Room Mate Gerard — Barcelona, Spain

So bullish is the Room Mate Hotels group about Barcelona that it’s opened its fifth property there, this time, themed around a fictitious young Catalan architect who lends his name to the hotel, Room Mate Gerard.
Architect Jaime Beriestain has turned a classic six-storey Eixample building complete with courtyard and balconies in the Ensanche district into a 66-room modernist space. The lobby, especially, feels more like the private residence of roguish young Turk with great taste than a hotel.
For Beriestain, the Gerard breaks new ground in that this is the first time he has worked with rough materials, sandblasted pine and waxed concrete especially, which might explain the calm masculine vibe of the spaces.
The lighting too is appropriately moody, especially in the bedrooms which are layered with a colour palette of black ink. All that sombreness throughout the hotel is counterpoised by sudden flashes of colour by way of back-lit stuccoed walls, grey terrazzo, Portobello marble, customised deep blue high-backed stools, blue velvet drapes and natural lights from the double-height windows.
Besides the obligatory breakfast room, bijou gym and pool, the facilities are somewhat limited, but then again, this is Barcelona and there are distractions aplenty nearby, not least Plaça Catalunya, the Gothic quarter, the Paseo de Sant Joan, and the modernist masterpiece of Casa Burés.
ADDRESS
Carrer Ausiàs March 34
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Boathouse Zaka is the radical renovation of an ageing structure into a light-filled workspace
OFIS Architects turns a traditional boathouse into a lakeside laboratory on one of Slovenia’s best-loved bodies of water
-
Mercedes streamlines the CLA Shooting Brake to create an aerodynamic electric load lugger
The new CLA Shooting Brake is the first ever electric estate car from Mercedes-Benz, a tour-de-force of quiet technology and elegant lines
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’
As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
The most stylish hotel takeovers to pop up at this summer
From Capri to Ibiza, luxury fashion brands are taking over seaside resorts with exclusive boutique pop-ups and bespoke poolside accessories
-
Ten lesser-known gems you shouldn’t miss in Madrid
Celebrated for its Beaux-Arts architecture, art museums and culinary creativity, Madrid continues to reinvent itself thanks to a buoyant cultural scene
-
Wallpaper* checks in at The Palace Madrid: an old soul with new sparkle
Once a haunt for intellectuals and artists, Madrid’s grand dame navigates a new era of luxury following a four-year-long renovation by Lázaro Rosa-Violán Studio
-
Sun-soaked European destinations to visit in spring
Dreaming of Florentine palazzos and Greek islands now that the weather is starting to turn? Check into one of these beautiful European hotels and holiday homes
-
Esperit Roca is a restaurant of delicious brutalism and six-course desserts
In Girona, the Roca brothers dish up daring, sensory cuisine amid a 19th-century fortress reimagined by Andreu Carulla Studio
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy design
There’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
‘I explored Benidorm with an open mind’: the famous Spanish seaside town is captured in a new photo book
From neon lights to pink sunburns, photographer Rob Ball turns his lens on Benidorm to see what remains of a ‘pan-European holiday utopia’
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Brach Madrid: a hotel of love and passion
Brach Madrid, part of Evok Collection, is a charming city-centre bolthole designed by Philippe Starck