Boutique in Barcelona

Everywhere, it seems, is a boutique hotel these days, to the extent that it’s easy to forget exactly what the ‘boutique’ concept was ever supposed to be about. You don’t necessarily have to go all the way to Barcelona to remind yourself, but in Abac the Spanish capital has one of the finest examples of the breed you’ll find anywhere in the world.

If the archetypal boutique hotel is small, individual and unfailingly luxurious, then Abac is a perfect, concentrated distillation of all of these things (as you would expect – it’s one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World), from the non-descript gated entrance just off the city’s perimeter road to the Hermes toiletries, Bang & Olufsen TVs and iPads in the rooms, via the hotel’s two Michelin-starred restaurant. 

The view from the quiet street, through which the occasional blue tram rumbles past on it’s way to the hills overlooking the north of the city, reveals virtually nothing of what lies inside: two adjoining buildings, one old and one new.

The older part – the centennial building – is the refurbished former residence of a Catalan intellectual, and though it was originally built in Barcelona’s ubiquitous modernist style, previous inhabitants have reshaped much of it. The new, wood and glass-clad block housing the restaurant, which gained a second Michelin-star in November, overlooks a small garden; sat on the garden’s outside terrace eating breakfast it’s easy to imagine you’re miles away from the chaotic bustle of Las Ramblas. 

In fact you’re about 10 minutes by cab (or about the same by Metro) from the city centre, yet so potent is the air of tranquillity within the Abac gates it never feels it. Our suite (one of only 15 rooms) is a heavenly, white sanctuary with leather sofas, two vast B&O televisions (one virtually backing onto the other) and a bed large enough for Messi, Iniesta, Xavi et al to have a kickabout on. It would be easy to never leave the room if the hotel wasn’t well worth exploring – restaurant aside, there’s a basement hiding a dimly lit, well equipped spa and a bar with a 900-wine cellar tucked away in the arches under the old building.

The celebrated restaurant is undeniably the heart of the hotel – you can even walk through the kitchen to cross from the old building into the new, a novel touch I sense was appreciated more by us than the busy chefs – but it’s far from the only reason to stay there. There can be few more serene, exclusive and downright pleasurable places to spend time in Barcelona, let alone anywhere else in Europe. Abac is boutique, in the truest and very best sense of the word.

Abac Hotel Restaurant, Avenida Tibidabo 1, Barcelona, Spain; +34 93 3196600; slh.com/abac