Barcelona hotels

The first things I look for when booking a luxury hotel are superb service, along with comfort, privacy, and beautiful design. If your perfect stay also includes an address in a charming medieval neighborhood within stumbling distance of all the city has to offer, and a restaurant serving local delicacies, then the Barcelona EDITION is the hotel for you.
Set in the ultra-hip El Born district with sweeping views of the old town and the undulating technicolor roof of next-door Santa Caterina market, this location is hard to beat. Better still, it serves my favorite espresso martini – order it on the rooftop bar at sunset and watch the sky turn pink.

This classic grand dame is more than just a pretty face. Originally opened as the Ritz of Barcelona, El Palace has maintained its sumptuously classic feel while continuing to deliver some of the best service in town.
The modern-day hotel has everything from a jasmine-lined rooftop – complete with a bar, restaurant, pool, and seasonal open-air cinema – to a seafood-forward fine dining spot and one of the city’s sultriest cocktail bars. A rather excellent afternoon tea is also served in the great hall.
If budget is not an issue, book one of the six Art Suites, each of which has been inspired by one of the hotel’s most illustrious guests, from artists like Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró to Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. I love the Joséphine Baker Suite, with its elegant, feminine décor reminiscent of a French château.

If discreet boutique hotels in historic settings are your thing, look no further than The Serras. Set on the edge of the Gothic Quarter in a residential building from 1846, this was once the address of a struggling 15-year-old artist who rented his first studio in the attic. The artist in question was none other than Pablo Picasso.
These days, there are fewer impoverished painters at The Serras, which has been meticulously transformed into one of the best boutique hotels in Barcelona. It features a modern Catalan restaurant by Michelin-starred chef Marc Gascons – I dare say his patatas bravas are the best in town – and one of the city’s dreamiest rooftops with views of the old port.
Meanwhile, Picasso’s legacy lives on – you will find his portrait outside the elevators on the top floor, just down the corridor from where he painted some of his earliest works.