Boutique hotels
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Ohla Hotel
- Style
- Classic Catalan cool
- Setting
- Beside Barrio Gotico
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Alma Barcelona
- Style
- Sleekly minimal
- Setting
- A pace from Passeig de Gràcia
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Grand Hotel Central
- Style
- Slick city lookout
- Setting
- A ramble from Las Ramblas
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Neri Hotel & Restaurante
- Style
- 18th-century palace
- Setting
- Shady square by the cathedral
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Murmuri
- Style
- Hoppen and jumpin’
- Setting
- Exciting Eixample
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ABaC Restaurant & Hotel
- Style
- Modern, minimalist and Michelin-starred
- Setting
- Hip heights of Zona Alta
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Primero Primera
- Style
- Fifties family home
- Setting
- Upmarket Tres Torres
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Hotel Omm
- Style
- Architect-designed detail
- Setting
- Art nouveau side street
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Hotel Pulitzer
- Style
- Graphic designers’ playhouse
- Setting
- Close to Plaça Catalunya
-
ME Barcelona
- Style
- Glassy glamour, fashion-shoot chic
- Setting
- Popular, party-people’s Poble Nou
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El Palauet
- Style
- Art nouveau beau
- Setting
- Popular Passeig de Gràcia
Self-catering properties
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Destination BCN
- Style
- Mid-century modernism
- Setting
- Gaudí's Gothic streets
Barcelona Overview
Spain
- Cityscape
- Marvellous modernism
- City life
- Energetic and colourful
The Spanish city with its finger most firmly on the pulse, Barcelona has always embraced style, bold design and all things new.
Pockets of lively bars and restaurants around the Gothic Quarter and El Born ensure the city stays alive late into the night, as do most of her visitors: eating, drinking and partying. No wonder cava is the drink of choice – this is a place with much to celebrate.
Beautifully Barcelona
Rent a boat on the lake in Parc de la Ciutadella. Go to Mercat de la Boquería on Las Ramblas and get a picnic to take to the beach.Local Knowledge
- Taxis
- You can hail one from anywhere on the street.
- Tipping culture
- In restaurants and bars it’s normal to tip only if the service was good.
- Packing tips
- Swimmers – Barcelona has its own beach.
- Recommended reads
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon; Barcelona by Robert Hughes; City of Marvels by Eduardo Mendoza.
- Cuisine
- Basic Catalan cuisine is a surf ’n’ turf affair of seafood and meat tapas. Look out for the menú del dia (daily set menu) for a €10 lunch.
- Currency
- Euro.
- Dialling codes
- Spain: 34; Barcelona: 93.
- Do go/don't go
- Locals leave August to the tourists as the city can be too hot to handle.
