20 Best Hotels in Barcelona, Spain

Part of Hilton’s upscale Curio Collection, the real draw about the Hotel Alexandra are the surprisingly affordable suites with private terraces and Moderniste suites with turn-of-the century Catalan floor tiles. Set in a 19th-century building, the interior design is sleek, with minimalist guest rooms and Priya bath products. The on-site restaurant, Solomillo, serves some of the best steak in town.

The lobby’s spectacular design, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, giant artworks, and a buzzy central cocktail bar, sets the tone of this vibrant boutique hotel that’s a hit with guests and caffeine-seeking locals. Bedrooms have a modern, premium feel; the plush finish compensating for the lack of outside space on most room categories. There’s also a leafy courtyard patio for meals, a spacious rooftop terrace with pool, and an organic, vegan spa.

Guests and locals alike rave about the rooftop terrace at the Yurbban Passage and with good reason: the panoramic view is hands-down one of the best in the city at this hip, casual hotel, which offers that hard-to-find mix of comfort, location and design at an accessible price point. Set right on the border of La Ribera and Eixample, Yurbban Passage is posher than her sister next door, Yurbban Trafalgar, at C/ Trafalgar 30, which is less chic and more affordable. 

This boutique hotel set in the meticulously restored former home of one of Barcelona's most notable architects is sure to make design lovers swoon. Warm and cozy, there is a welcoming vibe throughout in the building that local starchitect Enric Sagnier designed back in 1892 as his workplace and family home. What was once Sagnier's studio is now the Grand Suite, a luxurious first-floor space with high ceilings and giant windows overlooking the Rambla Catalunya. The top-floor rooms have private terraces with sun beds and outdoor showers. 

This hip hotel, positioned (yes, you guessed it) on a corner, has been fashioned from a handsome, turn-of-the-century building within a few blocks of Gaudí’s key sights on Passeig de Gràcia. The rooftop terrace has a fabulous pool and panoramic views that span the city center from Montjuïc to the Sagrada Família. Rooms are comfortable, melding neutral tones and industrial design, and come with nifty technology such as Bluetooth connection so you can play your own music, if you wish. Go for a Corner Room for more space and natural light. Downstairs, in the distinctly vibey lobby-bar, there is live music on most evenings and locals and guests intermingle from morning until night. In winter, don’t miss settling down with a drink by the open fire.

A 16th-century town house, built when the Passeig de Colom in front was lined with the summer homes of the nobility, houses this waterfront hotel a five-minute walk from everything in the Barri Gòtic and Barceloneta. The rooftop terrace, with two plunge pools and a tapas bar, has a spectacular view of the harbor and marina.

In the heart of the more fashionable Esquerra (west or "left" side) of the Eixample, this recently expanded and renovated hotel caters primarily to gay travelers in an area dubbed by locals the "Gayxample." The spacious rooms are soundproof and well lighted, with comfortable contemporary furniture and decor in white-on-white punctuated by hints of black, red, and chrome; most have queen-size beds. Suites are truly spacious, but have only a glass wall separating the bedroom from the bath: privacy sacrificed for romance. The hotel's Bench restaurant is up to par, and the rooftop deck and pool (with pool, bar, cascade, and Jacuzzi, open April–October) has good views over the city.

This beautifully renovated Art Nouveau gem is the second oldest (after the nearby Sant Agustí) and among the best of Barcelona's smaller hotels. Abutting the Liceu opera house and 100 yards from the middle of La Rambla, the España dates to 1857 but was renovated in 1900–04 by architect Lluís Doménech i Montaner, who also designed the Palau de la Música. The decorative and sculptural detail is remarkable: don't miss the alabaster fireplace in the bar lounge, by Eusebio Arnau, and the undersea motif murals in the "Sala les Sirenes" breakfast room by Ramon Casas, a pioneer of Modernisme and co-founder of the art salon Els Quatre Gats. Guest rooms are arranged around a breathtaking top-to-bottom skylit corrala (central gallery) with wrought-iron railings and sgraffito-carved walls. Accommodations are a bit small but are handsomely decked out in grays and dark browns, with wood floors, comfortable desks, and office chairs. Bathrooms have double vanities and Rituals toiletries.

This quirky property is what happens when design is allowed to triumph over tradition. With a perfectly good shower cabinet, what earthly use could there be for a bathtub smack in the middle of the bedroom, except as an objet? There are lots of objets in the BCN Design, not all of them sensible or comfortable, but nevertheless fun for the young at heart. The hotel is only steps from the best of Barcelona's upmarket shopping, fine dining, and Moderniste masterpieces like the Gaudí Casa Milà and Casa Batlló. Rooms are fairly large, with flowing black abstract paintings on the feature wall behind the bed, glittery red mosaic tile in the bathrooms, and good soundproofing; superior doubles have great king-size beds with firm mattresses. Ask for a deluxe room, with a private terrace—or go for the "Smart Room," and operate its huge TV "living wall" from your mobile phone, to project 3-D maps and videos of tourist attractions, mood images, games and workout programs, art collections, and photo montages.

Clubby and comfortable, this Eixample hotel, made up entirely of suites and duplexes with living rooms, is ideal for groups and families. Rooms are decorated in dark tones with sexy details like leather headboards, zebra patterns, and satin bedspreads. Coffee-color tiles and square sinks add to the masculine polish. Only the location is less than ideal; for sightseeing purposes, it's a bit out of the way, but a 20-minute march down Diagonal puts you right on Passeig de Gràcia.

