Located just steps from Passeig de Gràcia and Plaça Cataluña, Almanac Barcelona is sure to make a splash with the district’s well-heeled visitors when it welcomes its first set of guests on November 1. First in a collection offered by Almanac Hotels (with equally luxe outposts in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague scheduled to open over the next few years), the stylish new luxury property is right at home in a city renowned for art and architecture luminaries such as Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró.
Almanac tapped Carlos Ferrater and his firm Office of Architecture in Barcelona (OAB) to reimagine two neighboring buildings from two different eras into one seamless contemporary hotel experience. The resulting space features 91 luxurious accommodations, including 30 suites, all impeccably designed by Jaime Beriestain Studio, an award-winning interior designer and landscape architectural firm.
The sleek rooms are a respite from the vibrant city outside, featuring a calm palette of gray, beige, and gold tones accented by white marble from Ibiza and warm oak and walnut details. A number of suites are graced with a balcony or terrace that allows natural light to flood the room—and it affords spectacular skyline views. In the Gran Via Cube Rooms, balconies are replaced by a sofa set within a bowed window, offering a cozy spot for reading or watching the clouds drift past.
Downstairs at the hotel’s street-level Mediterranean brasserie and bar Línia, guests can enjoy an all-day dining and sharing menu as well as select cocktails, regional wines, and sherries from Jerez. The panoramic rooftop bar, appropriately named Azimuth, offers hotel visitors and Barcelonians alike an inventive cocktail menu and light bites such as sandwiches and grilled items such as gamba roja—famous among shrimp aficionados—clams, lobster, and dry aged beef. Additional amenities include fitness and wellness facilities, a sun-soaked rooftop lounge, and a dipping pool—reserved exclusively for hotel guests.
