Barcelona on $35, $130 or $450 a day

The Barcelona house of the chain that invented the design-hostel format. Expect a large ground-floor bar that works as a co-working space by day, dorms with proper mattresses and individual reading lights, and private rooms that undercut most mid-range hotels in the city. It sits on the Gràcia side of the Eixample, far enough from the old town to feel residential and close enough to walk in. The trade-off is noise: the bar is the point of the place, and it stays busy well past midnight.

Part of the Sant Jordi group, which runs several houses across the city and competes on organised social life rather than on price alone. Rock Palace is the music-themed one — communal lounge, a daily activity board, a mix of dorms and a handful of private rooms. If you are travelling alone and want company by the first evening, this is the most reliable way to get it. If you want to read in silence, it is the wrong building; the common areas are the whole proposition.

A small two-star from Acta, a Barcelona group with several properties around the Eixample. Rooms are compact and plainly furnished but properly maintained, and every one has a private bathroom — the meaningful step up from a dorm for couples who would rather spend the difference on dinner. The Eixample position puts most of the Gaudí buildings within walking distance. There is no lobby scene, no bar and very little in the way of facilities, which is exactly why it costs what it costs.

Built inside a modernista apartment building on Rambla de Catalunya, with the original tiled floors, mouldings and staircase left intact while the rooms themselves are kept deliberately plain. That contrast is the whole design idea: period grandeur in the public spaces, pared-back contemporary rooms behind the doors. There is a courtyard terrace for breakfast. Room sizes vary more than the photographs suggest and the cheapest categories are genuinely small, so it is worth reading the room type carefully before booking.

Historic palace building, Passeig de Gràcia, excellent breakfast

A four-star on Carrer de Trafalgar, on the quiet edge of Sant Pere just before it becomes El Born. Best known for the rooftop: a small pool and a terrace with a clear view across the old city, which is rare at this price. Rooms are contemporary, well-equipped and a reasonable size for central Barcelona. Set expectations on the pool — it is a plunge pool for cooling off after a day walking, not somewhere you will spend an afternoon.

The Ritz-Carlton-managed tower on the seafront at Port Olímpic, and the only luxury hotel in Barcelona with direct beach access. Two Michelin-starred restaurants, a large pool deck above the marina, and rooms high enough that the sea and city views genuinely justify the rate. The trade-off is geography: you are a tram ride or a long walk from the Gothic Quarter and the Eixample, which makes it a strong base for a beach-led trip and an awkward one for a sightseeing week.

Opened in 1919 as the Ritz and now trading under its original name, this is the most formal of the city grand hotels. Marble lobby, a proper spa rather than a token treatment room, and one of the better hotel restaurants in Barcelona. Rooms are large and traditionally furnished — old-Europe grandeur rather than design-led. It suits a special-occasion stay where the building is part of the point. If you want a rooftop scene and a contemporary room, Almanac does that better.

A contemporary five-star on Gran Via, opened in 2017 and aimed squarely at travellers who find the older grand hotels stuffy. Rooms are large by Barcelona standards with floor-to-ceiling windows, and the rooftop bar and terrace are places you would actually choose to spend an evening. Central without sitting in the Gothic Quarter crush. It has less history and less atmosphere than El Palace a few streets away, and is the better choice only if modern rooms matter more to you than the building does.