Room Mate Marina

Hotel description

This member of the Room Mate family is named not just for a fictional character (Marina, loves sailing, her dog Gretel, and the music of Kruder and Dorfmeister) but for a literal marina as well. It’s located by the port of Valencia, near the old shipyards, and not far from the beach at Malvarossa — a sensible location for a seafaring girl, and not a bad one for a boutique hotel either.

It’s one of the most aggressively stylish hotels in the Room Mate empire, an austere modernist cube filled with sleek minimalist bedrooms, decorated in hard-edged geometric lines and either bold black and white or deep, vivid red. It’s not a luxury hotel, by any means, but comes with all the basic comforts you’d need: LCD televisions, well-designed modern bathrooms with whirlpool tubs and oversized shower heads, and a fine complementary breakfast.

Like all the other Room Mates, it’s a budget hotel that doesn’t look or feel like one. There’s a restaurant, a bar, a small gym and sauna, even a rooftop terrace just big enough for a Jacuzzi and some standing room. You’re not exactly close to the city center, though the bus or taxi ride is a quick one — what you are close to is the up-and-coming port district, a side of Valencia that many other hotels don’t let you see.