Barcelona, from Passeig de Gràcia to the sea

One. The five-star hotel we list in Barcelona is Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, on Passeig de Gràcia. Alongside it we keep four four-star addresses, each listed at exactly the tier it holds: Hotel Arts Barcelona; El Palace Barcelona; The Barcelona EDITION; and The Cotton House Hotel, Autograph Collection. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.

Three of the five are in the Eixample, on or beside Passeig de Gràcia – Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona on the avenue itself, almost opposite Casa Batlló; El Palace Barcelona and The Cotton House Hotel, Autograph Collection a few streets east on Gran Via, next door to each other. One is on the seafront – Hotel Arts Barcelona, in its tower over the marina of Port Olímpic, with the beaches of Barceloneta and Nova Icària at its feet. One is in the old city – The Barcelona EDITION beside the Santa Caterina market, between the cathedral and El Born. Choose Passeig de Gràcia for Gaudí, the shops and the Eixample on foot; the seafront for the beach and the sea in the window; Ciutat Vella for the Gothic Quarter, the Picasso Museum and Santa Maria del Mar at the door.

Spring and autumn – April to June and mid-September to October – bring the mild, bright days, the terraces in use and a sea still warm enough into early October, and they are the weeks that fill first; the Mobile World Congress, in late February or early March, takes the rooms of the Eixample months ahead. Summer is hot and humid, with the beaches full and the night of Sant Joan, 23 June, lit with fireworks along the shore; in August many local restaurants and shops close, though the hotels and museums stay open and the city is full of visitors. La Mercè, the city's own festival around 24 September, brings four days of processions and fireworks. November through March is mild by northern standards and rarely cold, with the Christmas weeks through Three Kings' Day on 6 January the one busy stretch and the hotels at their quietest in between.

No. From Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Batlló, La Pedrera and Plaça de Catalunya are on foot, the Rambla and the Gothic Quarter a longer walk down; the Sagrada Família is twenty minutes on foot or a few minutes by taxi, Park Güell and Montjuïc a short drive. From the seafront, Barceloneta and the Ciutadella park are at the door and the old city a walk along the harbor. The metro covers the rest, and taxis are easy to hail. El Prat airport is about twenty-five to thirty-five minutes by car depending on the hour; the hotel arranges a driver, and a car for Sitges, forty minutes down the coast, or Girona, about an hour and a quarter north, with the Costa Brava beyond it. For Madrid, the high-speed trains from Sants take about two and a half hours; for Paris, the direct train from Sants runs under seven hours.

Both, and the distance between them is a taxi ride. The Eixample houses put Gaudí's façades, the shops of Passeig de Gràcia and the Sagrada Família on foot and the beach twenty minutes away; Hotel Arts Barcelona puts the sand at the door and the old city a walk along the harbor. With children, the seafront works from May to October – the beaches of Barceloneta and Nova Icària, the Ciutadella park with the zoo inside it, the aquarium at Port Vell – and the Eixample and the old city the rest of the year, with Casa Batlló, La Pedrera, the Sagrada Família and the Picasso Museum within reach and the hills of Park Güell and Montjuïc a short drive. Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, The Barcelona EDITION and The Cotton House Hotel each keep a pool on the roof: the compromise between the two.

Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.