Staycation at Praktik Bakery Hotel - Barcelona

You may remember last year around this time {exactly this day actually since today is J's birthday}, we went on a really nice staycation at the Praktik Rambla hotel. This year we decided to go on and try another of their nice hotels, this time the Praktik Bakery hotel. All of the Praktik hotels are in premium locations, all within 10 minutes walking distance one from another, along Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla Catalunya. This, their sleek design and the good price is the reason why Praktik hotels are always the ones I recommend to friends traveling to Barcelona from overseas. 

Even though our room at Praktik Rambla was way more amazing {hey, that's why they call it WOW Room!}, we enjoyed our stay at the Praktik Bakery just as much, the main reason being the amazing bakery on the first floor, where we enjoyed a yummy afternoon tea and breakfast buffet. 

Afternoon tea at Baluard Bakery

Breakfast buffet at Baluard Bakery

We also did a vlog of our stay at the Praktik Bakery that you can now watch on my YouTube channel. I hope you like it!

Praktik Bakery Hotel
Provença, 279

Barcelona

Anantara Mui Ne - Vietnam

Today is our last day here in Vietnam. I still don't know how we ended up booking our trip to Mui Ne, a place neither of us had heard of before, but I'm glad we did. In fact, I just wanted another trip to Thailand, just like the one in Hua Hin or the one in Phuket, enjoying the heat in a pool villa while it was winter in Europe. To me, being able to escape the cold winter even if it's just for a few days feels like heaven. These holidays don't make much sense when it's summer in Europe, because by then we have our perfect beachfront house for free! But right now the timing was perfect, we were planning the trip back to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year and I told the hubby we had to go to south-east Asia and relax under the sun with Liam for some days. 

I have only been to Thailand the two times I mentioned, but J has been there around 10, so we decided to go somewhere else. Our first thought was Bali, and we almost had everything booked in an awesome resort in the middle of the jungle before, thank God, we realized it was monsoon season in Bali right now! If you look at the weather for Bali in this moment you'll see how it's been raining for weeks and it doesn't seem it will be stopping anytime soon. You probably don't know this but I never ever plan anything regarding our trips, the hubby does it so well that we could really do so for a living, and so I leave it to him to make all the research and all I have to do is choose between two or three options he gives me. So, it was time for the hubby to start his research all over again! It was November already and you should know that flights around Chinese New Year from Hong Kong get full several months in advance, so we were a bit in a rush! Finally J told me about Mui Ne, in Vietnam, supposedly the best beach in the country. Everything looked good, he showed me the Anantara Mui Ne resort which we finally ended up booking and I thought it was perfect. But he also told me there was somewhat of an inconvenient and that is that Mui Ne is four and a half hours away by car from the airport in Ho Chi Minh city. Oh my! I must say I was about to say no to him and ask him to start his research all over again, but somehow I finally agreed. Liam and I slept during most of the car journey. It was a 14 people car for only the 3 of us, meaning I could lay down in a whole row and sleep like if I were in a bed :D The time I wasn't sleeping, I watched Vietnam go by and It was really interesting: busy Ho Chi Minh city, then the fields, the trees, the poor houses...

We still don't know how this happened because no staff ever mentioned and neither did we, but he had booked a pool villa and to our surprise found ourselves checked in at the beachfront pool villa, the best room in the hotel!!! Yay! It is a perfect villa indeed, with a huge garden overlooking the beach. I just couldn't get used to one thing and that is having no shower indoors. I was pretty scared having a shower outdoors at night while I could see some lizards on the wall and I could feel the wind blowing. Oh yes, the wind is really something in Mui Ne. It is a famous region for kitesurfing, as you can see by the picture below!

Even though the wind season is August to December, it was still pretty windy now, and that's the thing I liked the least about Mui Ne. Maybe I'm just over sensitive to the wind, because the hubby didn't seem to really care. Mui Ne beach is very pretty, it's a really long beach with extremely soft sand. 

I can't say I've found the best restaurant in Mui Ne, because there's just so many you'd have to live here for a month try them all, but I'll tell you which was, by far, my favorite from all the ones we tried. It's restaurant Nam Tho, which has two branches, one at number 33 and another at 43. I personally liked Nam Tho I, the one on number 33, better. So that's the one I recommend :) Even though I like Thai food way better than Vietnamese, we have been having some real nice food here as well, mainly the typical Vietnamese dish, Pho, as well as seafood and curry.

I'm happy all of us have had such an amazing time. Liam really did have a blast. He has been so happy with so many nice activities, and has loved playing with his inflatable plane in the pool, as well as discovering the texture of the sand. I think the timing to travel was perfect, because Liam is not such a baby anymore and can sit by himself and play more, but at the same time he hasn't started on solids yet, meaning that all he eats is my breast milk, which makes it oh-so-convenient!

I'm obviously kind of sad to be leaving already, but the Chinese New Year celebrations in Hong Kong are awaiting us, as are three different afternoon teas I'll be enjoying in this coming days. Hong Kong here we come!

