The chic sleep: Majestic Hotel & Spa, Barcelona

Barcelona knows how to have a good time in its own inimitable, all-embracing way. Perhaps it’s something to do with the location, straddling both mountain and beach, but this perennially popular city pulsates with energy like nowhere else. And while the Catalan capital has become relentlessly upmarket and commercial, with hotel openings from the likes of Edition and Soho House, for all the new pretenders, Majestic Hotel & Spa remains a local legend. Everyone from Ernest Hemingway to Queen María Cristina, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso has checked in at this family-owned hotel, smack-bang on the city’s most prestigious street, the Passeig de Gràcia.

These days, families still gather downstairs in the El Bar del Majestic for stand-a-spoon-in-it hot chocolate and churros, while couples keep to themselves in vast suites, some of which have Jacuzzis. If you want to imbibe Barcelona’s playful party scene, the rooftop-terrace restaurant La Dolce Vitae is the city’s best-kept secret cocktail venue, with delicious tapas, chill-out sounds and uninterrupted views to the mountains beyond.

The mood aimed for – and achieved – is the perfect balance between grand and relaxed. Each of the hotel’s 272 bedrooms is decked out in muted shades of gray, caramel and cream; the best have views across to La Sagrada Família, and all have spacious marble bathrooms. But the hotel’s real draw is the museum-quality art collection, with over 1,000 pieces on display throughout the building. There’s even a resident cultural mediator, who advises guests and potential collectors on current art news, and can arrange private visits to local galleries, after-hours tours of the Picasso museum and even access to Joan Miró’s country house museum.

After a morning spent by the rooftop pool, head to the small but refined Majestic Spa on the tenth floor for the Signature Treatment – a cocktail of cleansing facial massage and a decongestant mask followed by a full-body exfoliation and massage using warming oils.

Majestic offers the kind of immersive foodie stay that will satisfy all of your senses, where you can spend the morning at the hotel’s farm, enjoying freshly picked peas cooked in cava, followed by a tasting session at the nearby biodynamic vineyards of renowned winemaker Alta Alella.