Hotel Brummell

Hotel Brummell

Poble Sec sits at the foot of Montjuïc, and Hotel Brummell sits inside it, close enough to the Montjuïc Municipal Pool and the Jardins de Joan Brossa that they become part of the daily routine rather than a day trip. This is a twenty-room hotel, and it behaves like one: staff who speak English, Spanish, Italian, German and French, a concierge, and a tour desk that will sort an excursion without three phone calls first. What sets it apart from the boutique hotels nearby is space. The Mountain Deluxe Room runs to 215 square metres, and even the standard Poolside rooms, at 129 square metres with a full double bed, dwarf what most boutique properties in this price bracket offer. Rooms carry air conditioning, a mini-bar, a safe, a TV, and private bathrooms with toiletries and bathrobes; several add a private patio or balcony. Downstairs there's a restaurant, a bar, an outdoor pool, a sauna, a massage room, and a fitness area with yoga space, plus laundry and dry cleaning for anyone staying more than a night or two. An airport transfer can be arranged for 40 euros one way, and late arrivals after 11pm just need to call ahead. Check-in is from 3pm, checkout at noon. None of this suits someone who wants to fall out of a hotel lobby onto Las Ramblas, or a family that needs a run of connecting rooms; with only twenty rooms, Hotel Brummell isn't built for that. It suits a couple or a solo traveller who wants Montjuïc on foot, a properly sized room to work in, and a pool to return to before the city wakes up. Twenty rooms in Poble Sec, steps from Montjuïc's pool and gardens, with rooms up to 215 square metres that most boutique hotels this size don't offer. It suits a couple or solo traveller wanting space near the hill, not someone chasing Las Ramblas nightlife.