H1898

Colonial elegance on La Rambla

Noteworthy for: H1898 was once the headquarters of the Philippine Tobacco Company and is named after the year Spain lost its last colony.
Word to the wise: While upper rooms on the hotel's non-Rambla side have great views and total calm, in the lower rooms on the Rambla side you might hear faint rumbles coming from the metro.

With a prime location on touristy La Rambla, this impressive 169-room hotel manages an elegant balance between the classical and the modern. Its ornate 19th century building was originally built as a palace for an aristocratic family, but its rooms, often decorated in bold colours, have a contemporary feel to them, while its beautiful basement spa and rooftop pool terrace are as stripped down and modern as they come.
These last features could be the hotel's biggest attraction, the pool terrace offering particularly good views across central Barcelona, and the basement spa remarkably calm and restful for somewhere at the heart of a big city.