The Best Spa Hotels in Barcelona

Formerly a Ritz hotel, this Barcelona beauty has lost little of the upmarket opulence in its incarnation as El Palace. The award-winning spa here has the novelty of being themed around, and inspired by Mayan, culture. Immerse yourself in an ancient Mesoamerican ritual or get smothered in skin-smoothing chocolate. There’s even a traditional temazcal sauna with volcanic rocks and medicinal herbs to leave you feeling divinely cleansed.

Tucked deep in the historic Gothic Quarter is the swish Catalonia Magdalenes, in which sleek contemporary interiors are matched by some equally swanky facilities. With a spacious hot tub, steam room and massage cabin, the low-lit spa is somewhere you can easily lose yourself for an hour or so. When you’re ready to return to the real world, why not ease yourself in on the sunny rooftop terrace, complete with glass-sided plunge pool and cityscape views?

The name says it all. Majestic Hotel & Spa is just that, an iconic five-star property set on Passeig de Gràcia, with excellent wellness facilities. Get your circulation in gear with the hydrotherapy circuit that combines hot water, ice and steam, ideal for a pre-treatment warm-up. From organic facials to full-body sports massages, this 10th-floor spa claims to offer some of the most luxurious treatments in the city. And who are we to argue?

What was a coal bunker many moons ago has transformed into a subterranean spa at Hotel 1898. Use the dimly lit thermal circuit – a dry sauna, steam bath and pool with bubbly hydromassage – and follow it with a therapeutic treatment. The spa here takes inspiration from East Asian traditions and techniques, incorporating botanical ingredients such as cinnamon and ginger to warm the skin and relax the muscles. Ideally the only plan you’ll have afterwards is sundowners over La Rambla and city views from the roof terrace.

In a nod to the Hong Kong roots of the Mandarin Oriental, many of the spa offerings here are influenced by Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, moxibustion (in which a heated herbal stick is applied to acupressure points on the body) and meridian massage (said to clear the body’s energy lines). The spa menu also contains cherry-picked treatments from therapeutic and beautifying traditions across the globe, including Barcelona. The Barcelona Spring treatment begins with a foot scrub made from local sage, mint, sea salt and Spanish olive oil, followed by an aromatherapy massage incorporating hot stones, and culminating in a tingle-inducing head massage.

Dubbed a ‘Mediterranean oasis’, the spa at Hotel Sofia offers a large space dedicated to wellness facilities. Indulge in hot and cold therapy, plunge pools, sauna, steam bath and an ice cave to increase circulation and relax the muscles. Then, when you’re ready to dry out, head to the salt cave, a rosy-lit space filled with mineral-rich Himalayan pink salt that’s reputedly antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. If you’re feeling flush, the Sofia also has a private spa suite where you’ll have a sauna, steam bath and hot tub to yourself.

While many hotel spas seem to be located underground, Hotel Arts positions its pampering floor 500ft (150m) above the city streets. Chill in 43 The Spa’s hydrotherapy pool, steam baths, ice fountains, dry sauna and outdoor terraces while absorbing views of the sparkling Balearic Sea below. The buzziest treatment on the menu at this sanctuary in the sky is the Sublime Diamond Journey, a lavish facial that includes diamond dust pore exfoliation, deep hydration and an anti-ageing lifting treatment.

When you need respite from the city, visit Elements of Wellbeing at the Almanac. Start your afternoon with a session in the private sauna and steam room, then book a divine treatment. Try the wine therapy ritual, defined by an antioxidant-rich red-wine wrap that aims to detoxify the skin, followed by a restorative massage – it seems fitting, given that Barcelona is located right on the cusp of Catalonia wine country.

The Getaway at the W Hotel is billed as a place to recover, be it from jet lag, a hardcore workout or a hedonistic night. Take a dip in the pool or hot tub, sweat it all out in the sauna and steam room and perhaps even have a nap in the dimly lit relaxation room. The recovery theme continues in the treatment rooms with options such as the Salt Detox, a metabolism- and circulation-boosting massage using Himalayan salt rocks that’s claimed to be equal to three days of detoxing, or the Corporales Body Detox, which includes a peel, massage, wrap and hydration treatment designed to boost the body’s detoxification capabilities.

The defining feature of La Florida’s Water Zone is a large indoor-outdoor stainless steel pool – the outdoor section of which is adjacent to some pretty garden terraces and a poolside bar. Inside, the Spa by L’Occitane offers a Provence-inspired treatment menu that prioritises natural ingredients and thoughtfully blended essential oils. The deep-tissue massage is recommended for jet-lagged guests – it uses a combination of lomi lomi-style sweeping strokes, targeted pressure points and gentle stretching of the bod, which helps to release tension and work out post-flight knots.

‘Slow beauty for a fast world’ is the tag line of Yurbban Passage’s organic spa, which claims to be the first vegan spa in Spain. Treatments use products by Scens and Freshly Cosmetics – two organic, plant-based Spanish beauty brands that hit the mark in terms of ethics and effectiveness. Book a signature spa experience and you’ll get a 30-minute water circuit session, a 30-minute massage and a healthy meal by the rooftop pool. Sip the summer breeze cocktail – lychee juice, jasmine, lime, lemongrass, kombucha and Casamigos tequila – against a backdrop of sun-drenched cityscapes.

The AbaC is a small, 15-room hotel that aims to give each guest personal attention for the duration of their stay. If rest and relaxation is on your Barcelona agenda purchase the spa experience, which includes a ‘gourmet welcome’ (after all, the hotel is famous for its food), one night’s accommodation, a 30-minute treatment of your choice (masterminded by celebrity aesthetician and anti-ageing expert Deborah Mitchell) and access to the spa. The spa itself includes a hot tub with underwater lounge chairs, a cold plunge pool, a Turkish hammam and Cleopatra hot-stone chairs made for post-treatment snoozing.

The underground spa at Hotel Alma is industrial and modern, with concrete walls, minimalistic day beds for lounging, a grey-tiled steam room and a classic Finnish dry sauna. The hotel groups treatments into categories – basic, specific, special, aesthetic and holistic – and draws inspiration from Far Eastern traditions including reflexology, acupuncture and reiki (a Japanese energy healing modality that involves the practitioner gently laying their hands on the client to shift energy blockages).