After running my own souvenir brand (turning my own photographs into postcards, and later T-shirts, or swimmers) for several years the time was ripe when I turned 30 to buy my own little apartment. It was literally little (24 m2), but it was the reason why I later started Brummell. Why? The apartment was a big challenge to make it liveable and exciting, so I stumbled into the world of architecture and interior design by accident. But I realised how much I loved turning a place which had nothing into a place of desire. The apartment achieved fame due to a viral video on YouTube (over 32 million clicks: Lego Apartment) and after that my short-term rental business was born. Over 7 years I was running a tourist apartment business and learned to love receiving travellers from all over the world, doing check-ins, organizing cleaning. It was almost like running a small hotel (at least that’s what I thought). In 2013 a friend called me and said she found an abandoned building right on the footsteps of Montjuic, old school architecture, sunny, very special and with huge potential. I took the chance. Fought for it as if there is no tomorrow. Created a convincing business plan and found financing with private investors and the bank. After 16 months of refurbishment and 5 years running the hotel, I could pay back the investors.

My best friend always tells me that I am like a permanent Barcelona tourist as my enthusiasm for this city is never-ending. I am still impressed after those 22 years I live in this city with the narrow streets in the Gothic Quarter, the stunning architecture, the fresh food markets, or watching grandmothers sitting together on a bench in Barceloneta. I love my new house that I transformed from a garage and where I’ve lived in  for a couple of years. It is right on Montjuic and overlooks the city. It is quiet and feels like I am in my Austrian village where I grew up. But in 15 minutes’ walk I am in the middle of everything.

In my 21 years Barcelona I lived in all districts of the city. I ended up choosing Poble Sec as it is a bit on the edge of the map but has one of the most amazing restaurants of the city. It is a very authentic, low key style neighbourhood. You won’t find any fashion stores or interesting shops. It is a district to live in rather than parts of the centre which feels a little Disneyland. I love Montjuic which is touching Poble Sec and which offers a green heaven for walks and runs and houses my most favourite building and museum: Fundacion Miró.

Brummell has been a very special project created by friends for friends. I have hired friends of mine who weren’t from the hotel industry. And we were a little naively inventing how to run a hotel. I think it gave the place a special vibe but then I realised how crazy serious it is to be open 365 days a year and 24 hours a day and to deal with occupancy rates and ADR numbers and reception softwares. I think I found the right mix of easy going but still taking things seriously. It is important for me to have fun during work and identify with the project and assure a super pleasant stay. I have a wonderful team of professionals who work so hard because I feel like they live the hotel as if it is their own. I am super fortunate to be surrounded with my Brummell family. I think our guests can feel that we are all in a happy place and therefore we have a lot of repeat guests. A certain tribe if you want to call it.
A community. Yes. People who simply love a small place (we only have 20 rooms), more attention to guests, design-oriented not only with the interior but as well with all graphic material like our Welcome Guide or 3 days in Barcelona map that you receive during your stay. Brummell is for the slow traveller, the silence retreater, the urban oasis seeker, the off the beaten track wanderer.

The design aesthetic in the public spaces has highly been influenced by Sri Lankan architect: Geoffrey Bawa. The room interiors have more of a north European feel. We focused a lot on the right mix of concrete and wild plants and created this new concept that we call “tropical modernism”. You can find vintage treasures from Sri Lanka but mixed with super chic lamps from Flos or Marset. It was very important for me to not try to save money at the end the refurbishing phase. So, I kept pushing hard choosing for example Swedish outdoor brand Massproductions and Skaargarden. And I couldn’t resist going for those uber cool everlasting German Egon Eiermann chairs.

The well-being part has been top priority at Brummell from day one. We started right after the opening our own Running Club (every Tuesday) with locals mingling with sporty hotel guests. Pretty tough runs all around those stunning green routes on Montjuic. The hotel has also a unique lofty space with daily classes of yoga, CrossFit and other disciplines. For that we collaborate with the wellness brand Beyond who makes this all possible. All classes are complimentary for hotel guests. We inform about all classes at reception, and I am proud to say that we achieved quite a name for this very special service in this very special Loft.

We all love music, but I realised how each coworker’s taste of music is different. It became a problem to let all workers freehand in their shifts. I think one of the most important things for a successful lifestyle brand is being seamless in all belongings. Creating our own Brummell music identity became a new obsession and therefore started to collaborate with no one less than the same people who curated the music content for Hotel Costes in Paris. I think it is important to outsource some things and put it in the hands of professionals like the team at WE ARE MOVEMENT. We have an iPad with different music moods. My coworkers can still choose, like or dislike songs, but the content is clearly curated. Every three months we pick our most favourite ten songs and share them in our newsletter. It was very important for me: if a newsletter then make it interesting for everyone. Most of our guests like good music so this is what we talk about in our newsletters.

Well the next has already started with launch of brummellprojects.com which sums up our slow expansion of the brand towards the Pyrenees with a farmhouse called Mas Sant Marc and of course our amazing new places in Morocco-Marrakech with the award winning Maison Brummell Majorelle and Riad Brummell in the old town Medina. The most important thing is to polish what we have and even more important is to try to keep all my amazing employees in my boat to sail all together over those crazy rivers and oceans.