El Palace - Barcelona
- Nick, Editor
- Sep 16
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 24
old-world glamour with a modern heartbeat
Article summary>>
In this article, you will get our unbiased, independent review and thoughts on the El Palace Hotel in Barcelona
Rooms & suites
Food & Drink
Amenities
Service
Vibe
Location
Thoughts
Booking
In a city defined by modernist whimsy and Mediterranean flair, the El Palace Hotel Barcelona stands as a grand counterpoint, a temple to timeless luxury where history hums softly in the marble halls. Opened in 1919 as the Ritz, it remains one of the city’s most iconic and exclusive addresses, carrying with it a century’s worth of stories: aristocrats, politicians, celebrities like Cary Grant, Madonna, Michael Douglas, Sean Connery, Elton John, Paul McCartney and even Ernest Hemingway, who was said to enjoy its bar as much as its beds.
A century on since its opening, the hotel is still very much itself: a Leading Hotels of the World grande dame with 120 rooms and suites, a vast, flower-laced rooftop garden with a pool, and an unapologetically opulent spa that borrows its soul from the Yucatán. The address, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668, puts you in the elegant lattice of the Eixample, five lazy blocks from Passeig de Gràcia and an easy stroll to the Gothic Quarter; metro and rail lines are close, but you’ll mostly walk because this city rewards it.
The look:
El Palace wears its history with a wink. The public rooms lean toward Louis-era opulence, gilded mirrors, velvet sofas, cut-crystal chandeliers, yet the palette stays fresh and the lighting flattering. The lobby lounge (El Hall) is the hotel’s living room and a Barcelona salon all in one: espresso mornings, afternoon tea under palms, cava and conversation before dinner, and nightcaps when you don’t want your evening to end. (The menu is a clever braid of Catalan classics and crisp international comfort, served straight through from noon to late evening.)
Upstairs, the room design is “updated classic” rather than a museum piece. Think high ceilings, tall windows, deep mattresses, and bathrooms that lean toward Roman bath over trend-chasing minimalism. Many rooms have French balconies onto the boulevard; the quieter rooms nestle toward the courtyard. If you’ve come to celebrate, El Palace’s Art Suites are the house’s love letters to its bohemian past; either way, all rooms are "Old money" luxury that will not disappoint.
The Salvador Dalí Art Suite still nods to the artist’s stays in the 1970s, complete with a Roman-style mosaic bath and that famous, surreal anecdote about a taxidermied white horse he once presented to Gala, coaxed up the hotel’s grand staircase. The Joséphine Baker and Joan Miró suites are equally transportive. And then there’s the El Palace Suite by Ronnie Wood, curated with the Rolling Stones’ own art, and a jukebox stuffed with his favourite records. It’s the most rock ’n’ roll perch in town.
The rooftop bar:
Every great Barcelona hotel needs a terrace; El Palace has a 1,500 m² Rooftop Garden that feels like a secret park above the city. There’s a trim pool for cooling dips, pergolas and ponds, clusters of wrought-iron chairs for long, lazy lunches, and a 360° panorama that pulls your gaze from the cathedral to Tibidabo.
In summer, the team turns part of it into an open-air cinema, with classics under the stars and popcorn in hand, and the programming reliably hits that sweet spot between stylish and nostalgic. Golden hour here is a trap, in the best way.
Depending on the season, the rooftop toggles between Mediterranean menus and pop-up concepts (recently, a Levantine detour as El Jardín Libanés), but it always makes a persuasive case for lingering: grilled fish, bright salads, unfussy tapas, and desserts that beg a second helping. For more information and to book a stay, click here
Eating & drinking at El Palace Barcelona:
Amar Barcelona
El Palace’s headline table is Amar Barcelona, a jewel-box room framed by gilded arches and run with the guidance of chef Rafa Zafra. The kitchen treats the Mediterranean pantry with reverence and wit: pristine oysters and caviar, seafood by weight, Catalan staples reframed with delicate technique, and a tasting menu for those who like to surrender the wheel. Amar is widely acclaimed, the sort of place that draws boldface names (you might remember the 2023 photo op with Obama, Spielberg, and Springsteen). Book ahead; this is very much a local occasion, not just a hotel restaurant.
