This exquisite Spanish hotel has to be seen to be believed

It’s golden hour in Barcelona, just before sunset, the time of day when selfie-takers know the light is most flattering. At the rooftop bar of one of the city’s most fashionable hotels, Grand Hotel Central, smartphone cameras are getting a workout as beautiful young people snap pics of themselves laughing and puckering up.

Eighth-floor rooftop bar La Terraza del Central.

I sip sangria and bite into crunchy croquettes, admiring the view, the vibe, the crowd. There’s not an empty seat at the bar or an empty room in the hotel. The address on Via Laietana, nestled between the popular Gothic Quarter and trendy El Born neighbourhood, is prime real estate now, but it wasn’t always so.

A hundred years ago, this part of town was decidedly unfashionable. Francesc Cambo saw its potential. The Catalan politician, lawyer and arts patron, who served as Spain’s minister of development and public investment and minister of finance, was also an avid real estate investor and speculator.

The rooftop infinity pool overlooks the city’s Old Town.

Cambo bought the land where the hotel now stands for a song and engaged the brilliant Catalan Noucentista architect Adolf Florensa to design a grand residence. Think curved lines, symmetrical shapes, rich ornamentation and a rooftop garden oasis with bird’s-eye views of the city.

It was the first building constructed on Via Laietana, and featured the first elevator in Barcelona. The lofty technology did more than make it easier to ascend to the top floor. The new feature challenged the notions of the day, which dictated that the higher up you lived, the lower your socio-economic status. Cambo was one of the first taste-makers in Europe to live in a penthouse apartment, soon to become the most desirable of all dwellings.

Grand Hotel Central unveiled a top-to-toe refurbishment in 2024.

Using his considerable powers of persuasion, Cambo talked up the benefits of the Old Town location to business and political connections, encouraging many of them to move their offices and homes to the area.

The good times in Barcelona came to end for Cambo in 1936 with the onset of the Spanish Civil War. He left the city, passing time in Paris and Switzerland, eventually moving to New York and then Buenos Aires, where he died in 1947.

Tapas restaurant and bar, Can Bo.

In the years following the war, the grand building on Via Laietana became office space. It was redeveloped in 2005 as a hotel. Last year, under the direction of new management, the hotel underwent a meticulous top-to-toe refurbishment. All 147 guestrooms, the rooftop pool, restaurants and bars were reimagined in Catalan Noucentisme style, in homage to the origins of the building.

In addition to rooftop wining and dining at the Terraza del Central on the eighth floor, there’s a lively ground-floor restaurant, Can Bo, offering seasonal, locally sourced tapas dishes. An infinity pool looks over the city’s Old Town.

A London-based Catalan design studio, Sagrada, headed up the project, making use of natural materials and a soft colour palette of earth tones, dusty blues and soft pinks.

When I stay in June, not long after the reopening, I notice that everything from headboards to lounges to lighting has been designed with clean lines and muted colours in mind. It creates a calming ambience, a welcoming nest after a busy day of sightseeing in Barcelona.

A Deluxe room: Clean lines and muted tones.

Throughout the hotel are works by Catalan artists such as Ramon Herreros and Angels Ribe. In the grand entrance hall, regularly changing exhibitions feature local creations. Art lovers will want to venture out from the hotel to visit Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, where Cambo bequeathed 50 works to the city of Barcelona. The museum describes it as the most valuable and selfless donation it has received in its history.

The spirit of Francesc Cambo lives on in the wood-panelled library at the hotel, which houses his extensive collection of books and where afternoon tea is now served.

The library houses an extensive collection of Francesc Cambo’s books.

Cambo’s family retained ownership of his lavish top-floor apartment until recently; the century-old space is remarkably well preserved. It would be an incredible venue in which to host intimate soirees, literary talks and workshops.

Up on the roof, the exquisite neoclassical gardens he once tended remain intact. Inquire in advance at the front desk about a tour. The century-old orange trees, fountains and panoramic views have to be seen to be believed.

The details

Fly
Etihad offers one-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Barcelona via Abu Dhabi. Ask about its free Abu Dhabi stopover promotion. See etihad.com

Stay
Classic rooms at Grand Hotel Central cost from €450 ($755); suites from €800 ($1342). There are 147 guestrooms, including 12 suites. Nine guestrooms are mobility/visual/hearing accessible. The hotel is part of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World collection. See grandhotelcentral.com

More
slh.com

The writer was a guest of SLH and Grand Hotel Central.