Cotton House Hotel Barcelona review

[bruinbrown]

Given the new forums I thought I’d write up a quick review of the Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona where we stayed in December as I’d seen some requests during Rhys’ Barcelona trip reports. On this trip we jumped around a few hotels and stayed at the Edition (which I won’t write up given Rhys’ recent review) and the Monument Hotel (which isn’t part of any chain but I’m happy to write up more if there’s any requests).

We booked 1 night here on an FHR rate and it came to 253 euros for the night with all the usual FHR benefits included. We booked the absolute base room but we got upgraded to a street view rather than a courtyard view which wasn’t a huge upgrade. Check in was reasonably quick though and we were offered some sparkling wine whilst we were waiting.

The room itself was small with a surprising and awkward layout. There was no bathroom as such and instead there was a sink in the room with the mirror acting as a wall between the bed and sink, the toilet was then in a small cubicle essentially and there was a separate shower cubicle which was connected directly to the bedroom, stepping put of the shower you were only a couple of feet away from the bed. Toiletries were Ortigia but were supplied as big bottles screwed to the wall, they were not bad but it was somehow the soapiest shower gel I think I’ve ever encountered. Overall the room itself was fairly basic with a bed and a desk with TV above, there was a minibar with the usual alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as candles and diffusers with the hotel’s signature scent.

The real wow factor of this hotel though was the building itself, there had obviously been a lot of thought put into the conversion of the building into a hotel. The hotel apparently started life as a late 19th century building where tailors would have their own office set up for people to go and get measured up for a new suit. The reception was located right at the entrance on the ground floor and you were then greeted with a large atrium, which given the festive season, was filled with a huge Christmas tree. To the left is a spiral staircase all the way up to all the guest rooms and to the right is an old, ornate staircase taking you up to the first floor. On the first floor was the bar and restaurant as well as a concierge desk and a library with a selection of exhibitions explaining the building’s history with a few seats for you to sit with a drink from the bar.

As we’d booked an FHR rate we had breakfast included and then an 83 euro credit to spend on food and drink which we used for lunch on our second day. Both of these were in the Batuar restaurant located on the first floor. The breakfast was fantastic and the quality of the food was amazing. There was a decent selection of cold dishes set out as part of the breakfast buffet including your usual meats, cheeses, fruits and pastries, however, there were also a selection of sandwiches and cakes. The Basque cheesecake was fantastic as was the carrot cake. As well as the cold buffet you were also free to order hot food from a small selection, we had the pancakes with hazelnut cream and berries and an omelette. These were both amazing and one of the better hotel breakfasts I’ve had. The pancakes were fluffy and the berries were fresh. The omelette was by far the best omelette I’ve had in a hotel.

We came back to the restaurant a few hours later for lunch but this was a very different story to breakfast. We were there reasonably early, around 1PM and the restaurant was pretty much empty but service was incredibly slow, a number of items were completely forgotten. We ordered a selection of croquettes, a steak, anchovies and a cheesecake and it took the best part of 2 hours before we left the restaurant which I thought was a little disappointing.

Overall I’d recommend the hotel, especially if you get it for £200 per night with a £50 Amex statement credit and all the FHR benefits, the quality of the food was outstanding and could be a contributing factor to decisions on whether we should go back. The hotel building really is amazing but the (base) room we had was an awkward layout, given the lack of a bathroom. I do think there were some gaps in the levels of service as well which I hope were just a blip during our stay.

[Guernsey Globetrotter]

Hi BB – just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading this review. It’s one of the things that I love so much about the community on here- how much effort people like you are willing to put in to help randomers like me on the internet!