El Hall & El Jardín
Back downstairs, El Hall does exactly what a grand hotel lounge should: it feeds you well from lunch through late supper without posturing. Breakfast happens in El Jardín, a monochrome indoor garden with a Parisian wink, sunlight on black-and-white tiles, pots of green, and a buffet that balances “virtuous” with “I’ll have one more ensaïmada.” Non-residents can book breakfast too, which tells you how proud the house is of it.
Bluesman Cocktail Bar
If the lobby is the hotel’s salon, Bluesman is its speakeasy soul: a tucked-away, live-music cocktail bar (with a cigar lounge next door) where the spirits list runs deep and the bartenders do serious work behind the bar. It’s one of those rare hotel bars that locals actually go to for the room as much as the drinks. Most nights, you’ll descend the steps to a murmurous hum, velvet banquettes, clink of coupe glasses, and a set list that leans from jazz to disco with graceful ease.
The spa:
The Mayan Luxury Spa is quietly unique in Barcelona. Treatments take their cue from Mayan rituals, and there’s even a temazcal, a pre-Hispanic sweat lodge, rare in a European city spa. The mood is low-lit and sensorial: copal and citrus notes in the air, warm stones, water therapies, and therapists who talk in first names and read tense shoulders like a language. The facility slots neatly into a Barcelona day: morning steam and shower before a museum; a jet-lag-banishing ritual on arrival; a “we walked 20,000 steps” massage before dinner.
Where you are:
El Palace sits in the Eixample like a calm in the swirl. Walk five to ten minutes to Passeig de Gràcia for Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and La Pedrera; continue ten more and you’re in the Gothic Quarter’s thicket of alleys and squares. Plaça de Catalunya is an eight-minute walk; the Urquinaona metro stop is even closer. Barcelona-Passeig de Gràcia station is a six-minute walk from regional trains and the airport link. If you’re mapping days, the hotel’s location keeps you central to everything: modernisme masterpieces, markets, galleries, and the primer-thin beaches of Barceloneta by taxi when you feel like a breeze.
A few activities to consider:
Casa Batlló (9 minutes) and La Pedrera, your Gaudí essentials, are best reserved in advance.
Barcelona Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter (11 minutes) and the Picasso Museum in El Born.
La Rambla and La Boqueria for the theatre of food (go early).
Sagrada Família (19 minutes) if you’re ambitious on foot; otherwise, a quick hop by taxi or metro.
Service & scene:
Hotels often talk about “personalised service”; El Palace practices it like a craft. This is a house that remembers how you take your tea and notices when you swap to coffee; that retrieves a forgotten scarf before you’ve realised you left it; that angles a dinner reservation to avoid a downpour between courses.
The guest mix is cosmopolitan, design pilgrims, anniversary couples, families using the hotel as a base camp, business travellers with better taste than time, and the building soaks up the traffic without losing its poise. In peak seasons, the rooftop is lively and the Bluesman calendar leans to the festive; the rest of the year, it’s a steady hum of cultivated calm.
Rooms to book (editor’s picks)
Junior Suite Passeig de Gràcia-facing if you want a balcony theatre onto the city.
Art Suites if you’re celebrating: Salvador Dalí for the mosaic bath and story; Joséphine Baker for romantic finesse; Ronnie Wood when you want a jukebox and a grin.
Courtyard Deluxe if you sleep light, utterly cocooned, with all the trimmings.
How I’d spend 48 hours here:
Day 1 - Check in and ride the lift straight to the Rooftop Garden. Order a spritz; choose a perch where you can triangulate Sagrada Família and Tibidabo; feel the day unclench. Dinner at Amar Barcelona, oysters to start, something elemental from the fish counter, maybe the “Amar Lentamente” tasting if you’re in the mood to be steered. Nightcap at Bluesman, where the cocktail list could easily become a hobby.
