Writer MONTSE CHINCHILLA
It is not by chance that the owners Natalia and Diana decided to place this innovative and minimalist hotel in an environment as inhospitable as spectacular, at the gates of the desert of the Bardenas Reales (Navarra), a magical place and currently declared a Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO.
The immensity of the desert provokes us an irreplaceable invitation to inspiration and well-being.
The architects Mónica Rivera and Emiliano López planned something unusual and totally integrated into the environment. The 27 awards that Aire Bardenas has won for its architecture and design, which came from publications all over the world: London, Madrid, New York, Tokyo, Medellin, Miami, Barcelona, Warsaw…, are no coincidence either.
After driving down a dirt road, you come across some kind of wooden “pallets”. Could this be the hotel? It looks like it. Inside, white cubes and lots of light. These metal cubes house 22 rooms and common areas that are organized around a courtyard where trees protect you from the strong sun. A vegetable garden and a swimming pool complete the complex.
You can choose between rooms with excellent views of the wheat fields that surround the hotel or rooms that have an interior patio with or without an external bathtub. In all of them, privacy is absolute and the color white predominates.
The restaurant offers delicacies of the land. We recommend the menu based on vegetables harvested in the garden: artichokes, asparagus, “cogollicos”, tomatoes, pochas….
Around the hotel there is a world to discover and enjoy for all types of visitors:
It is located 5 km from the Bardenas Reales Natural Park and half an hour from the Moncayo Natural Park, which at an altitude of 2,316 m dominates the plains of the Ebro Valley, ideal for hiking enthusiasts.
The more adventurous can choose between horseback riding, 4×4 excursion in the Bardenas Reales, the desert by Segway and canoeing on the Ebro.
The hotel arranges guided visits to the Marqués de Montecierzo wineries and the Artajo oil press. Another interesting option is to follow the route of the monasteries (La Oliva, Fitero, Tulebras). The Cistercian Navarre in all its purity.
For those who want to get to know Tudela, a cultural route and wine tasting sessions are organized in the old town.
And we can put a final touch with a relaxing massage.
As you can see, this is not a conventional hotel, they themselves define it as different and for different people. It is a stay that runs between design and the charm of the alternative.
