Enjoy a taste of Spain with a look inside new city hotel
IT’S been 20 years since siblings Tom Morgan, Owen Morgan and Natalie Isaac opened their first Spanish tapas restaurant, Bar 44 in Cowbridge.
And it seems they tapped in to something quite special, as since then they have gone from strength to strength, opening three further Bar 44 sites – in Penarth, Cardiff and the Bar 44 group’s first venture outside of Wales in Bristol – as well as a northern Spain-inspired restaurant in Cardiff, Asador 44, specialising in meat and fish cooked over charcoal, and an artisan Spanish online market, Mercado 44.
Earlier this year, the two brothers released a book: This is Our Spain – Tapas y Copas, packed with food recipes, drinks pairings and stories of their travels and that’s not all.
Now, they are opening a boutique hotel in the centre of the capital at the end of June called Parador 44, which aims to bring a slice of Iberia to Wales and is set to be the first food-focused luxury hotel in Cardiff, on the site of the old Model Inn.
Tom, who travels to Spain several times a year to source much of the group’s delicious produce, says of this exciting new venture: “The opening of Parador 44, our first hotel, is the culmination of many years of dreaming and we think it offers visitors to Cardiff something very different and exciting.
“It has been inspired by our lifetime of family visits to the Iberian Peninsula and, as with Spanish paradors, our emphasis is as much on excellent food as it is providing an historic and beautifully converted place to stay.”
Spanish paradors are stateowned luxury hotels that have been converted from beautiful and historic buildings such as monasteries or castles.
Much like them, Parador 44 has transformed from what was known over a decade ago as The Model Inn into a metropolitan paradise.
Situated above the Group 44’s grill Asador 44, at the top of a beautifully tiled set of stairs – and just around the corner from Bar 44’s city centre location – hotel guests will able to reap the benefits of having a delectable northern Spanish grill beneath them and will get to enjoy a typical Spanish breakfast in the restaurant during their stay (if their booking option includes breakfast).
Buying the building from Welsh company Brains, from whom they previously rented the space for Asador 44, at the end of last year, Natalie tells us work began on the renovation of the hotel floors five months ago.
She said: “It’s been a lot of hard work.
“When we rented the downstairs from Brains, they’d done the downstairs restaurant, which we changed slightly, but the upper two floors hadn’t been touched since the Model Inn days [which shut in 2010].
“It all had to be stripped out and redone and have acoustic levels put in... soundproofing because you’re in the city centre. It’s been a huge project.”
She adds: “It’s really exciting because it’s something really different for Cardiff as well.
“There are lots of chain hotels in Cardiff, but not many independents.
“And it really adds to the restaurant downstairs because we’re finding everyone’s booking for a meal as well and they’re staying here.
“It’s just adding more strings to the bow all the time.”
The hotel is set to open on June 27 and comes with nine stunning continental-inspired, light and airy double rooms – one standard double, six king-size rooms and two suites – each with an en-suite bathroom, a beautiful cosy lounge which boasts an ‘honesty bar’ offering teas, coffees, alcohol and snacks, and a bright and idyllic Andalucienstyle terraza – which immediately transports you not to the streets of Cardiff, but Barcelona or Seville.
And while they have taken a lot of inspiration from Spain, where they can, they have used local businesses and producers to tie it all together – such as Welsh slate for the signage around the hotel and a Welsh fragrance company whose fresh scent dances through hotel, Thornbush Hill.
As well as celebrating and supporting local businesses, Parador 44 aims to be as green and carbon neutral as possible.
With this in mind, they have no kettles and fridges in any of the rooms.
Instead, guests are welcomed and encouraged to use the Gonzales Byass lounge, which is stocked with drinks and snacks.
Room prices start from £135 per night for two people.