paseo de gracia hotels

One of the best examples of city planning in the world can be seen in Barcelona’s Eixample district which is located just north of Plaza Catalunya. The area was laid out in a grid system of wide straight streets in the early 20th century. Despite the sterile format of the grid, the district has some of the city’s finest hotels along with architectural gems from Barcelona’s star architect, Gaudi.

Architecture
The best way to discover the Example’s architectural treasures is take a walk along the tree-lined Passeig de Gracia laid out in 1827 which begins at Plaza Catalunya. Lined with shops, cafes and the finest hotels in the Eixample, this broad avenue is reminiscent of the great avenues of Paris but with an added extra: the Gaudi influence on both the buildings and the street furniture outside them. ´Passeig´ means walkway in Catalan. Evidence abounds of Gaudi´s desire to create a pleasant environment for pedestrians. He designed exquisite mosaic tiles for the pavements (you’re not allowed to take one as a souvenir!) and elegant benches in his unique exuberant style.
Passeig de Gracia is a treasure trove of Barcelona’s modernista architecture. Not to be missed is Gaudi´s apartment block at no. 92, known as La Pedrera, which features a unique rippling facade that curves around the street corner in one smooth sweep. Here you can visit a recreation of a Gaudí apartment as well as get to the roof to see the stunning details of the chimneys. Or the Casa Batlló at number 43, the facade of which Dali described as “the quiet waters of a lake”.

Eating and drinking in the Eixample
Tree-lined Rambla Catalunya is a continuation of its more famous sister to the south and offers a refreshingly low-key zone for eating, drinking or shopping. There is a huge choice of hotels in the Eixample especially towards the top end catering to the cultured visitor. Avenida Diagonal, a wide avenue slicing through the heart of the Eixample, is the city’s prestige business district with prices to match.
While the Eixample has a lively entertainment scene (lots of cinemas, bars and clubs) and area is also surprisingly residential, home to more than 250,000 people thanks to the tall buildings and grid system. However the concentration of people is balanced by the wide pavements and tree-lined streets which provide a pleasant environment for walking. Inside many of the four-sided blocks of shops and apartments you can find newly-built courtyards with urban gardens planted in recent years, replacing the factories that were once inside these urban blocks.
The Eixample is at the heart of Barcelona´s gay life, locally nicknamed the ´gay Eixample´ with plenty of bars, clubs and gay hotels such as the world famous Hotel Axel. Most gay visitors choose to stay in this area for this reason.

Hotels in the Eixample
The best hotels in the Eixample are to found in the area near Passeig de Gracia, where the architecture is at its finest.

Getting to Paseo de Gracia
Metro to Placa Catalunya (Linea 1,3,6,7), Diagonal (Lines 3,5) or Passeig de Gracia (Lines 2,3 and 4)

Top 3 reasons for staying in a Paseo de Gracia hotel
1. Swooning at Gaudi´s stunning architecture
2. Strolling around the tree-lined grid of streets and discovering their fascinating history
3. Sampling some of Barcelona’s hippest bars, clubs and restaurants