Hotel Colón Gran Meliá, Seville, Spain

Enjoyed in my hotel room at the Hotel Colón Gran Meliá in Seville, Spain, an incredible city everyone should visit [at least] once in their lifetime.

The expansion of our company’s sales into Europe brought me to Seville for the Tourism Innovation Summit. Alas, I did not know much about the conference nor the city, but what I read online about both was enough to entice me to make this trip a priority for our team.

I would describe the trip to Seville from Boston as relatively easy. 6 hours to Lisbon followed by a 30 minute connecting flight, it was neither long nor stressful, however due to the shortness of the trip and the time difference, arriving energized at 10am into the city is not what one experiences.

Fortunately we were staying at a fantastic hotel, one I had booked many months prior at what I would describe as quite a low rate, and I was looking forward to getting myself organized in my room before heading out to explore. I had a few free hours and I chose to use them by foot, getting literally lost in the city. Seville, so I soon learned, is the most ideal city to lose yourself in, with winding paths and alleyways that seemingly take you everywhere but the direction you intended to go.

Magical, just magical… I quickly became enamored with this city. And I equally as quickly realized I should have done much more research on it before arriving. But tiredness and jetlag began to take over me, and rather than keep wondering, I headed back to my hotel for some rest and relaxation, knowing I had an 8pm client dinner tonight that was sure to last 4+ hours.

Back in my lovely hotel room I decided it would be smart to have a late afternoon meal. Sure, we would be sitting down at 8pm, but food probably wouldn’t be ordered until after 9pm. I knew from experience Spaniards simply do not eat early, and hunger is not something I wanted on my pre-dinner agenda.

Fortunately, the Gran Melia Colon had a club sandwich on its menu, and within 20 minutes it was in my hotel room beckoning me to eat it. I took in the view, the sounds, and bit down to quench my appetite.

Spain does ham right. While not the bacon capital of the world, it has chosen to shun this belly-meat for other cuts of pork that you will find making its way into nearly every meal… and this club sandwich was no different. Absolutely stand-out ham thickly layered on the top portion of the meal, I knew I was getting a top quality ingredient with each bite down. The juicy, ripe tomatoes provided a wonderful accompianment to this salty protein. The chicken, however, didn’t add much – it was a bit too try and not too flavorful, somewhat detracting from the hammy main star of this dish. The menu had mayo on it, but I couldn’t find this condiment anywhere on the sandwich, something I actually enjoyed as the tomatoes really did add all the moisture one needed.

The fries and salad didn’t leave much excitement for sides, but the freshly baked bread in a basket that came with this club sandwich left me in awe and fuller than I anticipated I would become. Slice after slice, I downed the extra carbohydrates; I didn’t need them, I wanted them.

Fully content, I laid down in bed to try and get a nap in… but sleep was not on my agenda, and I soon realized I would be better off continuing my outdoor excursion than nestled in this quaint room.

Location