This establishment draws on its glorious past to imagine a future where tourism goes hand in hand with improving the environment and everyone who lives in it.
Located in a 1920s building in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, the Grand Hotel Central is part of Barcelona’s history and offers travellers a unique way to experience it.
Designed as the private residence of politician Francesc Cambó, it became the first building on Via Laietana. What’s more, it also came with a significant innovation: the city’s first lift.
This new feature shook up the conventions of the era, which said that ground-floor housing units were for the bourgeoisie, and the higher up you lived, the lower your social status. But once penthouses became easily accessible with lifts, they became the most desirable flats in the city.
Casa Cambó, as the building is known, is protected as an asset of cultural interest. As such, it has been painstakingly renovated to conserve the building’s original features while stressing a sustainability-based design for the facilities.
For example, the construction work paid special attention to thermal insulation. Now LED technology has been introduced to help control electricity consumption, and solar panels have been installed to help save energy.
The interior also boasts what can only be described as an oasis in the middle of the city, a hidden garden that transports visitors into the heart of nature. Orange and cypress trees and jasmine remind us that there’s a lot we can do to make urban environments more natural and welcoming.
Local cuisine
Of all the services you can enjoy at the Grand Hotel, including its rooftop pool, wellness suite, gym, period library and event rooms, there’s one that stands out: its restaurant.
The Grand Hotel Central promises an exceptional culinary experience where you can savour dishes prepared with local, seasonal products, a classic that’s managed to keep up with the times without losing its most traditional roots.