This handsome Moderniste property has gone through several incarnations, the most recent resulting in a rather serene setting (quite welcome in this busy neighborhood) and reasonably priced rooms, some with a terrace or balcony. Inside, the labyrinthine corridors keep traffic noises on the guest floors to a minimum. The downstairs breakfast room is furnished salon-style with comfy armchairs and sofas, and offers an excellent buffet; the fine little roof terrace has parasols and divans, a smallish pool (unheated), and a superb view of Montjuic; the bar is open to the public. Ask for one of the three superior doubles, with a private terrace.

Hotel Pulitzer boasts a chic lobby lounge and a stylish plant-filled restaurant, plus a buzzy rooftop terrace that draws a hip local crowd. The turquoise-tiled bathrooms are an Instagram hit.

Slap-bang next to Poblenou’s stars—Torre Glòries, the design museum and Rambla del Poblenou—this buzzy address goes heavy on the Instagram fodder: from imaginative bedrooms featuring wall tapestries and colorful headboards, to a rooftop terrace with a checkerboard pool and sunset views over La Sagrada Família.

British designer Kelly Hoppen took this 19th-century townhouse on Rambla de Catalunya and transformed it into a chic, intimate urban retreat, with room decor in velvety brown, beige, and black, with big mirrors, dramatic bed lighting, and arresting photography. Bathrooms have both cascade and standard showerheads, towel warmers, and full amenities (robes and slippers, on request, are complimentary for standard doubles). Superior doubles, with king-size beds, look out on Rambla de Catalunya; Privilege doubles (worth the splurge) have private terraces. The cozy little bar on the ground floor, with sink-in sofas and armchairs, is a perfect place to unwind at the end of the day, as is the rooftop terrace, open year-round exclusively for guests. The Murmuri also offers excellent accommodations in its spacious one- and two-bed apartments, situated in nearby Passeig de la Concepción or Passatge Mercader, complete with fully equipped kitchens, en-suite master bedrooms, and private terraces, perfect for families.

Well situated for exploring the Born-Ribera district, Barceloneta, and the port—and in a neighborhood blessed with wine and tapas bars—this mid-priced hotel has basic rooms with espresso-color wood floors and comfortable (if generic) furnishings. The building lacks grandeur, but it lies across the street from the elegant old Estació de França train station. The Park's best feature is Ten's, its upscale tapas restaurant, under the supervision of wunderkind chef Jordi Cruz.

Just a few minutes' walk from Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Família, this eco-conscious hotel may be named for the year in which work on that project began but the feel is distinctly contemporary. Public spaces include a vibrant lobby bar with geometric floor tiles, floor-to-ceiling windows, and bright splashes of color, while the rooftop terrace has a pool and plenty of lush greenery. Thoughtfully designed rooms have hardwood floors and luxurious bath amenities. Hotel 1882 stands out for its responsible tourism initiatives, which include programs that offer support to less privileged members of the local community.

Popular with cruise ship passengers who extend their vacations to savor the city, the Havana is about equidistant from the Moderniste sights of the Eixample and the Gothic Quarter. In a Moderniste building that dates to 1872, it has room decors in soothing tones of brown and beige, with dark polished hardwood floors and black-lacquer desks. The rooms, on a circular floor plan around a lobby-to-skylight central atrium, are comfortably ample; upscale accommodations on the sixth floor have private terraces. Double doors and double-glazed windows provide better-than-average soundproofing, but the rumble of the subway is palpable on the lower floors. Upscale rooms on the sixth floor have private terraces. In season, the rooftop deck, with its small plunge pool and tapas bar–café, is the place to gather.

Across from Gaudí's Casa Batlló and just down Passeig de Gràcia from his Casa Milà (La Pedrera), this boutique hotel is surrounded by Barcelona's top shopping addresses and leading restaurants. The Moderniste facade and interiors dating from 1897 provide a bold contrast with the Philippe Starck, Mooi, B&B, and Vitra interior details. Rooms display a purity of line and sleek minimalism as the reigning aesthetic principles, with a monochromatic palette of white and gray; the sofas can be made up as extra beds. Higher-priced junior suites on the first and fifth floors have private terraces; the fifth-floor rooms are a lot quieter. A good buffet breakfast is served in the lounge, one flight up from the lobby.

Just above Raval, the Casa Luz stands out for its larger than average rooms, most with with balconies that open up to let in lots of natural light. Meals at Restaurante Casa Luz aren’t included, but the panoramic views more than make up for it. Time your rooftop visit for sunset or book a table for dinner and enjoy inventive tapas and acoustic live music.

In an upscale residential neighborhood above Passeig de la Bonanova, this boutique accommodation can ease some of the budgetary strains of coming to a prime tourist destination. The Vilana does a fair share of its business with the families of patients in the nearby Dexeus and Teknon hospitals, and with participants in medical conferences; it's off the beaten track, and happily so. The generously sized sunlit rooms have parquet floors and simple, contemporary furnishings; some have audacious splashes of color, like a feature wall behind the bed of dried lavender blossoms under glass. There's a pleasant lounge downstairs, with deep leather sofa suites and a faux fireplace. The Vilana is a 10-minute walk from the Sarrià train that connects you with the city center in 15 minutes. All in all, the hotel offers exceptionally comfortable digs at bargain rates.