During a recent pre-cruise visit to Barcelona, Spain, we stayed three nights at the Cotton House Hotel.
The new hotel, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, has been open about six months. The Cotton House Hotel, located in Barcelona’s Eixample neighborhood, is in the former headquarters of the Association of Cotton House Manufacturers.
Cotton is a prominent feature throughout the hotel, which was originally built as a private home for a wealthy cotton trader in 1897.
Guests to the 83 room five-star hotel enter through a reception area that could be called a “hall of mirrors.’ Next, they enter a marble octagonal hall (with a cotton ball at its center) that leads to two unique staircases.
One choice is the wide sweeping marble staircase with its original art.
Lighting the marble staircase, the chandelier is designed to resemble a cotton bolls.
The other stairwell leads to a metal spiral staircase, built in 1957. Rather than being supported from the floor below, this staircase is uniquely suspended from the metal frame of the upper floor.
The result is a beautiful work of art, which includes cotton boll-shaped hanging lights that dangle down the six floors.
The elegant library, originally a conference room, is a popular spot to enjoy evening cocktails.
Side pocket doors, when open, extend the library to include a private den, decorated in bolts of cotton for shirt-making. Tailors are available to custom-make shirts for you during your stay.
“Batuar,” the hotel’s cocktail bar and restaurant is named after the machine that pressed cotton to remove impurities. The cocktail bar leads into the restaurant, a glassed-conservatory and a large outdoor private terrace.
To the right on the bar, guests find the entrance to the enclosed terrace, the perfect spot to enjoy breakfast or lunch outdoors, or an evening cocktail with tapas.
Historical china and ledgers of cotton trades decorate the walls of the rooms making up the elegant Batuar restaurant, which features tapas and other Mediterranean cuisine.
On the sixth floor of the Cotton House Hotel, guests will find a small rooftop pool (with a view of Gaudi’s iconic Sagrada Familia,) as well as a compact gym and spa treatment rooms. While the space offers great views, we couldn’t imagine spending time here with all that the city of Barcelona offers for visitors to see and experience.
