Spotlight on Hotel Brummell
You want to relax, be spoilt, but also know you’re in another country. The best accommodation feels like a treat while reducing the disconnect between traveller and tourist that can make being a tourist a bit weird.
“I love that Hotel Brummell doesn’t feel too hotel-y”
Even if I am a tourist, I don’t always want to feel like one. I love that Hotel Brummell, a 4* boutique hotel in Poble Sec, doesn’t feel too hotel-y.
The just-so design is modern but relaxed; it’s fresh, clean, luxurious without being too swanky, and the staff are human and helpful, and seem happy to be there. Best of all, it feels like part of the community. Families come in for weekend brunch; neighbours join the running and yoga classes; work by local artists is displayed in the foyer. Returning here at the end of the day is the closest I’ve felt to coming “home” while staying in a hotel.
“luxurious without being swanky”
An inspiring daily list of recommendations comes under your door, and there are plenty of good restaurants in this area (see Eating and Drinking in Poble Sec)
A 15min walk into the centre or up Montjuïc (to the Miró Museum - recommended), it’s also a good location for walking in the other direction - they say St Antoni is starting to get a bit hipster (it’s a very low-key, daytime kind of cool) but Sants is a way off and well worth a look.
Brummel have a bunch of apartments for rent in the city too. Not bad value, in a similar style
“a design classic”
Set in a nineteenth century building, the interior is by (Australian born, Barcelona resident) design duo Blankslate, who are also responsible for the Federal Cafe in St Antoni. The sensitivity of the renovation and the subtlety of their “tropical modernism” reflect the hotel’s spirit of low-key integration. It’s a design classic, but a long way from a showy landmark hotel, and all the better for it.