Passeig de Gracia and Placa de Catalunya

ME Barcelona

★★★★★

ME Barcelona is the hotel for travellers who want contemporary glamour with the best address in the city. It opened at the end of 2021, after a renovation of the building that took years, on the corner of Passeig de Gràcia right where the avenue meets Plaça de Catalunya, and it is operated by Meliá under its ME by Meliá lifestyle brand. In 2026 the property was bought by the hotel investor Kaya, with Meliá continuing to run it as ME. The design is the selling point: the architectural concept came from a Barcelona studio, and furniture and pieces by designers including Patricia Urquiola, the Bouroullec brothers and Jaime Hayón give the interiors a polished, gallery-like feel without being cold. There are 164 rooms and suites, from compact city rooms to the ME+ suites at the top end, with floor-to-ceiling windows on many floors and views over the avenue or towards the Sagrada Família. The hotel's social life happens upstairs: on the eighth floor, a rooftop pool and sun terrace look out over Plaça de Catalunya, and a cocktail bar opens onto a landscaped terrace of more than a thousand square metres, one of the largest hotel terraces in central Barcelona and a busy spot for sunset drinks. When the hotel opened, its restaurants included a Mediterranean dining room and an Italian restaurant run by a well-known Barcelona hospitality group, and the cooking emphasises seasonal Mediterranean produce. A spa and gym complete the facilities. The location is unbeatable for a first visit: Passeig de Gràcia and its modernista houses lead uphill from the door, La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter start just across the square, and the airport bus and several metro lines stop at Plaça de Catalunya.

Who it suits: couples, groups of friends and design-minded travellers who want a stylish, lively hotel with a rooftop scene, and first-time visitors who want to walk everywhere. The flip side of the buzz is that the terraces can be busy and loud on summer evenings, and travellers seeking quiet old-world charm will be happier at a palace hotel such as El Palace or a Gothic Quarter boutique hotel.

Making the most of it: book a room with a view of Passeig de Gràcia or the Sagrada Família, and reserve a place on the terrace for sunset early in your stay, especially at weekends. Ask about pool access arrangements in high season, as rooftop pools in central Barcelona are popular and can be busy. The hotel's position at the top of La Rambla means you can be in the Gothic Quarter in five minutes, but it also places you at one of the busiest crossroads in the city, so keep valuables secure in the crowds around the square.

Value: rates are firmly in the luxury bracket and rise sharply in summer and during big events such as the Mobile World Congress. The five-star tourist tax is added per person per night. The value case is a modern five-star hotel with a rooftop pool, a design pedigree and the most central address in Barcelona.