Antiga Casa Buenavista

What began just over a hundred years ago as a family-owned restaurant in Barcelona, in a central location where El Raval meets L’Eixample, is now a stylish and memorable boutique hotel. Antiga Casa Buenavista is still family-owned, but it’s an impressively professional operation — its rooms come with modern necessities like Nespresso machines and smart TVs, as well as luxurious bathrooms stocked with Natura Bissé products.

The style is roughly one part historical, drawing on Barcelona’s 20th-century modernist tradition, and one part contemporary, exhibiting the simplicity and focus that are hallmarks of 21st-century hospitality design. They start out a touch on the compact side, Barcelona’s real-estate situation being what it is, but they’re certainly not crowded; some have exterior balconies, and some spread out across two levels.

Given the hotel’s heritage, you’d expect it to have a restaurant of some substance, and you’d be right — the Casa de Comidas is a modern homage to the cuisine that made the original Buenavista an institution. The dining room opens onto a terrace adjacent to Plaza Goya, and from here a surprising amount of the best of Barcelona is more or less right at your feet.