded in the affirmative when I asked if he was awake. At another point, he slapped my arm away when I was nudging him. Not much more I can do, right? I'm just concerned he's going to miss a flight.

I agreed to wake you up, not to help you regain consciousness from a drunken stupor.

We aim to be full service here at the hostel, but leaving your dirty band-aid and used kleenex on the reception desk for me to throw away is a little excessive, no?

Why doesn't the Barcelona government do more?

Perusing online article about Barcelona, I came across the Sydney Morning Herald's Barcelona travel section. The top two articles? World's Top 10 Worst Cities for Pickpockets (I was kind of amused by the title - if one were to become a pickpocket, I think Barcelona would be the perfect place, not the worst) and Traveller's Tale: Surviving a car-jacking in Barcelona. Barcelona, of course, had the dubious honor of being #1 worst city for pickpockets and the tale of the car-jacking was frightening, although the "victims" managed to get away unscathed and with all of their belongings.

There has been a glut of these stories in the past few months - both in the press and from firsthand experience with hostel guests. The busy season for us, and apparently all of the crooks in Barcelona, kicked off around Semana Santa in April, and it hasn't let up since. Spain's unemployment rate is officially at 19.3%, up from 11.9% one year ago, and I've heard threats of 25% in the next three years. The Eurozone is technically out of the recession posting 3Q GDP growth figures, but Spain is not. We join countries like Estonia and Romania posting GDP decreases. The EU has helped Spain curb it's illegal immigration problem by about 50% this year, but there are still thousands of immigrants arriving from even worse off economies looking for opportunities in Spain. So it's easy to understand that there are a lot of desperate, poor people in Spain right now, hence the increase in pick-pocketing, robbery and petty theft.

To me, what is so difficult to understand is why the government of Barcelona doesn't appear to be doing much about the problem. In a city that relies so heavily on tourist money (7 to 8 billion euros annually), one would think it would have a vested interest in keeping those tourists, and their money, safe as well as protecting Barcelona's image. In a quick search on TripAdvisor's forums, three of the top five posts were about pickpockets and safety in Barcelona. Even if 1 out of 50 people has a problem here, you can bet that 1 person goes home and tells 10 people about their terrible experience in Barcelona.

Here's the problem: Barcelona has crazy laws about petty theft. I've been told that robberies of less than 300 euros are punishable by a 60 euro fine, but the money and stolen good do not need to be returned. Police will not take reports of violent crimes (if a mugger hits you or knocks you down) unless you go to the hospital, which is extremely costly and difficult for tourists. The main police station in Barcelona only has translators during a small time slot every day, so many victims are told to come back later with their complaints. Many never do. Therefore, so many petty thefts go unreported that the Barcelona government may not even realize the extent of the problem.

I still contend that Barcelona is a very safe city. None of my friends and family visiting nor I have ever had a problem. As long as you keep your wits about you, avoid unsafe situations, and stay aware of your belongings, you shouldn't face any dangerous situations in Barcelona. The police need to crackdown as well. On any given day, I could pick out about 5 pickpockets and scam artists operating on Passeig de Gracia, so why can't they? Better lighting, increased police patrolling in tourity areas, and security cameras could all serve as deterrents. Also, why not increase punishments for petty theft? I'm not talking about caning or cutting off hands, but the damage that theft does goes beyond the number of euros in the wallet; it's destroying Barcelona's image and will hurt the tourism industry. Barcelona has pledged to invest 801 million euros next year in citizen services. Can we put a few of those to use protecting our citizens and visitors from crime?

Thanks Barcelona. That's my two cents.

The slow season is officially here, and it´s not fun at all. While it´s nice that the hostel is quiet, there´s less to clean, and the city is a little less busy, it makes for some boring hours at reception. I´m on my third cup of tea, which I made just to keep myself entertained for two minutes. Where is everyone ??

I´m hoping it´s not the case, but I think the slow months (Dec-Feb) are going to be even slower than last year for Barcelona hotels. The last data I saw was from August, but year on year occupancy was down 5.2% and room rates were down 8.6%. Italy seemed like the only European country with an improvement. We´ve got an advantage given that last year was our first year open, so we´ve got some press/pr/word-of-mouth/momentum helping us out.

It´s interesting to see how a tough economy affects people. I got a call yesterday from the owner of Hostal Olivia, a charming little hotel down the street that we frequently send our overflow guests to. Hostal Oliva is consistently in all of the guidebooks, so I assume they must always be rather full. In a very un-Spanish manner, the woman was calling just to say hello and see how we were doing. She wanted us to make sure to remember her if we were fully booked. She told me, on a Monday, that they were almost completely empty. Hostal Oliva doesn´t do much to promote themselves, but that really surprised me.

I wonder how the new W Hotel that opened this month is doing with their cheapest rooms at 290 euros. It must be a ghost town. Lee and I are heading to networking drinks tonight. I´ll let you know if I spot any actual guests.

Stopped in to Monvinic a couple days ago to ask the fellows there about the new place, Fastvinic, opening below the hostel. Lee's theory #1 was pretty much correct. It's going to be a place to get a quick sandwich or salad with an ENORMOUS wine list. That's pretty much what the guy told me verbatim (then translated into English). Needless to say, their March 2010 opening date could not get here faster! I've all but given up Pans & Company after they retired my favorite tuna sandwich, so I could use a suitable alternative.

So, there's this storefront on the ground floor of the hostel that has, up to this point, not affected my life at all. When we signed the lease on the hostel, we were happy with our ground-floor neighbor, Mobelia, a nice, respectable, upscale furniture shop that maintained topiaries outside our door. Unfortunately, they moved out about six months ago and took the topiaries with them.

In the middle of the summer, the "for lease" signs disappeared downstairs and a mysterious construction project began. I've been poking my head in and trying to get as much info out of the construction peeps but it seems they know nothing. All we've been able to garner from the license that's posted is the name of the design firm behind the project. They are gutting the Mobelia showroom so I assume they're building a restaurant/bar. Normally, I'd be psyched about that but our previous apartment was three floors above a restaurant and let's just say, erm, we had some uh, unexpected "visitors" in our apartment that I attribute to the restaurant beneath. As you all know, we keep the hostel immaculate but I can't do anything to control the cleanliness of my neighbors.

To my relief/delight, when I came in this morning, there was a huge banner posted that said, "Coming Soon: Fastvínic". This is GREAT news because our current favorite neighbor on the block is this upscale, designy wine "foundation" called Monvínic. Lauren and I treat it as our personal wine bar and it's the best place to impress visitors. Also, I have no doubt their kitchen is spotless. I'm not sure yet what Fastvínic is but I have two theories:

1) It's the dressed-down, wine bar version of Monvínic. The current Monvínic is expressly not a wine bar (even though we treat it like one). Per their website, it's a "benchmark for the dissemination of wine culture". Whatever. Maybe Fastvínic is their casual younger sister who sometimes just wants wine without the pretense (or pony hair benches- Monvínic design fail and true story.)

2) It's the dressed-down, wine bar version of Monvínic in conjunction with the best burgers in Barcelona. Lauren just told me that my pick for the best burger in town, FastGood, just closed for business. Get it? FastGood + Monvínic = Fastvínic. It might be a stretch but here's hoping.

I'll keep you posted on any developments and my impending weight gain.