Day 2 - Breakfast in El Jardín (yes to the Catalan tomatoes), then Casa Batlló right when doors open, a coffee in El Born, and the Picasso Museum. Back to the hotel for a Mayan spa ritual in the late afternoon, followed by a swim and sunset on the roof. Keep dinner flexible, El Hall is perfect when you want to linger in the hotel’s glow, and if the open-air cinema is screening, consider your evening set.
Practicalities & pricing:
This is Barcelona: citywide events can nudge rates from “treat” to “investment.” Recent snapshots from £520/night
Verdict:
El Palace is the reason “grand hotel” still means something. It’s not trying to be the newest kid; it’s intent on being the truest version of itself, Barcelona seen through a gilt-edged lens, with a rooftop garden that edits the city into a perfect frame and a spa that feels like a small pilgrimage. Stay here if your idea of luxury is service with a memory, rooms with personality, and public spaces that make you want to linger just a little longer. Bottom line: If you want Barcelona’s golden-age glamour with today’s appetite, rooftop swims, serious cocktails, seafood worth dressing up for, El Palace is that rare hotel where the history enhances the holiday, a big thumbs up from us.
Pros & cons:
Pros:
Superb location on the Gran Via, walkable to Gaudí, the Gothic Quarter, and major shopping; metro and rail within minutes.
Vast, beautifully planted Rooftop Garden (1,500 m²) with pool, all-views terrace, and open-air cinema in season.
Distinctive Mayan Luxury Spa with a temazcal, rare in Europe.
Dining range: Amar Barcelona (Rafa Zafra’s seafood-led temple), elegant El Hall, breakfast in El Jardín, and the lively Bluesman bar with live music and cigar lounge.
Rich sense of history (opened 1919 as the Ritz) plus Art Suites tied to Dalí, Josephine Baker, Joan Miró, and Ronnie Wood.
Cons:
Rooftop pool is for cooling dips, not laps; loungers are coveted on blue-sky weekends.
Prices track event weeks; best value is mid-week or shoulder season.
The style is classic rather than cutting-edge; design minimalists may prefer a slicker address.
Key facts at a glance:
Location: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668 (Eixample); 10 minutes’ walk to Plaça de Catalunya, La Rambla, Casa Batlló, and Barcelona Cathedral; Urquinaona metro 5 minutes; Passeig de Gràcia station 6 minutes.
Hotel rating: Luxury 5-star city hotel; Leading Hotels of the World member.
Hotel vibe: Historic grand, opulent lobby, updated-classic rooms, cultivated rooftop calm; service-forward and Barcelona-literate.
Food & drink:
Amar Barcelona - seafood-forward fine dining by Rafa Zafra.
El Hall - all-day dining in the lobby lounge.
El Jardín - monochrome indoor garden for breakfast.
Rooftop Garden - Mediterranean plates, seasonal pop-ups, open-air cinema.
Bluesman Cocktail Bar - speakeasy vibe, live music, cigar lounge.
Hotel amenities: Rooftop pool, 1,500 m² rooftop garden, Mayan Luxury Spa with temazcal, fitness area, event spaces, open-air cinema in season.
How many rooms: 120 rooms & suites (plus themed Art Suites).
Pricing: Recent snapshots show entry rooms from around £520/night, depending on dates.
Location recommendations & attractions:
Casa Batlló & La Pedrera - Modernisme masterpieces close by.
Picasso Museum - time-slot tickets recommended; pair with El Born wander.
La Boqueria - early-day tapas and produce theatre.
Sagrada Família - a longer walk or short metro/taxi hop; book ahead.
All hotels & resorts on The Five Star Edit are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive a small commission from advertisers when using our affiliate links.
El Palace Hotel (Barcelona) 2025
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