Hotel Arts

Modernist splendour on the beach

Noteworthy for: The hotel got its name for a reason - its public spaces host an impressive collection of Spanish contemporary art.
Talk of the town: Opened in 1992, the Hotel Arts was a luxury flagship built specially for Barcelona's Olympic Games.

At first glance, the Hotel Arts is the sort of place you'd more expect to find in Dubai than Barcelona. An eye-catching steel and glass building located right on the beach, its bulk towering over Barcelona's marina is all but unmissable. Its bold modernism is anything but tacky, however, with a sleek, understated decor in its very well finished rooms and a particularly elegant spa looking out across the city from its 43rd floor.
It's the wonderful views and resort-like atmosphere that attracts many guests here - in some rooms you can see little more than a vast expanse of shimmering sea. Obviously, this isn't a place for people who want small scale old-world intimacy, but for a hotel that does full justice to Barcelona's great coastal setting and recent renaissance, the Hotel Arts is hard to beat.