There's no shortage of trendy hang-outs in Barcelona. The city is bursting with quirky cafés, tucked-away wine bars and hip hotels, all promising to be the place to be. But true cool is feeling totally relaxed and welcomed, yet still one of the beautiful people. To find this, head for the Hotel Pulitzer, just a few minutes walk from the hurly-burly of Las Ramblas.
While most four-star establishments in this part of the city are Old World in style, the oldest thing you'll find at the Pulitzer is the white-and-gold Baroque reception desk, salvaged from a Sicilian church. The rest is straight out of a Modernist design book, but with added heart. The Picasso-like sketches and giant Miró-esque canvases create a very Spanish backdrop to a ground floor dedicated to the Catalunyan art of chilling. Spend the afternoon sinking into one of the white leather couches, sipping cocktails at the red Chinese-lacquer bar, or flipping through the collection of books, which deputy manager Julian Rubio invites guests to take away. "We want people to feel like they are not in a hotel, but in a friend's home," he says.
And this friend is serious about siesta. The rooms are fancy but cozy, decorated in crisp whites (the curtains, the sheets) and deep browns (the leather chairs, the wood floors). The suite has a private balcony with sun loungers. And the rooftop terrace drips with bougainvillea, bringing some Balearic charm to the coolest hot spot in Barcelona. www.hotelpulitzer.es