Serras Barcelona

A five-star Gran Lujo hotel facing Port Vell in an 1846 building where a teenage Picasso had his first studio, with his original studio window and a plunge pool on the rooftop.

Pablo Picasso was fifteen when he had his first studio on the top floor of this building, and he painted Science and Charity there. The studio’s original window has been restored and still stands on the rooftop, facing the sea.

Francesc Daniel Molina, the architect of Plaça Reial, designed the building in 1846. It stands where the Gothic Quarter opens onto the Mediterranean, on Passeig de Colom, facing Marina Port Vell, and it is now Serras Barcelona.

Eva Martínez designed the interiors, mixing a contemporary New York style with classic Catalan wood, iron and traditional tile. Rooms start at the 25 m² Superior, laid with hydraulic tiles, and climb to the 100 m² Grand Suite Mediterraneo, with two bedrooms and three bathrooms. The Suite Mediterraneo has three balconies, the Junior Suites have jacuzzi baths, and the bathrooms stock Natura Bissé.

The sixth-floor rooftop has a plunge pool, a bar with local DJs and views over Port Vell, Barceloneta and the Mediterranean. Chef Alejandro Loaiza cooks rice dishes, seafood and charcoal-grilled meats at Informal, his Mediterranean restaurant. Le Nine, the lounge bar on the mezzanine, is open 24 hours, and so is the gym. On foot, El Born is under five minutes away, the Barceloneta beaches are ten, and the Cathedral is 700 metres.