This elegant, if somewhat impersonal, hotel overlooking the Rambla occupies a building with an illustrious history as the headquarters of the Compañia de Tabacos de Filipinas, a prestigious Barcelona business concern for nearly 100 years. Named for the fateful year when Spain was stripped of its final colonial possessions, the Philippines among them, the hotel's elegance is an homage to bygone glories as well as a sign of the city's present opulence. Pros: Unbeatable central location on the Rambla, state-of-the-art design and technology (such as flat-screen plasma TVs). Cons: Noisy Rambla thronging at the threshold, Starbucks just off the lobby.
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