No kids, no cars at this fun, hidden Barcelona hotel

The hotel

The Wittmore, Barcelona

Check-in

The Wittmore lounge contains a curated selection of books for guests to borrow.Credit:

The narrow, winding streets of Barcelona’s Barri Gotic, or Gothic Quarter, where snatches of guitar or opera waft around each bend, lend themselves to a dramatic entry. The adults-only Wittmore delivers with a discreet doorway – perhaps portal is a better word – off a car-free, dead-end alley. The only clue to the 22 rooms beyond is a doorman outside, who ushers you into a dark, sumptuous reception area where a welcome-drink awaits.

The look

The rooftop terrace offers a plunge pool and chimney pots.Credit:

Drama, drama, drama. This medieval chunk of Barcelona is full of it, so when the design team from Spain’s Septiembre Arquitectura were asked to complete a post-pandemic rejig, they set out to create a scenic hit, ramping up suspense with furnishings and flourishes from central casting, all revealed behind drumroll red curtains in the foyer. Wood floors, curated bookshelves and portraits on daubed or wallpapered walls offer intrigue, while rosy lounges, pops of gold and moody lighting bring a dose of sexual tension. But hogging the limelight are both the giant vertical garden in the candlelit courtyard, and the rooftop terrace where you can watch moonlight spill over Barcelona’s chimney pots from a jaunty striped lounge beside a plunge pool.

The room

Vintage touches in the guest room.Credit:

Ours is on the compact side, but there are plenty of good things in this small(ish) package. Gold lamps and a red lounge, cushions and curtains reappear, their colours replicating stripes in a checked carpet that offers vintage vibes, as do the old-fashioned black phone, the Marshall speakers and the subway tiles in the surprisingly roomy bathroom with double shower, bath, Molton Brown products, robes and a hairdryer. There’s a king bed, free Wi-Fi, satellite television with Chromecast, a safe, plenty of wardrobe space and charging points. The bar fridge is a revelation, offering complimentary local beer, olives and chips, plus two mini-bottles of gin, tonic and a chopping board with two limes, replenished daily. There’s a kettle, teas and pod-coffee with zero-waste capsules. By early evening there’ll be a knock at the door: it’s housekeeping bearing freshly made popcorn and chocolate. All bedrooms overlook the courtyard, and books and board games are yours for the taking from the lounge.

Food + drink

The vertical garden adjoining Contraban.Credit:

This is Barcelona, so there’s no shortage of interesting places to dine. But you can’t stay at The Wittmore without at least one visit to its much-hailed Michelin Guide restaurant, Contraban. Chef Alain Guiard has taken the hotel’s dedication to creative quirk and run with it, producing reasonably priced cuisine “inspired by the emotions that arrive from the creative process”. Dishes are filed into categories such as Impatience, which offers delights like Catalan artisan raw milk cheeses; Freedom (marinated salmon, soy and yuzu); and Blanked Out (cold spider crab, prawn carpaccio with tarragon). Add candlelit outdoor seating, beautifully patterned china, that vertical garden and the clink of glasses, and the result is romantic perfection.

Out + About

You’ll need to book tickets to the Sagrada Familia or Park Guell for most of the year, but the Gothic Quarter in October, while by no means empty, is minus the street-wide throngs of sightseers. Art, culture and history are on your doorstep here, so make it your mission to wander these mural-splashed streets where busking opera singers and cellists make good use of the acoustics.

A quiet corner at the adults-only Wittmore.

Take a short walk to the Mercat Gotic, or Gothic Market, in front of the imposingly beautiful Barcelona Cathedral for antiques and curios such as aged opera glasses, art student canvases and well-thumbed prayer books. And there are other curios nearby: two favourites are the tiny Chapelle Saint Christophe de Regomir (yes, the patron saint of travellers), where people have prayed for safe passage since the 1500s; and the Hand of God football T-shirt shop with its mural of you-know-who out the front.

THE VERDICT

This fun, welcoming hotel has ramped up the quirk and outlawed the bland while nurturing the mainstays that set good hotels apart: excellent service and attention to detail.

THE ESSENTIALS

Rooms from $393 a night in low season (winter), and $579 in high season (summer). One wheelchair-accessible room; public areas are also accessible. Hotel Wittmore, Carrer de Riudarenes 7, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona. Phone [phone]. See wittmorehotel.com

OUR RATING OUT OF FIVE

★★★★½

Highlight

That jaunty knock on the door in the late afternoon heralding the arrival of your gratis popcorn and chocolates.

Lowlight

Don’t drop a contact lens or a dark credit card in the bedroom. The mood lighting means you may never find it.

The writer stayed as a guest of The Wittmore and Small Luxury Hotels of the World (slh.com).