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Hotels Overview

Barcelona's pre-Olympic hotel surge in the early 1990s was matched only by its post-Olympic hotel surge. The 2004 Fòrum de les Cultures stimulated the construction of even more lodging. New hotels are springing forth all over town while the old standards are frantically renovating to keep up. Architects Ricardo Bofill and Rafael Moneo have their hands full creating new and surprising lobbies, atriums, and halls, and hotel restaurants have become increasingly important, with the Claris's East 47, the Majestic's Drolma, the Ritz's Diana, and the Hotel Omm's Moo (starring the Roca brothers from Girona) at the forefront of the city's gastronomical elite. Barcelona and its bright and brisk hotel trade are many centuries removed from Miguel de Cervantes's early-17th-century description of the Catalan capital as "repository of courtesy, travelers' shelter…" but, as the author of Don Quijote discerned 400 years ago, Barcelona has a weakness for pampering and impressing visitors to its leafy streets and boulevards.

Hotels in the Gothic Quarter and along the Rambla are convenient for sightseeing and have plenty of charm but, with notable exceptions, may be somewhat less lavish than some of the newer complexes out west on the Diagonal. Many Eixample hotels are set in restored and streamlined late-19th- or early-20th-century town houses, often Moderniste in design, and offer midtown excitement and easy access to all of Barcelona. The Ritz, the Claris, the Majestic, the Condes de Barcelona, and the Colón probably best combine style and luxury with a sense of where you are, while the sybaritic modern palaces such as the Arts, the Rey Juan Carlos I, the Hilton, and the Princesa Sofía cater more to business travelers seeking familiarity, convenience, and comfort. The Hotel Omm, in the Eixample, is causing a sensation for its Zen-inspired design and gastronomical excellence. Relative newcomers such as the Neri, the Duquesa de Cardona, and the Banys Orientals are also contemporary design standouts inhabiting medieval architecture, a combination at which Barcelona architects and decorators are peerless.

Smaller hotels in the Ciutat Vella, such as the Sant Agustí or the Mesón Castilla, are less than half as expensive and more a part of city life, though they may also be noisier and less luxurious. Inexpensive options such as the Jardí and the Marina Folch are adequate and apt for combining tight budgets with decent lodging. Overlooking Barcelona are two options for those who want to be up and out of it: the spectacular Gran Hotel La Florida, and the intimate Relais d'Orsá. Meanwhile, all Barcelona awaits Ricardo Bofill's new sail-shaped, skyscraping, five-star hotel going up at the base of the Rompeolas (breakwater) at the far side of the Barcelona port.