| Gran Hotel La Florida
Gran Hotel La Florida in Barcelona is not a city hotel; it is above that.
Rising some 500 meters above the city, atop the mountain of Tibadabo, this 'urban retreat' steals prime aerial position in one of Europe's cultural hotspots. The hotel itself has an extraordinarily impressive façade, designed by a well -respected architect in 1925, Ramon Raventos, for the World Fair of 1929. The style is referred to as Noucentista, a resultant style born out of the clashing of the modernists and post-modernists, and drawing from a classical Catalonian well. The effect is almost towering, and complements its majestic setting.
Our Terraced Suite
We stayed in a suite with a large decked terrace looking straight across to the city and the misty Mediterranean beyond. It is truly spectacular. Our terrace was private and furnished to perfection: wooden sun-loungers with dense dreamily comfortable cushions, wrought iron table and chairs, with bougainvillea crawling up the dividing pale terracotta walls. We sat in bubbled silence, gazing at the vision before us, and both wondered if we could possibly tear ourselves away. It is very special here on this mountain, in this hotel, and a few days is certainly more appropriate than 24 hours.
There is though, one drawback about staying here: it is hard to leave the cool, stylish and deeply relaxing retreat for anything. Though down the mountain you do go, as Barcelona is a visual, cultural and quirky feast and it only takes 20 minutes to the city centre. You cannot avoid doing a Gaudi trail, as he is the most prominent architectural influence on the city, and you either love the incredible organic wave like facades or you don't.
The city and sea from our terrace
Our hit list was short and purposeful (we thought) for our city-dip, and we scanned our must-see landmarks from the terrace. Almost straight on we identified the wide tree lined avenue of La Rambla and to the left standing prominently was the fantastical Sagrada Familia, farther across the gherkin-shaped Torre Agbar, then the 'twin towers' nearer the sea front and so on. As soon as we identified our landmarks we were able to point to the different 'neighbourhoods' of Barcelona from Roman to recent. What we couldn't make out was our tapas bar and even though we had been so smart from up above, we still got hopelessly lost down below.
Get your Barcelona bearings beforehand
We visited the Sagrada Familia, a dynamic feast of iconic Catholicism, and too much to absorb in one visit. With so many facades, naves, apses, crypts and a chapel, you need to focus on a different part with each visit. Then we shopped and walked 'blonde' style in the completely wrong direction to find our fabulous tapas bar. What we actually found was pretty amazing: we arrived at the wavy beautifully coloured, tiled roofed, Santa Catarina market, instead of Cerverceria Catalana. Still unsure of where we had gone awry, we wandered deeper into the surrounding neighbourhood, modern and slightly foreboding, and a far cry from our intended destination. We hot footed it towards the main street, La Ribera and discovered that the one-way system was against us and no cab would take us to our tantalising tapas. In other words, by the time we reached Cerverceria Catalana, off Rambla Catalunya, a local tapas institution, we had worked up a furious appetite and seen more of the city than intended. Sitting at the bar, with a shot of chilled Tio Pepe, beneath massive bowls of shrimps, giant-prawns, squids, cockles, mussels, clams and razor clams, wild mushrooms, button mushrooms and asparagus, all waiting to be expertly grilled, fried, sautéed and on-your-plate, was well worth the directional errors.
In order to take in a little 'nature with architecture', we visited the Park Guell, en route to our hotel. Designed initially as a 'city garden' the project was ahead of its time and was never completed as planned. It is still, however, well worth a visit and a great place to admire works of art in a relaxing, outdoor setting. Filled up on culture and shellfish, we both started to feel a longing for our hillside haven and made our way back to Barcelona's most stylish Mediterranean retreat.
Dining
Poolside drinks are an imperative here not least because the long pool, which bends a corner and continues inside, is truly intoxicating. It shines with a crazy brilliance, even at night, and it sets off the far ground quite sublimely. In front of the pool are stepped decked terraces with sun-loungers facing the view beneath canopied vines, surrounded by a variety of pines and Mediterranean plants. The vibe is a contemporised blend of city and rural, the manifestation of which is both refreshing and relaxing. It works and it works well.
We dined in the Chinese inspired interiors of the hotel's restaurant, La Orangerie, alongside the terrace and enjoyed some succulent lamb baked in clay, which was cracked open to pink perfection and some lightly herbed baked sea bass. I tried a most delicious, rich, full-bodied buttery chardonnay called Enate from the Alto Aragon region; the wine list here is comprehensive, impressive, and well priced. We drank mint tea on our terrace marvelling, once more, at the now twinkling city beneath us with a star sparkling sky above and I think we could just make out a liner cruising on the sea beyond...
Leaving
The following day, after a deep slumber, we bought some fabulous, hand beaten, local jewellery with semi-precious stones from the small boutique downstairs. Again, very reasonably priced though we did regret not having time to spend in the Zenzone Spa as here you need to book well in advance. I was really hoping for a 'chocolate dream': a 50-minute deluxe chocolate wrap massaged in with coconut oil to soften and hydrate the skin. What delightful decadence.
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