Hotel Neri

Palace hotel hidden down a backstreet

Word to the wise: While you're here, try visiting the quirky Calçat Antic shoe museum, which is right next door to the hotel.
Talk of the Town: You can still find machine gun marks on the exterior of the hotel and in the square behind it, from when Francoist forces fatally bombarded the area during the civil war.

Housed in a palace completed in the 18th century, this 22 room boutique hotel in the old town is one of Barcelona's most atmospheric places to stay. While the tangle of streets around are narrow and shady, the Hotel Neri benefits from its own light-filled central courtyard and even has a tiny, charming rooftop garden with loungers that gives it a sense of space and ease.
Inside, the hotel's decor balances carefully between honouring the building's palatial past - there are splashes of gold and silver here and there - and giving it a sense of modern stylishness, with minimal quartzite-clad bathrooms and occasional, eccentric pieces of contemporary art. Central but surprisingly hard to find on first attempt, perhaps the most striking feature of the Neri is that it feels like both the heart of the city and a secret hideaway at the same time.