Why e book?
A ten-room visitor home in a less-traveled nook of rural Catalonia, with wraparound comforts, quirky interiors, and impeccable eco credentials, in its personal quiet approach Off Grid Girona is a outstanding proposition.
Set the scene
Off Grid—initially identified by its native title, Salvanera—is an historic masia, or Catalan farmhouse, sunk in deep countryside within the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. The home and its varied outbuildings are solidly constituted in sandy-gray stone partly overlain with Virginia creeper. A twelfth century tower, the oldest a part of the masia, provides it one thing of the air of a citadel. Off Grid someway feels distant but in addition accessible, mendacity half an hour from the Costa Brava, but half a world away from mass tourism and its discontents.
The backstory
If the time period ‘off grid’ suggests to you a Last of Us–model shack within the woods, with sawdust bogs and a torch by your bedside, this might hardly be farther from that survivalist fantasy. For Gerard Greene, Off Grid Girona’s creator, it’s extra about disconnection—from city life, from crowds and noise, and from the omnipresence of know-how. The new lodge (it opened in July 2025) represents the most recent part of Greene’s private {and professional} journey. A dyed-in-the-wool hospitality professional whose CV contains Marriott, the Conran group, and Simon Woodroffe’s wildly profitable Yotel model of curated micro-accommodation, he had turn into weary of his globe-encircling way of life and was seeking to get off the treadmill. In his personal phrases, “I wanted to go small, do something on my own, get back to basics.” In some methods Off Grid appears like a return to the roots of hotel-keeping: a fantastic home, and an proprietor who opens it to discerning friends.
The rooms
Formerly a lugubrious, poorly-run lodge, the previous masia has been fastidiously restored, preserving historic particulars equivalent to the ornamental plaster ceilings between the time-blackened 18th century beams. Together with the younger Catalan designer Ariadna Puigdomenech, engaged on her first lodge mission, Greene has cleared out many of the darkish Castilian-style furnishings that when crammed the home, salvaging essentially the most enticing items in a large-scale train in upcycling. Meanwhile Puigdomenech selected an eclectic, soft-edged search for the rooms utilizing lime wash (tinted dusky pink or wealthy ochre) for the partitions, sisal carpeting for the flooring, and a stylish shade of sage inexperienced for the carved-wood, mock-Castilian doorways—one other good instance of revaluation and re-use. Antique Spanish dressing-tables sit comfortably beside English-style overstuffed sofas and funky fashionable wall lights. The loos conjure rustic Bisbal tiles with marble sinks and modern brass fittings. The end result: a captivating combination of country-house comfortable and bohemian stylish that feels organically put collectively.
Food and drink
The arched and whitewashed area on the bottom ground, as soon as the steady, is now the lodge’s eating room and sitting space. Dinner menus are chalked up on a blackboard in reception; some nights meals are served family-style at a communal desk out on the terrace by the (uncommonly deep) swimming pool. At the range is Joep Sikking, a younger Dutchman whose cooking is considerably flavored, generously served, and by no means strays removed from his Mediterranean influences. (His slow-cooked lamb shoulder with figs is so tender you would eat it with a spoon.) With dinner Greene serves a variety of pure and low-intervention wines from native bodegas together with the home favourite, Dutch-owned Vinyes Tortuga. The downstairs lounge has that marvelous invention, an honesty bar (try the fab Nineteen Seventies drinks trolley).
Gastronomically talking, Off Grid is nicely sited: Girona province is now a worldwide vacation spot due to the Roca brothers and their Catalan culinary empire. In and round close by Besalú, a rising inflow of artisan producers are including worth to the native economic system with their espresso and kombucha, craft beers, and excellent pizza.
The space
Off Grid’s environment are deeply, comfortingly rural, however there’s a contact of wildness within the spectacular Mare de Déu del Mont, a wooded crag which surges up behind the home to a top of greater than 1,000 meters. The home is best linked than its title would possibly recommend: Within straightforward attain are the lake of Banyoles, the beech forests of La Fageda d’en Jordà, the curious volcanic formations of La Garrotxa pure park, and the Pyrenean ski resorts of La Molina and Camprodón. The well-preserved medieval cities of Besalú and Castellfollit de la Roca additionally lie shut by, as do the Dalí Museum at Figueres and Gala Dalí’s bonkers citadel in close by Púbol. More intrepid friends can enterprise north throughout the French border—Perpignan is an hour away by automobile.
Service
The tightly knit crew of cosmopolitan workers, who hail from England and Ireland in addition to Catalunya, Gambia, and Brazil, engender a pleasantly hands-on, laid-back vibe: after a day or two everyone seems to be on first-name phrases. While by no means intrusive, Greene clearly enjoys the position of genial host, chatting to friends over a glass of wine as he presents native suggestions.
For households
In precept, Off-Grid is an adults-only lodge. No particular provision is made for kids (and the pool is deep).
Eco effort
Greene doesn’t make a music and dance concerning the mission’s sustainability credentials, rightly believing that by now such issues needs to be par for the course. ‘Off-grid’ is to not be taken actually, regardless of a plan to put in photo voltaic panels with the intention to scale back the property’s dependence on business power. For the second, most the whole lot is regionally sourced and natural, from the hand-sewn cotton sheets by Núria Comella (aka BeKume) and Olively facilities, made with olive oil from a close-by farm, to the compostable paper objects manufactured lower than a mile away. Rooms are properly freed from techno-clutter: There are not any TVs, no bedside telephones, no buzzing minibar. Water bottles, plastic or in any other case, are conspicuous by their absence, faucet water being filtered and de-calcified at supply. Upcoming initiatives embrace a permaculture backyard supplying fruit and greens for the kitchen.
Accessibility
The previous home just isn’t appropriate for wheelchair customers: Bedrooms are all on the higher flooring, which should be reached through stone staircases.
Anything left to say?
At least since 2001, when bicycle owner Lance Armstrong purchased an house in Girona, the world has been a serious hub for tourism of the two-wheeled selection. Among the half-dozen severe climbs inside attain of Off Grid Girona is the powerful ascent of Mare de Déu del Mont, a rocky outcrop looming up behind the lodge. Looking to woo this rising market, Greene has put in a totally outfitted storage the place cyclists can retailer and restore their very own machines earlier than navigating the winding (and virtually traffic-free) lanes of this rural backwater.