Passion Luxe

A night at Barceló Raval

By Marc Menant on Sunday, January 15 2012, 21:56 - Lifestyle

After discovering the hotel and the roof-top, let’s peek at the rooms of the Barceló Raval.

Pretty sleek in design, kept all in white, lime-green and pink, they give a spacious feel thanks to their amazing window surface. Certainly a view to get used to!

Stay connected with your mobile devices, plug your iPhone into the docking station and listen to your music while having a complimentary Nespresso coffee (don’t look for little espresso cups there aren’t any).

Fully devoted to design, the room lacks some functionality. I love the fact that the shower is open to the room, but awkward moments might arise should you not know your fellow guest too well.

As soon as it’s dark outside the pink neon light makes it close to impossible to find that shirt you wanted to wear for your night out. But no need to worry about this if you decide to go naked. This should also solve the shower problem for you….

Barceló Raval Roof-Top Terrace

By Marc Menant on Monday, January 9 2012, 20:32 - Lifestyle

One of the better things to do in Barcelona after a day of exploring the city is to chill on Barceló Raval’s rooftop terrace! Take in the stunning 360°-panorama view over the city, relax in the sun, listen to the lounge music and sip a glass of champagne. Pure bliss!

Barceló Raval design hotel

By Marc Menant on Sunday, January 8 2012, 18:11 - Lifestyle

A couple of days ago, I had the pleasure to test the Barceló Raval hotel in Barcelona, a cool place I discovered and booked through the excellent website Splendia!

Situated on Rambla del Raval, encircled by historic graffiti painted buildings, palm trees and cafés, the neighbourhood is up and coming, but yet to be the hippest of the city of Barcelona.

The short walk from the hotel to the tourist trail and the Ramblas passes through narrow passages, where prostitutes greet you. It’s lively, messy and with a real atmosphere. You either like it or you don’t. We definitely did.

The hotel is a modern 11-storey building with a mesh-wire reflecting the sun and an amazing rooftop terrace with a unique 360°-panorama view over Barcelona. Must-do is to get a room on the 9th or 10th floor for an unforgettable sight.

Better leave it if you’re looking for classical, traditional, more conservative design. But if you’re after a trendy hotel, that offers post-modern-baroque design (we just invented this ) and allows you to stay tuned on Facebook, Twitter and the like with your iPad, iPhone and Blackberry you should definitely go for it.

Next posts: the incredible hotel rooftop and the room!

Getting high in Barcelona

By Marc Menant on Wednesday, January 4 2012, 21:18 - Lifestyle

Stunning pictures of a beautiful sunset on Barcelona, taken 5 days ago from the Montjuïc Cable Car. Probably one of the best panoramic views of the city... If you love waiting as the queue is often pretty long.

Cervecería Catalana

By Marc Menant on Thursday, December 29 2011, 13:04 - Lifestyle

You can't visit Barcelona without eating any tapas. You simply can't. There are so many places offering this typical Spanish speciality. The problem is not about finding one, it's more about finding the right one, I mean the best one, like the Cervecería Catalana restaurant, located on the Mallorca street. Tapas are not only fresh and well-presented, they are excellent too!

The place will probably be full when you arrive. That's fine. Just have a glass and wait until you get a table! Or make that two!

Olá Barcelona

By Marc Menant on Tuesday, December 27 2011, 19:01 - Lifestyle

Bye bye grey Paris and grey Geneva. Time has come for much nicer weather in Barcelona, where I will spend some days and NYE. A needed break to get inspired and work on new ideas. 2012 will be a great year, believe me, full of new resolutions!

Resolution #1. It's getting personal! I got bored of my blog that is not personal enough anymore. This will change in 2012!

Resolution #2. Open your eyes! There are so many nice articles that could be written but so little time, especially when blogging is not you full-time job (I wish it was). New editors will join Passion Luxe and will cover new areas like music or architecture! Great news, isn't it?

Resolution #3. International, yeah! Upcoming articles will be available in French and English!

Résolution #4. Well... Any ideas?

Aymes opens in Paris

By Marc Menant on Monday, December 26 2011, 10:59 - Watch & Jewellery

Confidential jewelery Brand Aymes just opened a boutique in Paris, located at 4 place de Valois, 75001 Palais Royal.

The place seems pretty original (See picture above) with its white design, made of lacquer and futuristic lights. To be honest, it looks to me much more like a fashion brand' flagships than a jewelry shop and I wonder how the customers will perceive the place as they might be used to jewelery boutiques with very different design...

New boutique for Hublot in Courchevel

By Marc Menant on Sunday, December 25 2011, 20:02 - Watch & Jewellery

A couple of days after its boutique opening in Gstaad, Hublot opened a new point of sales in Courchevel, a French well-known sky resort.

With this new opening, Hublot aims at reinforcing its legitimacy on the sport-casual segment and at increasing its visibility in a place known for the quality of its clientele.

Hublot Boutique Courchevel Rue du Rocher, Courchevel 1850 T.+33 (0) 4 79 41 18 82

Post in French here

Happy Christmas!

By Marc Menant on Saturday, December 24 2011, 17:09 - Lifestyle

Some of you might know already the French electronic music duo Justice consisting of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Known for incorporating a strong rock and indie influence into their music and image, Justice is one of the most successful groups on Ed Banger Records and is well-known for the incredibly good sounds "We are your friends" they played a couple of years ago.

In 2008, Justice did a mix for the Dior Homme Summer 2009 Fashion Show, much like Daft Punk did for Louis Vuitton in 2007. The track, now known as Planisphere, was released in four parts on the band's MySpace page, with an extra final cut that did not make it into the fashion show mix (known as "Planisphere IV", or "Planisphere Final").

This track is good. I mean, more than good. Turn the sound loud and enjoy! That's my way to wish you a Happy Christmas!

Exclusive shopping in New York with Hugo Boss

By Marc Menant on Tuesday, December 20 2011, 23:00 - Fashion & Leather Goods

Fashion brand Hugo Boss was giving away an exclusive shopping experience with the popular actress Chloë Sevigny. The event took place on December 14, 2011 in the New Yorker BOSS store in the Meatpacking District. And guess what... It could have been you as entry was open to all foursquare followers who check in on foursquare at a Hugo Boss store between November 28 and December 6, 2011.

The winner, a cute 21 year-old French girl from Paris, received a flight to New York including hotel accommodation. The highlight of her first visit to the international metropolis was the shopping date with the style icon Chloë Sevigny.

At the store she could explore the entire collection together with the actress and got fashion advices from the style confident star in a relaxed atmosphere. After more than two hours of shopping (experience) the young student left the New Yorker store with three new outfits for different occasions and lots of new styling tips.. The internationally known fashion blogger Bryanboy attended the event, so the fans were able to follow it live on Twitter.