Paradores might be an unfamiliar idea. There are close to a hundred in Spain: they are buildings of historical character, former castles, manor houses or palaces, monasteries or convents. They form a state-run network of luxury hotels, a grand idea begun in 1928 under Alfonso XIII. Cardiff isn’t Cordoba or Cadiz, and so it’s a bold move to open a Parador in the Welsh capital – but that’s what the Bar 44 group has just done, with the aptly named Parador 44.
Key to the parador spirit is using the character of the original building and here, in their typical style, they have mixed the old and new – the Spanish and the Welsh – into something immediately elegant and timeless.
Parar means to stop, so any parador should be a place of rest and calm. And it’s no different here in a busy city centre. The residents’ lounge is stocked lavishly with Spanish drinks and snacks, from signature ready-mixed cocktails and sherries to nuts and canned speciality Spanish seafood. Stroll through the double doors onto the roof terrace with its tiles and trellises, and picture yourself somewhere more glamorous than Quay Street. If you can, naturally.
Luxury is key to the original parador concept, and this is no exception. The nine double rooms, each with their own décor schemes, are named after sherry varieties. Your eye is drawn to a wealth of detail – doors, screens, basins, headboards, tiles and more, both reclaimed and bespoke – much of it imported. One headboard is an intricately carved pair of rescued doors; another one is a set of old clothes screens repurposed in the most stylish manner. It’s a look instantly recognisable as Spanish, yet in the shadow of the Principality Stadium.
It’s hard to remember how this space looked just six months ago, an unused warren of tiny rooms and odd little spaces which are now transformed. What was unused and unloved has been brought into beautiful realisation. Of course, guests have Asador 44 downstairs: it’s no mean thing to have one of south Wales’ most respected places to eat as the hotel restaurant.
August sees the start of breakfast for non-residents, a typically Spanish interpretation of the classic cooked breakfast. Welsh black pork sausages, chorizo from León, smoked black pudding from Asturias, caramelised onions and potato hash browns and eggs cooked ‘con puntilla’ (with crisp edges: literally, ‘with a lacy hem’): you’d have to be brave to bet against this an immediate contender for the best breakfast in the city.
Now, this doesn’t come cheap. A unique stay like this comes at a premium, with bed and breakfast in a small room costing from £195, and a junior suite on the same basis from £290. Yet you could pay more for a room in a chain hotel, and it certainly wouldn’t feel like this.
It would be worth keeping an eye on their seasonal offers, though: in July they ran a ‘Sunday to Wednesday, 25% off’ on their Grupo44 site. It would make for a memorable stay. Parador 44, a wish years in the making. is a distinctive undertaking and another significant step forward for hospitality in Cardiff.
Parador 44, Quay Street, Cardiff. Info: here
words JONATHAN SWAIN