Inaugurated on 1 July 2003, Axel Hotel Barcelona was the first hotel in the Axel Hotels chain and the first city designer hotel aimed at the gay community.  Axel Hotel Barcelona is a trend-setter and has become an international reference for gay accommodations.

From the outset, the team has paid attention to even the slightest detail; first of all, its location in theGayxample, heart of Barcelona’s gay scene, only 10 minutes from the fashion centres of the city, the district el Borne and the old city centre. Without forgetting its architecture and design: Axel Hotel Barcelona has been built in a renovated building of the late 19th century, maintaining its façade and spectacular tinted windows from the early days of modernism. Its interiors, fully refurbished, have been conceived to offer design and comfort in a warm atmosphere. Furniture from Vitra, Kartell and Swan, the Axel mosaic and photography light boxes of Emilio Lekuona configure the exclusive Axel universe.

Its 60+ rooms include 10 Premium rooms and the Axel Suite, each with its own character and exquisite design. All rooms are soundproof, air-conditioned, luminous and extremely comfortable: with a king size bed, plasma TV with Internet, Wi-Fi connection for laptops and room service. Also features restaurant, bar, gym, saunas, pool.

And most important, the Axel team, carefully selected to offer personalized, genuine and professional service catering to all our guests requirements and anticipating their needs.

 

For all of the above reasons, Axel Hotel Barcelona has been chosen the “best gay hotel in the world” by the readers of prestigious travel magazine The Out Traveler (USA). Through the annual survey Reader’s Choice Awards, hundreds of readers voted for the Axel Hotel Barcelona to put it in the ranking’s top position.

Marketed as the first five-star gay hotel in Latin America (but also “heterofriendly”), the second AxelHotel Buenos Aires confirmed what many gay travelers already knew: the Argentine capital is becoming South America’s next party capital. Situated in the bohemian-chic neighborhood of San Telmo.

In San Telmo, you can let yourself go and be captivated by the Axel Hotel Buenos Aires – a cosmopolitan and enticing space that stimulates the senses. With tango in the air, design and comfort, Axel Hotel Buenos Aires seduces everyone with its play of lights and transparency, the sound of water, the Axel mosaic and furniture by Charles & Ray Eames, Mies van der Rohe and Eileen Gray.

48 designer rooms with captivating details. All guestrooms are air-conditioned, cosy and extremely comfortable, conceived and equipped for maximum enjoyment: king size bed, plasma TV, iPod On Stage speakers, Wi-Fi connection, hydro-massage bath or shower in a glass prism, safe and room service.

The hotel also offers a restaurant, cocktail bar, chillout zone, spa with a spectacular swimming pool on the top floor with a translucent floor visible from the main area of the hotel, a 5 floor atrium in the lobby, jacuzzi and sauna, a garden with an outdoor swimming pool and solarium, an outdoor bar & bistro, meeting room and Wi-Fi connection throughout the hotel.

The Buenos Aires property is situated in one of the oldest districts in Buenos Aires. The cradle of tango, San Telmo has a concentration of antiques businesses, bars and restaurants in its renovated 19th century buildings. A few blocks away are the Avenida 9 de Julio and the Casa Rosada, and every weekend the antique market fills the picturesque Plaza Dorrego with movement, people and colour.

Axel Hotel Buenos Aires was recommended by The New York Times “as one of the 53 places to go in 2008”.


Axel Hotel Berlin is the third  and newest hotel in the chain. Opened last month, after a year and a half in construction, the new hotel relies on an investment of 13 million euros.

The Berlin hotel is situated at 13-15 Lietzenburger Street, in the neighbourhood of Schöneberg, heart of the city’s gay scene. Bars, restaurants, bookshops, discos, cinemas, and clothes shops with style and glamour make up an extensive hedonistic universe steeped in history. In the twenties Schöneberg was already the epicentre of the Berlin movement, becoming the inspiration for the mythical Cabaret. Axel Hotel Berlin is just one block from the mythical KaDeWe department stores and very close to Ku’damm, the famous shopping avenue which houses the main international fashion brands.

 

The new hotel has 86 designer guest rooms, equipped to provide guests with maximum comfort. According to Íñigo Hernández Tofé, Spanish architect, collaborator of Axel Hotels and creator of the architectural project of Axel Hotel Berlin, “the hotel plays with the colours black and gold representing simplicity and elegance. A distinctive touch is added by the transparencies of colour, inspired by the Axel Mosaic along with the optical effects which reflect the façade in various areas within the hotel”.

 

The building consists of 6 floors and a roof terrace. The restaurant with its terrace, the cocktail bar and the open air lounge-bar are its most representative spaces. Moreover, the hotel has a spa with an open air Jacuzzi with spectacular views over the city, sauna, Turkish bath, gym, relaxation area and massage cubicles; and business centers, comfortable and cosy reading areas with PC access and free high speed internet connection.



The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA)  are holding their International Conference in Toronto in a couple weeks.  At the event,  Juan P. Juliá, president of Axel Hotels , will be honored for  outstanding professional accomplishments.

“These awards recognize our friends and colleagues in the travel industry who are not only setting the bar, but making the world more accessible and enjoyable for gay and lesbian travelers in the process,” IGLTA Executive Director John Tanzella said.

Named the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce’s “Businessman of the Year” in 2008, Juliá will receive IGLTA’s Chairman’s Award, which recognizes individuals who blaze new and inspiring paths in their work to promote inclusiveness within the tourism industry. Known as the world’s first gay hotel chain, Juliá’s Axel Hotels has been recognized for its cosmopolitan atmosphere and focus on diversity by such leading publications as Out Traveler and The New York Times.

“Juan Juliá has made a significant commitment to developing quality accommodations that serve and appeal to the gay and lesbian community,” IGLTA Board Chairman Bryan Herb said. “ Axel Hotels are absolutely in line with where I see the gay travel industry heading. The properties have a gay sensibility with amenities and features that are important to gay and lesbian travelers, yet they are focused on being, as they say, ‘hetero-friendly.’ There’s a great vibe about it because these are places where gay and lesbian people can simply be themselves.”

According to Juliá, IGLTA’s recognition of his company and its unique culture could not have come at a better time. “2009 has been the year we opened our third hotel, and the start of a new stage in the group to export the Axel concept to the major cities of the five continents,” Juliá said. “This award is a great boost to keep forging ahead in this very special project.”


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