This Barcelona hotel has a beautiful rooftop pool and great food
To read recent headlines, it’d be easy to believe Barcelona had become little more than a tourist hellscape these days, with water pistols fired at Sagrada Familia visitors and a mass antitourism demonstration planned for this weekend. Certainly, many signs of overtourism in the city are visible – the weekend crowds on La Barceloneta Beach make it look like a stock image for ‘heatwave’ – but, with a little nous, Barcelona remains a staple city break for good reason, with good food, good culture and that much-needed Spanish pace of life.
Grand Hotel Central: Barcelona hotel with an incredible rooftop pool
WHERE TO STAY
Built as a private home for Catalan politico Francesc Cambó, Grand Hotel Central originally made its name as the city’s tallest building (and the first with a lift!) in 1926, but today stands out instead for its outward unshowiness. A clean, creamy facade wedged between the Gothic Quarter and the trendy El Born barrio, the hotel is aptly statesmanlike in appearance and reputation, but a recent interior revamp has put it back on the map.
Decked out in soft pinks, light woods and baby blues, the rooms respectfully adhere to the principles of order and balance prescribed by the building’s Noucentisme heritage (an architectural style emphasising symmetry and harmony partially forged as a reaction against the extravagance of Gaudiism) but not at the expense of style or comfort. You can’t open the windows (a personal bugbear) but that comes with the flipside of the room being robustly soundproofed, allowing you to feel zen and homely despite being in one of the busiest parts of Barcelona.
THE POOL
Grand Hotel Central may as well start branding itself as a pool with a hotel attached, so central has its rooftop offering become to its identity. And for good reason – with the plushest sunbeds I’ve ever had the pleasure to park myself on and an infinity pool that pours over the ochre rooftops of Barcelona, it’s an absolute oasis. The redesign has been cleverly and stylishly executed, with tiered levels making the space feel bigger while also acting as a wind barrier, while innovative design features such as the sunbeds, which are flipped to become plump double sofas after sunset, double up comfort and utility. Order your lunch poolside or grab a seat at the rooftop terrace restaurant for a sundowner.
There’s one catch though – with only 10 spots on offer, beds have to be booked for two-hour slots in advance, with each room only entitled to one a day. When I went at the end of May, it wasn’t a problem to stay longer due to lower demand, but I anticipate it could be harder during high season. On the bright side, at least it mitigates the (very strong) temptation to stay nested there all day.
Intentional or otherwise, creating the hub of the hotel at the very top is also in keeping with another part of the building’s history. If you look up you can catch a glimpse of the ‘secret garden’ another floor above, part of Cambo’s personal private residence, then pioneering for inverting the usual bottom-to-top status hierarchy. While it was typical at the time for the bourgeois class to reside on the first floor, Cambo reversed this order by placing his own family home in the penthouse (hence also his lift). Currently, the garden can only be accessed by guests with a private tour, but there’s hope this could change in the future.
THE FOOD
Situated on the ground floor, Can Bo is an elevated tapas restaurant that is well worth a visit. The waiting staff are warm and knowledgeable, and the restaurant has a refreshingly unstuffy atmosphere, but not at the cost of high quality food. Indeed, offering an Italian-Spanish fusion tapas selection, the menu is brazenly unsanctimonious. Chef Lorenzo’s tagliatella and oxtail ragu, which takes three days to make, was a standout, along with the crispy octopus brioche. There are also some more adventurous dishes such as the amberjack salpicón with toasted corn which proved divisive in my dining party (delicious to me, like ‘cold cheesy fish’ to my partner). Order the chocolate three ways for dessert and waddle off happily into the Gothic Quarter for after-dinner drinks.
Visit Barcelona yourself
Rooms at Grand Hotel Central start from £295 per room per night including breakfast, based on two sharing. To book go to grandhotelcentral.com or call +34 932 957 900
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