Detailed Review
Located in a palace of the 19th century, the hotel still mantains the furniture and the art pieces from that time. It has 53 rooms equipped with complete bathroom, air conditioning and heating, safety box, minibar, color TV, satellite TV and Canal +. The hotel is situated in an excellent position in the business, tourist and shopping area of Barcelona, close to Paseo de Gracia, Plaza Catalunya and Ramblas.
Press Quotes
"This 19th-century town house is a Moderniste enclave, with an original chapel, a hall-of-mirrors breakfast room, an ornate Moderniste staircase, and Belle Epoque phone booths."Fodors
Independent Reviews
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Hotel Gran Via
By Jenny PidgeonAlways booked up way in advance, visitors to Barcelona obviously know a good thing when they see it. The Gran Via is unique in offering traditional, grand style and a gentle, quiet atmosphere at reasonable prices. Situated right on the Gran Via itself, just by the Passeig de Gracia, its location places it right in the middle of things, halfway between the Diagonal and the sea. The 19th-century modernist facade gives way to a small-ish reception area, dominated by a white balustraded staircase, lined in the same florid carpet as the entrance hall. The gentlemen at the desk appear gruff at first, but persevere and you’ll find a friendly, ready-to-help attitude beneath. The wide staircase, with its stained glass apex, leads to a first floor gallery and the main salon, referred as the ‘hall of mirrors’. Overwhelmingly green walls, a huge chandelier, dark regency-style wooden furniture and large gilt mirrors create an impressive, if faded, grandeur that also implies a lack of comfortable use. More welcoming is the sunny terrace beyond the salon, tiled in terracotta and dotted with plant pots and tables for al fresco breakfasts around the central dolphin fountain. The guest rooms are plain and rather soulless after the opulence of the public areas, but they are clean and nicely decorated with repro antiques, dark wooden floors, pastel bedspreads and small bathrooms. Couples should note that the majority of rooms have twin beds, some with hand-painted headboards matching painted cupboards. Best views are over the Gran Via, which can be admired from a small balcony, but noise pushes many guests to the rooms overlooking the patio or terrace at the back of the hotel.
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"Simple, faded period charm at a great price in an excellent location"
Hotel Granvia
By Jamie Dunford Wood
Excellently located just by Catalunya Square, this now rather run down grand townhouse hotel still retains plenty of character, and the price, for the position, is hard to beat. The public rooms remind you of a faded baroque London club, hung with long forgotten portraits, with a wonderful parquet-floored dusty green sitting room stuffed with Spanish antiques and ornate gilt mirrors on the first floor, and a delightful rooftop terrace of potted plants away from the traffic at the back. The guest room corridors are wide and light, wood panelled, while the rooms are basic but comfortable – again panelled, with basic furnishings, simple marble bathrooms and pink and cream stucco-work. Colourfully patterned bedspreads and rugs complete the old world Spanish feel.
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