Staycation at Praktik Rambla

The hubby turned 28 on Monday, December the 1st. Yeap, he's a month and a half younger than me! I thought about how to celebrate his birthday for several days, and I finally made up my mind: we would be spending the night out at a hotel! We couldn't go too far away because J had to work the following day. I considered different options but finally decided on staying at the Praktik Rambla Hotel. You may remember I visited Praktik Bakery at the end of my pregnancy for afternoon tea at Baluard Bakery, and loved the whole feel of the place. All Praktik hotels have been designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán, my favorite interior designer! Seriously, it's in my to-do list to visit all the spaces he has designed: shops, hotels and restaurants, they're all beyond amazing with that modern style of his. You may remember how gorgeous Boca Grande restaurant is, one of his stunning creations I reviewed last year.

Happy birthday, hubby!

There's four Praktik hotels in Barcelona and, believe it or not, they're all in the city center! Location is absolutely superb for all of them, so that was not an issue when it came down to choosing one among them. I decided on the Praktik Rambla because I thought their WOW rooms, were truly WOW :D 

Yeah, superior rooms are called WOW, and it's no wonder. Unlike the regular double rooms, these ones have a gorgeous balcony overlooking Rambla Catalunya. I think it's totally worth the extra money! You can get a Praktik WOW for around 100 euros, amazing, right??

Liam was there with us as well, of course! I'm breastfeeding him and I have never pumped milk yet, so he's always with me. The three of us went out for dinner at Ciutat Comtal, my favorite tapas restaurant in the city, which is at 2 minutes walking distance from the hotel! There's also Cerveseria Catalana, which is the same restaurant but in another location, very close to the hotel as well. Both are equally yummy and always fully packed! There's no reservation available so be ready to queue for more than an hour at rush hour.

Ciutat Comtal                                           Cerverseria Catalana
Rambla de Catalunya, 18                         C/ Mallorca, 236

Our room was the one on the first floor right at the top of the hotel entrance

There is a very nice common area on the hotel's first floor: a working/reading space, a lounge and an interior patio. Too bad when we went to take some pictures, there was actually a professional photography team shooting a fashion catalogue, so I couldn't take nice enough pics! There's also Illy coffee capsules, and Dammann Frères tea bags. J is very picky with his coffee, and I'm very picky with my tea. Illy and Dammann Frères are top-notch in their categories, so we were good :D

J told me he had a really good time, and that's all that matters! Of course, I had an amazing time myself :p If for whatever reason there is no time to go traveling abroad, staycations are a great idea!

Good morning!

The breakfast buffet is served at Piscolabis restaurant, right next to hotel. It was pretty decent! I'm kinda looking forward to repeat this staycation thing. If you do read this, hubby, please kindly remember my feast day is coming up soon on January 24th ;)

Praktik Rambla
Rambla de Catalunya, 27
Barcelona

Afternoon Tea at El Palace Hotel Barcelona

MY DREAM CAME TRUE! It is finally possible to have an English afternoon tea in Barcelona! El Palace Hotel GL is the first one in the city to offer this culinary treat, and I obviously couldn't be more delighted. I've been dying to go ever since I found out about it some months ago, and finally my birthday was the perfect occasion to go and celebrate.

As incredible as it may seem, there really is no other place in Barcelona to indulge in the traditional English afternoon tea. To me it comes a bit as a shock, seeing how every single good hotel in Hong Kong serves it, and not only in Hong Kong where is after all no surprise seeing how it was a British colony, but in pretty much all Asia. 

El Palace Hotel Barcelona is an incredible Grand Luxury hotel from 1919. Its luxurious neo-classical style is of an indescribable beauty. Everything is decorated to the detail in this grand old style that makes you go back in time to the beginning of the 20th century. I absolutely adored every single bit of their magnificent common areas, I can just imagine how gorgeous the rooms must be!

This tea set didn't disappoint. The food was good, the place was dreamy and the service unbeatable. In fact, it was hands down the best service I've ever come across. The china was a very delicate one from Limoges, France, absolutely perfect. 

The top layer had 6 scones, 3 plain and 3 raisin. They were so big we only managed to eat two each. They were served with yummy clotted cream, and strawberry and orange jam. I've never liked orange jam, so if I go again I'll make sure they put another one instead, but no big deal. The middle layer had the sweets, basically four caramel macarons and some petits fours that were pretty good. I particularly enjoyed the macarons, and even though they were so good, I would have preferred having two different flavors, since there were 4 macarons. The bottom layer held the savories, three different kind of sandwiches which we finished and were amazed to see they refilled for us! OMG it's the first time I've had a food refill in an afternoon tea. Not that it's needed, really, we couldn't even have a bite of this refill. Drinks, too, can apparently be refilled, and this is definitely always welcome.

