Ohla Hotel - Barcelona
- Nick, Editor
- Sep 17
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 24
the five-star hotel watching over the Gothic Quarter
Article summary>>
In this article, you will get our unbiased, independent review and thoughts on the Ohla Hotel in Barcelona
Rooms & suites
Food & Drink
Amenities
Service
Vibe
Location
Thoughts
Booking
This is my kind of bolt-hole: stylish, compact, and unusually serious about food. Ohla Hotel Barcelona sits right where the Gothic Quarter kisses El Born, a few lazy minutes from the Cathedral, La Rambla, and Plaça Catalunya, with the Palau de la Música practically winking from the end of the street. The address reads Via Laietana 49, but the real geography here is emotional: the hotel is a backstage pass to historic Barcelona, with the modern city’s appetite and verve layered on top.
A house with a gaze (and a point of view)
Locals call it “the hotel with a thousand eyes.” The sculptor Frederic Amat designed those eye-studs you see on the façade; they were produced by master ceramicist Antoni Cumella, and they set the tone for the art-literate mood indoors. You’ll clock the 18 white ceramic faces by Samuel Salcedo as you enter, and you’ll keep spotting pieces that feel curated rather than decorative, little cues that this is a place with taste as well as taste buds.
That mix of contemporary art and Catalan classicism continues upstairs. Ohla is a five-star boutique hotel with 74 rooms, and the design brief reads “calm, collected, considered.” Pale hardwood floors and crisp whites in the sleeping areas give way to inky, high-gloss bathrooms, a neat day-night switch you can feel. If you’re the sort who likes your city rooms photogenic but functional, this hits the mark. (And if you’re the sort who judges a hotel by its blackout curtains and water pressure, you’ll be happy too.)
The rooms at Ohla Hotel Barcelona:
Entry categories (Essential/Design, roughly 25–31 m²) work beautifully for couples or solo travellers who’ll spend as much time out as in. Step up to Junior Suites if you want sitting space and a little theatre when you fling the curtains. The star for romantics and architecture fans is the Dome Suite, a two-storey aery tucked under the rooftop cupola. You could lose an hour up there just watching the city rearrange itself with the light. (Bring a camera; you’ll use it.) Either way, all rooms are as you would expect from a 5-star stay, and you couldn't be disappointed with Ohla's offerings. For more information and to book a stay, click here
Rooftop:
If Barcelona is a rooftop city, Ohla is one of its nicest perches. Ride the lift to the eighth floor and the noise dissolves; you’re eye-level with tiled domes, plane trees, the Cathedral and, on a clear day, a sliver of sea. The 13-metre pool, with its glass wall, is more for cooling lengths than training sessions, but what a place to float, somewhere between skyline and stage set. The pool is for hotel guests only, though the Rooftop bar opens to non-residents afternoons into the night (typically 13:00–23:00 Sunday-Thursday and until midnight Friday-Saturday). Book a spot at peak times; locals know this terrace.
Service:
Ohla’s service style is Barcelona-fluent: professional without fuss, conversational without over-familiarity. The concierges are Clefs d’Or, which in practice means they’ll nudge you toward the right Gaudí time slots and the neighbourhood tapas that don’t need your presence on Instagram. Housekeeping is invisible until, magically, it isn’t, rooms reset as if by stagecraft. The hotel’s little “experience team” touches (pick your pillow, pick your sheets, pick a scent) are handled with a light hand: indulgence without instruction manual.
Eating & drinking:
You could check into Ohla for the kitchens alone and come out feeling you’d “done” Barcelona. This is a culinary hotel, in its own words, and the shape of your day tends to bend around what’s cooking.
Caelis:
Led by Romain Fornell, Caelis is Ohla’s grand gesture: a MICHELIN-starred room that marries French technique with Mediterranean clarity. It’s the sort of place where the tasting menus tell a story, playful but precise, and where the chef’s counter puts you as close to the choreography as you’ll ever be without wearing whites. Reservations are essential; lunch can be a savvy way in if dinner’s fully booked, and there’s a weekly prix-fixe at lunchtime to keep it human.
La Plassohla:
On the corner of Via Laietana and Carrer Comtal, La Plassohla runs on appetising momentum: open all day, kitchens visible behind the bar. This menu swings from polished classics to globe-curious small plates. Sit against the picture windows and you’re part of the street theatre; sit at the counter and you’re part of the mise en place. It’s a dependable anchor for the in-between meals, the “just a plate or two” that becomes three.
Rooftop:
Come late afternoon, the rooftop turns from sun deck to social. Cocktails are smart, wines are well-chosen, and the snacks lean Mediterranean. Views do the rest. The team opens the terrace to non-guests at set times (pool stays hotel-guests-only); there’s often a DJ set or a low-key event once the heat breaks, especially in summer.
Wellness & quiet extras:
Ohla doesn’t position itself as a spa monolith, and that’s refreshing in a city hotel. Instead, it offers wellness and hairdressing treatments, a fitness-curator concept (think guided runs through the Gothic Quarter or a private yoga class), and a small, practical gym. It’s just enough to stretch out legs after museum miles, or turn a morning into a gentle reset before the day’s attacking lines of Modernisme.
