The Hotel Arts in Barcelona is pretty special: boasting 483 rooms, all with either enviable sea vistas or jaw-dropping city views, this fiercely contemporary hotel is located next to Barcelona’s lush sandy beaches and the rolling blue Med. At the logos of the city’s recent cultural renaissance, the Hotel Arts is a towering icon of the new Barcelona and a fairly incredible work of architecture. Seriously, when you’ve stayed in as many cookie-cutter hotels made of slabs of grey concrete and decorated with identical pictures of sad looking plants as we have, the awe-inspiring, looming metal girders and intelligently imposing design of the Hotel Arts (courtesy of renowned architect Bruce Graham) is really something to behold.
It’s just as impressive inside as well, where attentive and unobtrusively helpful staff are there to cater to you’re every need in chic, sophisticated surroundings. The standard rooms are nice enough to satisfy even the pickiest of travellers, but if you do feel like cranking the luxe-o-meter, there’s a kind of hotel-within-a-hotel on the rarefied upper levels of the building – no High Rise-style crisis of the tiers here. Called “The Club”, these secluded sanctuaries of opulence are perfect for a treat or a honeymoon, and give you access to killer views and a concierge service that rivals the best of them: try it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Obviously, dining out in Barcelona is all part of the city break experience. However, if you do feel like staying in the hotel, there are a whopping six in-house restaurants and bars to choose from. Ranging from the contemporary Mediterranean menu of the Enoteca Paco Pérez (try the lobster dumplings served with enoki mushrroms), to the inventive, informal tapas of Arola – enjoy hake bites in enchanting al fresco surroundings – the Arts Hotel really does have all bases covered: plus, if you fancy a killer cocktail, the guys at Frank’s can shake up a pretty mean Old Fashioned. All this is to say nothing of the spa, the pool, the beautiful, challenging and well-curated art that decorates every inch of the place…Well, you get the picture.
