Barcelona’s Hotel W is where celebrities go to be noticed. Hotel Arts is where they stay when they no longer want to be spotted. The Hotel Arts’ private parking area beneath the 44-story square tower helps. Cooled by a rainforest of water, it leads directly to a complex and private system of elevators. From here, via three elevators, celebrity guests can escape to the high echelons of architect Bruce Graham’s iconic tower, with its exclusive 33rd-floor Club Lounge and exclusive reception for twenty-eight two-story apartments.
The Hotel Arts on Barcelona’s Marina seafront is a striking example of “inside out” architecture. The cross-cross structure of metal pylons, resembling a noughts and crosses board, holds up gossamer wings of blue glass, optimizing interior light and space. Once “in”, light streams in through panoramic windows to reveal living views of the city, from ant-sized cars cramming into Las Ramblas to the sand-castle towers of Sagrada Familia, and the hazy mountains beyond.
Those not intent on hiding; which includes many hundreds of less well-known guests each day; are greeted exuberantly by uniformed valets and pretty female staff. The higher you get, the more you are greeted. Over-proportioned vases and sofas fill every space. Soft lamps enhance natural daylight and beautifully lit entry-level elevators resemble 1940s cinemas. Contemporary, original artworks add occasional splashes of colour to walls in otherwise cool, muted interiors. But the eye is constantly led through glass walls to the outside sea, mountain, and cityscape views.
A night’s stay in a two-story, one-bed apartment begins around 900 euros, including breakfast; which can be taken incognito in the discrete and exclusive Club Lounge on the 33rd floor, downstairs in the main Café Veranda restaurant, or on a sun-trap terrace. Apartments have his-and-hers open-plan bathrooms, which meet at an enormous in-out shower stocked with an abundance of toiletries and chubby towels. The view from the shower (and the W.C.) is just as impressive as from the bedroom, with its centrally positioned bed, crease-free white linen, excess of pillows, and soft, lightweight duvet. An incongruous red Smeg fridge in the apartment’s kitchen houses bottles of spirits costing upwards of 180 euro; even the tonic costs 10 euros. The Hotel Arts’ duplex apartments are not for the budget conscious.
But those who are on a more modest budget can stay in one of the Hotel Arts’ 455 rooms and suites, costing from 285 euros per night for two. Linens are crisp and cool, fabrics are beige and white, and surfaces are dark or natural wood. The views still provide all of the colour the hotel rooms could need, even for those less lofty than the 33rd floor.
Within yards of the hotel is a sandy beach with sea-facing bars that include “Carpe Diem” for lounging around on vast beds, Moroccan style. Cyclists and Segwayers, walkers, strollers, and rollerbladers fill the wide promenade. An occasional street entertainer seeks attention from anyone intent of keeping hold of his or her euros. It’s a typical Mediterranean seaside scene, just a stone’s throw from the city’s attractions; its churches, parks and open spaces, museums, galleries, bars, cafes, markets, and narrow winding streets. Barcelona was greatly enriched by the whimsical architecture of Antoni Gaudi and the modernism of Pablo Picasso. Their works can be seen abundantly on the streets, in the parks, and in museums.
The Hotel Art’s two fine dining restaurants; Enoteca and Arola; are run with passion and skill by their two Michelin-starred chefs and offer exceptional cuisine, style, and creativity. Equally creative is cocktail maestro Don Diego, who has a raft of glassware and props at hand to present theatrical settings for his incredible concoctions; from a mojito on a doll-sized chair to a pipe-shaped enclosed glass presented on lapsang suchong tea in a cigar box.
An evening in Arola included eating bead-sized pearls of super soft goat’s cheese encased in a delicate capsule that broke on the tongue between mouthfuls of melting lamb, served on a bed of local white beans. The degustation went on and on, starting with a trio of savoury canapes and concluding in a trio of sweet petit fours of identical appearance. Other memorable mouthfuls; in a menu selected by chef Mauro Ciccavelli; included marinated rolled sardines and beef tartar, hand-chopped and marinated in soy, ginger and wasabi; and the “sea and mountain”: grilled squid with mushrooms, artichokes, and egg-yolk. Ciccavelli plays with his food in the most pleasing and creative way.
Food is an important part of the Catalonia culture, of which Barcelona is the capital. The city’s famous market, La Boqueria in Las Ramblas, teems with both tourists and locals. Colour and noise assault the senses in equal measure 
by the smells and sights of stalls selling fresh fruit, haunches of ham, fresh fish, cheeses, meats, and other local produce. La Boqueria is one of the most famous food markets in Europe, and a light lunch can be eaten on foot or at one of the many bars and restaurants around the perimeter of the market.
A late lunch beside the fish market included exquisitely fresh and plump oysters with a seafood platter piled high with squid, tuna, prawns, clams, mussels, and lobster. “Hedgehogs” were off the menu that day; even a trawl around the day’s catch in the adjacent fish market was fruitless. There wasn’t a sea urchin to be found.
Hotel Arts Barcelona reaches for the sky in the most lavish opulent way while keeping one foot in the culture and traditions of the city. Chef Mauro Ciccavelli devotes one page of Arola’s menu to La Boqueria produce, soft Iberian hams are freshly sliced at breakfast and from April to August the hotel celebrates the 400-year-old feast of Sant Jordi, when men give ladies roses and ladies give men books. Throughout the summer months, guests can book the hotel’s “Literature Lovers” package, where for 835 euros gets two nights’ accommodation for two, literary themed cocktails in Frank’s Bar, and access to the Club Lounge Library where complimentary canapés and champagne are served.