Where you are:
This location is why you book. The hotel sits at a hinge in the city: the Gothic Quarter to the south and west, the El Born to the east, Eixample, and Passeig de Gràcia’s designer flagships, a ten-minute stroll north. Walk three minutes to the Cathedral, five to La Rambla and Plaça Catalunya, and about ten to Casa Batlló and La Pedrera if you’re feeling ambitious on foot. It’s Barcelona’s old city edited for access, alive by day, cinematic by night.
My quick 3-day itinerary:
Day 1 - Drop your bags, duck up to the Rooftop for a sanity-saving swim and a first scan of the skyline. Wander down to El Born for a lazy loop through medieval lanes, then cut across to the Palau de la Música Catalana, a modernist jewel box, for a tour or, even better, a concert. Dinner at Caelis (chef’s counter if you can), and a nightcap back upstairs as the city flickers.
Day 2 - Early Casa Batlló, then La Pedrera before the crowds thicken; coffee and a pastry on Rambla de Catalunya. Back to La Plassohla for a late lunch (croquettes, something from the grill, a glass of Catalan white), and a siesta you’ve earned. When the light turns, return to the Rooftop for cocktails and something salty; if energy remains, walk the Gothic Quarter by feel.
Day 3 - Markets & museums: Breakfast, a quick Boqueria raid for fruit and ogling, then the Picasso Museum if that’s your lane. Otherwise, let the hotel’s concierge map you a tapas crawl with minimal tourist overlap; they’re good at that.
Character & crowd:
Ohla’s energy flexes with the week. You’ll find design lovers and anniversary couples on weekends; mid-week, a smattering of well-heeled business travellers swapping laptops for oysters by 8 pm. This is not a clubby, DJ-by-the-pool scene (though set lists live upstairs when the weather’s right). It’s urbane and social, not shouty, the sort of place where you can eavesdrop on a conversation about a gallery opening at the next table and feel your evening realign.
Practicalities & pricing:
Barcelona’s rates dance to the city calendar: fairs, festivals, football fixtures, and school holidays. Recent checks show rooms from around £260/night in shoulder periods via booking outlets if you can get a late deal; otherwise, typical nightly rates for standard rooms hover between £300-£600/night depending on season and lead time. Suites, naturally, scale up.
editorial notes:
Book ahead for Caelis (especially weekends) and the Palau de la Música (performance nights sell fast).
On busy summer evenings, reserve a time for the Rooftop if you’re not staying in-house; the pool remains guests-only.
If you’re crowd-averse, aim for early Gaudí slots and late lunches. Barcelona rewards the off-peak rhythm.
Verdict:
Ohla Barcelona isn’t trying to be every Barcelona at once. It’s a design-forward five-star with serious kitchens, a terrace worth rearranging your plans for, and an address that puts both history and retail therapy at arm’s length. It knows that guests want a morning lap with a view, a lunch that doesn’t waste time, and a dinner that justifies dressing up. And it delivers. Bottom line: With an address you’ll brag about, a rooftop that recalibrates your day, and kitchens with real credentials, Ohla Barcelona is the rare city hotel that lets you do Barcelona hard and rest soft. If your dream weekend is architecture by morning, a swim with a skyline by afternoon and a Michelin-star dinner by night, you’ve found your base.
Pros & cons:
Pros:
Pin-drop Old City location (Gothic Quarter/El Born edge); walk to the Cathedral, La Rambla, Plaça Catalunya and Gaudí heavy-hitters.
Rooftop with a 13-metre, glass-walled pool and wide-angle city views; guests-only pool with set public hours for the bar.
Caelis on site, one MICHELIN star, plus all-day La Plassohla and a photogenic rooftop bar.
Art-literate design (Frederic Amat’s “eyes,” curated pieces throughout) that feels editorial, not themed.
Boutique scale (74 rooms) keeps things personal.
Cons:
Gym is compact; serious lifters may prefer an outdoor run or nearby fitness studio.
Rooftop is beloved, loungers and bar stools are coveted at sunset
Not a resort-style spa; wellness is focused, not sprawling.
Key facts at a glance:
Location: Via Laietana 49, on the seam of the Gothic Quarter and El Born; 3 minutes to the Cathedral, 5 minutes to La Rambla/Plaça Catalunya.
Hotel rating: Five-star boutique city hotel.
Hotel vibe: Art-driven, design-savvy, quietly sociable; more cultivated hush than party pulse. (Editor’s take, supported by hotel materials.)
Food & drink:
Caelis - one MICHELIN star; tasting menus; lunch prix-fixe on select days.
La Plassohla - all-day tapas/small plates; corner setting with street-view windows
Rooftop - cocktails and snacks with skyline views; open to non-guests in posted hours; pool is guests-only.
Hotel amenities: Rooftop pool (13 m, glass-walled); terrace bar; compact gym; wellness & hairdressing treatments; concierge (Clefs d’Or).
How many rooms: 74 rooms and suites, including Junior Suites and the two-storey Dome Suite.
Pricing: typically from around £380/night but can fluctuate £300-£600/night with date/event variation; suites higher.
Location recommendations & attractions:
Palau de la Música Catalana - modernist concert hall and UNESCO site.
Casa Batlló & La Pedrera (Casa Milà) - Gaudí essentials up Passeig de Gràcia.
La Boqueria - the market-as-theatre, best early.
Picasso Museum - book time slots in advance. (All an easy walk/short hop from the hotel.)
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Ohla Hotel (Barcelona) Review 2025
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