Spanish Hotels with History :: The Hotel Masferrer

Where: Carretera C-25, Gualba, Spain, 08474

August 26, 2008 at 10:30 AM | 1 Comment

After spending two weeks recapping the Lisbon Hotel Scene for us, Monica Guy is back with some history lessons. She's chronicling some of Spain's historic hotels this week. Enjoy.

Here's another top Hotel with History near Barcelona: the Hotel Masferrer. It's 50 km from the city but right at the foot of the Montseny national park (a hiker's paradise) and one of the niftiest contemporary hotels we've stayed in.

This hotel's got a romantic history - a young Spanish couple bought the place and spent years restoring it before opening it timidly to guests.

The building is a super mix of ancient and modern. The old entrance hall looks like a Greek temple with columns and shadows everywhere and there are heavy original brass-studded wood doors to get in. Inside, though, it's bright and modern, with linen curtains and quality fabrics and jacuzzi jets in the baths.

You can swim in the big outdoor pool or play pool on the billiards table, or just sit and read on the terrace - it's wonderful.

The restaurant's another plus point: intimate but not too intimate, with wall-to-wall French windows opening out onto a terrace. The chef's Moroccan but the menu's a real mix: pork chops with honey and cinnamon, homemade ravioli, semi-cured salmon with Japanese spices, homemade ice-creams... Silky teabags come in a posh box too.

The only irritating thing is the blimmin' music, which is atmospheric at the start but soon starts to wane when you can't get rid of it.

Rates are around €128 for a double room per night, including breakfast. You're not likely to find many good Barcelona getaways as cheap as that.

The story stays romantic, as although the hotel's just been bought by the Spanish hotel chain HUSA, the incoming manager's come to live here with his new African wife. It's the kind of place where you really feel romance is in the air.

So girls, take your lovers past a jewellery shop, then bring them here....

[Photo: Ugo Valenti]

Tags: Historic Spanish Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / Boutique Hotels / Monica Guy

by femmefatale

HotelChatter

Select a Region or Country:

Historic Spanish Hotels