Hotel Bagués

There’s more to Barcelona, architecturally speaking, than just Gaudí. Hotel Bagués is a fine example, a nineteenth-century edifice in the Romantic Classical style, an aesthetic that’s as eclectic as its contradictory name would suggest. In its current incarnation it’s a luxury boutique in a style that’ll be somewhat familiar to old Barcelona hands — a little bit Gothic, a little bit minimalist, with high-end fixtures and furnishings and a dark, rich color scheme, the better to balance that blazing Spanish midday sun.

We mean “rich” literally as well as metaphorically; that dark hardwood is Madagascar ebony, and the accents are in gold leaf. That’s not to say the look is Emirates-style bling, though — there’s a subtle restraint to the design which only accentuates the richness of the materials. The better rooms look out over the Ramblas and the Jewel Suites, on the sixth floor, open onto private terraces.

The restaurant, El Regulador, is named for the building’s former incarnation, and serves three meals a day plus cocktails, in an elegant double-height space. A single meeting room hosts small conferences, making the Bagués a reasonable option for business travel — and it’s the rest of Barcelona, from the Gothic Quarter on out, that makes it a magnet for leisure travel as well.