El Palace Barcelona

A five-star hotel on Gran Via that opened in 1919 as the Ritz of Barcelona, with Art Suites including Dalí's, a temazcal spa and a rooftop pool with views to the Sagrada Família.

Monarchs, aristocrats, artists and musicians have stayed at El Palace since it opened in 1919 as the Ritz of Barcelona. It is on Gran Via, a few steps from Passeig de Gràcia, and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World.

The Art Suites carry the hotel’s history in their names. There are suites for César Ritz, Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Joan Miró, and the Salvador Dalí suite keeps the look it had during Dalí’s stays. The El Palace Suites are dedicated to Joséphine Baker and to Ronnie Wood, whose Art Deco suite was once his home. Art Suites come with a butler and a private airport transfer. Further down the list, the Classic and Superior rooms are 35 m² with French balconies, the Classic rooms keep their original fireplaces, and the Junior Suites look onto an Eixample courtyard.

Rafa Zafra cooks Mediterranean seafood and dry-aged cuts over embers at Amar Barcelona, and the signature is sea urchins and prawn tartare with caviar. The Grand Hall, the historic lobby, serves a lunch menu, cocktails and a British afternoon tea to live piano. Breakfast is in El Jardín, a black-and-white garden room with a fountain.

The Mayan Luxury Spa uses Anne Semonin products and has a pre-Hispanic temazcal sauna. The hotel calls it the first of its kind in Europe. On the roof, the garden has a guests-only pool, a cocktail bar open until 12:30am and 360° views, with the Sagrada Família in the distance. The concierges belong to Les Clefs d’Or.