19/NINETEEN bar where afternoon tea is served

The drink choice was either tea or coffee, so as usual I went for tea while the hubby went for a cappuccino. It was interesting to see their tea selection. Most were traditional teas from China, while some were teas from India. In Asia, the best high end hotels offer tea blends from French brands (think Mariage Frères, Dammann), which I'm oh-so-addicted to. The Palace Hotel Barcelona on the other hand serves pure teas instead, which is fine, too, but I still like blends way better. 

Visited on: October 25, 2014
Overall Quality: 5*
Price: 28 euros per person
Value for Money: 4.5*
Would I recommend it? How could I not? Such a delightful afternoon tea in Barcelona, it's one of a kind!

You need a reservation for afternoon tea, and you must pay in advance. They charge your credit card 48h prior the reservation, so there is no canceling after that. They say this is because they need to prepare everything for the occasion, but I personally think it would be ok for them to prepare the whole set just after ordering. I mean, it can't take that long, right? You can find all the details to make a reservation on El Palace Hotel website. Anyway, I would LOVE to go back soon, I missed afternoon tea so bad! If you, too, missed my afternoon tea posts, you can always go over my previous afternoon tea posts again :)

Baluard Bakery Barcelona

The newest Praktik Hotel in Barcelona, Praktik Bakery, is a hotel with a great asset {not to talk about its superb location!}. Its entrance has a yummy bakery, the perfect spot for both guests and passers-by, with lots of pastries to choose from and a very nice sitting area. I'm talking about Baluard Bakery, which has its main branch in La Barceloneta, but has now opened here, next to Passeig de Gràcia, to my delight. 

I had a mixed berries pie, which was a bit bitter, probably due to the blackberries. I wouldn't go for it again. I paired it with cold Cacaolat, a chocolate milk drink from Catalonia.

This bakery is really close to the nice cafe I reviewed last week, yet the style of both places couldn't be more different. Baluard has a younger feel, with a trendy yet low profile decoration, perfect for a casual afternoon.

Visited on: July 16, 2014
Overall Quality: 3.5* 
Price: 2.10 euros for the pastry, and 2.10 for the Cacaolat
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a nice atmosphere in a good location.

Baluard Bakery @ Hotel Praktik Bakery

C/ Provença, 279

Phone: 93.488.00.61

Ladurée afternoon tea at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Laduree is partnering up with The Landmark Mandarin Oriental for afternoon tea on this month of December, and the whole city is raving about it. After having been, I don't really get what the fuss is all about. The only thing from Laduree in the whole set are the macarons (2 per person), the individual paper tablecloth (similar to the one you get at Laduree in Paris), and the big macaron pyramid (for decoration only) at the entrance of the restaurant. 

This afternoon tea set is good yet really overpriced. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental cannot be compared to the much more splendorous Hong Kong Mandarin Oriental located at 5 minutes walking distance, which happens to offer one of the best afternoon teas in town for way way cheaper!!! I really felt I was ripped off by this Laduree nonsense. The set is not worth the price.

The first bad impression was when I went to look at the tea selection. There were just 4 really common teas (Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Jasmine and Peppermint) and then oolong, white tea or green tea, for which you had to add $25! Excuse me?! First of all, in a so called Laduree afternoon tea, it is not acceptable that the only thing from Laduree are two macarons. The least would be some other petit four, or Laduree tea. 

The clotted cream and the jams were very good, but the scones were not really scones. Others may not realize, but for a connoisseur like myself, these were not the real deal. And it's a shame seeing how its brother, the Hong Kong Mandarin Oriental, has the best scones in Hong Kong. These scones had yellow cake consistency. And by the fact that the edges were not toasted, you could realize they had actually just been cut with a round mold after being baked. What kind of a scone is that?!

Don't think the set was just laid on our table like this. You know how I dislike not having a tiered stand for afternoon tea! We actually had a 2-tier stand right next to us, I just forgot to snap a picture of it.

The food was overall good. My review may seem a bit negative but the truth is the food was tasty. It was just overpriced and with not enough Laduree goodies, that's it. 

The best part were obviously the macarons. The silver one was really beautiful. It was mandarine and orange, and the pink one was my all-time fave: rose macaron! Woohoo!!! The other best thing, that I accidentally left for the very end (lucky again!) was this peanut and chocolate tart in the picture below. It was SO good, I inspected every part carefully to try to replicate it at home!

Think twice before heading for this high tea. All everyone is excited about is Laduree, and then there's just too miserable macarons! 

If you call to make a reservation, they'll tell you it has been completely booked. I don't know booked by whom, since I went there and was perfectly able to walk in even though there was a huge line in front of me, which I'm assuming didn't have a reservation either! Is this some sort of marketing technique? 

Visited on: December 12th, 2013

Overall Rating: 3.5* Even though this set was overpriced, most of the food was of high quality, and the service was excellent.

Price: HK$634 for two (CRAZY)

Value for Money: Negative! 0*

Would I recommend it? Let's face it. We all go here attracted by Laduree. Now when you know that all you get from Laduree are two macarons, and that this tea set is one of the most expensive in town, would you still want to go? Probably not.