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A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE FOR THE GALLERY HOTEL AND BARCELONA: 25th Anniversary Celebrations
26/05/2016
Last night the hotel held a very special event to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
The theme of the gathering was a TRIP BACK IN TIME, with all of the hotel’s wining and dining areas having been decorated and set up to recreate the atmosphere of the most significant moments of the last 25 years.
These moments in the hotel’s history are invariably linked to the history of Barcelona, the city that has seen it grow.
Around 400 guests attended the event, including the media and the hotel’s best clients and friends, who have followed and supported the company over the last 25 years and become part of the Gallery family.
Following a route through the hotel’s various terraces and restaurants, guests learnt about the most important events in its history, with a clock that jumped forward in time moving them on to each period (Barcelona during the Olympics, opening up to tourism...)
Stepping through an elegant black curtain, the guests embarked on this journey through time and the history of the Gallery Hotel:
1. First stop: OLYMPIC BARCELONA 1991-1999
This year was decisive given that the hotel was inaugurated in 1991, after five years of renovations. It was named the GALLERY HOTEL as the building was initially going to be offices with shopping arcades or ‘galerías’ as they are known in Spanish.
Decorated in the style of the 1992 Olympic Games and marking the establishment of the Gallery Hotel, as well as the awakening of Barcelona, this space included an old-fashioned aperitif bar in the Barcelona cosmopolitan style and a cocktail bar with flair bartenders.
2. Second stop: TOURIST BARCELONA 2000-2005
Guests were transported to the year 2000, with the Gallery Hotel in its prime, as tourism in Barcelona was on the up thanks to its vast range of culture, art, food and leisure options.
Food and drink stands inspired by emblematic places and movements for tourists in the city were created.One was designed around the Mercat de la Boqueria, serving fish, seafood and rice, and another for drinks that paid tribute to the Catalan Art Noveau architecture and Gaudí.
3. Third stop: MOLINA LARIO IS ESTABLISHED_ Gallery Hotel since 2006
In 2006 Hotel Molina Lario was established in Malaga turning the Gallery Hotel into a small hotel group. Barcelona and Malaga are twin cities that have much in common: the sea, tourism, food and the promotion of culture. Gallery’s sister hotel in Malaga also celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
4. Fourth stop: CLASSICS FROM THE GALLERY’S ‘EL CAFÉ’
The restaurant paid homage to truly classic food and drink from the Gallery’s El Café: house Steak Tartar, its signature and most famous dish.
One of the hotel bar’s adjoining venues also included a pop-up bar which prepared a cocktail especially mixed for the anniversary occasion, the Gallery Scotch & Sour, created from a Chivas-Regal base, Lagavouline 16, egg whites and lemon juice, in a tribute to the longstanding favourite tipple of clients in the hotel bar: whisky.
5. Fifth stop: WELCOME TO THE BARCELONA SKIES. ‘THE TOP’ ROOFTOP TERRACE. 2016
‘The Top’, the hotel’s rooftop terrace that opened three years ago, is where the journey ends and officially declares the summer season has arrived, open from the month of April and already in full flow.
In next to no time ‘The Top’ has become one of the most coveted areas of the hotel, a meeting point for the people of Barcelona and visitors wanting to enjoy the city’s skies.
This year the drinks and cocktail list is exceptional, with ingredients mixed especially for the venue. All of the cocktails are made on the spot with fresh fruit and the best brands of liqueurs and spirits, with names such as Red Cosmo, Mediterranean Sea Mojito, Mai Tai Roa and Pineapple Sour.
