INOUT,  a different proposal in Barcelona

INOUT Hostal is apparently not more than an International Hostelling hotel for young people, in the middle of Collserolla Natural Park, just a few minutes from Barcelona centre… When you reach the hotel or its restaurant some metres ahead, you can smell the “green” air, see the trees and plants and even notice the sun flooding the scenery... But INOUT is also something very special, not only because it is IN and OUT the city at the same time, but because its complete staff are handicapped people.

INOUT opened its doors nearly two years ago, for a group of young people who were coming to work for a while in Barcelona. This first “opening” was a really good practice for all the staff, because they learnt a lot. “We were supposed to start after that date, but they called us to start before… We learnt a lot working with them and at the final party we had for these guests, everybody was crying” says Albert, one of the restaurant waiters.

Although INOUT is only two years old, it is part of a much older effort: it´s one of ICÀRIA´s projects, a 30 year-old non-profit organization, specialized in helping mentally handicapped people. They have a clear constitutional objective: “Education and services for mentally handicapped people, from their childhood until old age, to achieve the maximum degree of social and working integration”. Moreover, the 81 percent of the organization belongs to these handicapped people or to their families.

This hostel is, thereby, very special. Not only because of their high quality service, but for the warm welcome and attentive dedication of its workers. They work really hard at the hostel or at the restaurant (where you can eat even if you´re not a guest at the INOUT). They do it in an organized way, with clear rules that help them doing their job. Everything has been carefully prepared by people who have been working with them for many years: the schedules and cupboards with different colours and a clear organization for the cleaning material… Everything is really tidy, and it smells nice everywhere!

There´s another added value: the surroundings. The hostel is right in the middle of a natural park, and as it has very big windows… the light enters in the rooms, in the common spaces, in the bathrooms…

INOUT is prepared for anyone who wants to spend some nights there: originally an old school, it has been rebuilt in a space that offers enough space for wheelchairs, among other things. It also has different colours in the walls and floors for people with vision problems, “because there is not such a thing as a COMPLETE blind person”, says María José Pujol, manager director of ICÀRIA and alma mater of INOUT. She also tells us that when they finished with the building “we didn´t have any money for decoration, so we just picked some old objects and repaired them, or put some not very expensive posters on the walls…” The result is good, and gives INOUT quite an original style: a functional, clean and bright hostel, with some nice and not excessive decoration.

After we saw the whole of the hotel, from the Reception to the Infirmary, we sat down at one of the restaurant tables to talk to Javi, Montse, Ivana and Albert. All of them work at INOUT form its opening, some of them at the hostel and some at the restaurant. They are all very happy to be working there, because they think it´s much better to be surrounded by woods and sun than to be stuck in the middle of the city. “I work with people that love me,” says Ivana, deeply moved. Javi tells us that his favourite guests are children, although they give him harder work: “they are much fun, but hard work as well”. Montse says that she loves to appear in photos and that she usually keeps in touch with the guests by e mail or messenger. We speak for a while, they tell us stories from their daily work, some special memories from these two years… until their work time. Javi is happy because he´s about to finish his shift, but the other three still have to work some hours. Anyway, as it´s Saturday, everybody has plans to go out tonight.

We have lunch with María José, who is giving instructions all the time, to be sure everything works as planned. The food is really good, and the quality must be always high, because quite a lot of customers who sit down to have lunch seem to know the staff, so we can guess there are habitual clients. María José tells us that INOUT restaurant also offers special services for companies, such as coffee breaks, lunch or special menus, as well as hiring some of their nice rooms for meetings. And finally she says something that expresses the whole point of this project: “Many of the customers, after knowing the people here, become volunteers”. INOUT it offers an interesting hostelling offer, but the main point is simple: it is pure solidarity.

INOUT
Hostel Major del Rectoret, 2
(08017) Barcelona – Spain
Tel: 0034 93 280 0985
www.inoutalberg.com

 

    

Icària Iniciatives Socials

“A way to reduce functional limits is to provide the services and support that facilitate the conduct that is required”

They have the ISO 9001/2000 certificate, given to  their school and occupational courses (Escuela de Educación Especial Taiga, Servicio de Terapia Ocupacional Bogatell, Cursos de Formación Ocupacional de Icaria Iniciatives Socials, SAL.)

For more data and information, visit  www.icaria.biz