Palacio Gran Via
Bank statement-piece
The grandest of Gran Vías
Heavy investment has been put into turning Granada’s former Rodríguez Acosta bank into luxurious stay Palacio Gran Vía, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, although only the hefty vault doors behind glass and preserved row of teller kiosks are signs that it wasn’t actually a palace from the get-go. Its riches are many: a soaring central patio, Alhambra-esque decorative tiling throughout, sweeping wooden staircases, reclaimed Moorish ceilings, floral stained glasses and more. And – credit where it’s due – the update has brought a roof terrace with invaluable views, rooms with modern comforts and service that’ll make all guests feel high net worth.
Facilities
Rooms
38, including two suites.
Checkout
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability and a charge. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
More Details
Rates don’t include breakfast (usually €25 a person) but guests get a welcome lemonade or fruit tea on arrival.
Also
One room is adapted for guests with reduced mobility, and there’s a step-free side entrance and two lifts to all floors.
Fitness Center
Free Internet Access
Laundry
Room Service
Spa
At the Hotel
Roof terrace with solarium, gym, hammam, library lounge, charged laundry service, concierge, and free WiFi. In rooms: TV, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, minibar, air-conditioning, bathrobes and slippers, and Rituals bath products.
Our Favourite Rooms
Unless you’re watching a Kubrick movie, hotel corridors aren’t normally something to shout about, but each floor here has a different style of gloriously colourful and detailed tiling. And more nods to the Alhambra are found in the room names, with each named after a flower you’ll find in the complex’s lush gardens. Each is elegantly outfitted, but we like the Suite, which hoards more original features than most and has the city’s knack for flair; it has a gallery with stained-glass windows, an ornate ceiling, flouncy mouldings and more. And the Deluxe Room with Balcony gives you dual-aspect views of the Gran Vía.
Poolside
Tucked away in the original stone vaults there’s a surprisingly big heated pool with hydro-massage jets.
Spa
The exposed brick and stone of the original vaults in the hotel’s basement keeps the space cool, but things get steamier in the hammam and Turkish bath hidden down here, and there’s a cosy room for the hotel’s on-call masseuse to ply their pampering. And yoga classes are sometimes held on the rooftop.
Packing Tips
Download the Barceló app before arrival and you can check-in speedily and order pillows, massages and room service.
Also
Look above the grand staircase and you’ll be wowed by an intricately carved and configured wooden ceiling that pre-dates the building, having been painstakingly repurposed from an antique Moorish house.
Children
Children are welcome to stay and there are interconnecting rooms and baby cots to borrow. There are no dedicated activities or kit, but babysitting can be arranged on request (must be booked five days in advance).
Gallery
Food & Drink
Top Table
Why do you think Granada has so many miradors? Because this beguiling city looks great from above, so hit the roof terrace at every opportunity. Or, on rare chilly days, sequester yourself away with a drink in the library lounge.
Dress Code
Coat yourself in Alhambra-esque patterns.
Hotel Restaurant
As tempting as breakfast in bed is, you should allow at least one morning for taking it in the hotel’s spectacular central patio – a soaring space where a multitude of pendant lights hang from a glass ceiling, surrounded by stained windows, palms and arches, tiles and stuccos. A row of original bank-teller kiosks, now glazed in, runs along one side. Alongside a Continental buffet, there’s a live cooking station where you can tell the chef how you like your eggs. And La Sucursal Grand Café is a wood-panelled and swagged space for cured meats and cheeses, seabass or sirloin to share, stacked sandwiches and sweets.
Hotel Bar
The Palacio has the privilege of one of the best views in Granada, running along the Gran Vía, over the Albaícin neighbourhood and cathedral, out to the Alhambra, and into the hills beyond the city. And, it extends this to its guests in generous fashion at the Miralba rooftop bar – between decorative miradors, loungers line the edge of the solarium, deckchairs are dotted about, and tables are shaded by fringed canopies, where you can tan and sip simple yet effective cocktails (like the Sherry Mule with homemade brandy, orange and ginger soda), local brew Alhambra beer, classic apéritifs (vermouth, Campari), and Spanish wines while getting the lay of the land. Sometimes Andalusian wine-tasting sessions are held too.
Last Orders
Breakfast is from 8am to 11am, and the Grand Café’s menu runs from 11.30am to 11pm.
Room Service
Dine in your room 24 hours a day on jamón and tomato bread, selections of regional cheeses, soups, sandwiches, burgers, simple pastas, steak, smoothies, and sweet treats. Continental breakfast can be had in bed too.
Planes
Federico García Lorca Airport is a 20-minute drive from the hotel.
Trains
Granada train station is a 10-minute drive from the hotel and has direct routes to many of Spain’s cities (with Seville, Córdoba and Madrid the closest).
Automobiles
You’ll only need a car if you’re exploring beyond the city or heading into the Sierra Nevada mountains; the bus from the airport even hits several stops along Gran Vía de Colón. But, if wheels are a must, the hotel can help with car rental and charged parking (€30 a day) is available.
Worth Getting Out of Bed For
The neighbourhood you’re in is literally called Centro, which should clue you in as to how much you’ve lucked out with Palacio Gran Vía, a Royal Hideaway Hotel. The cathedral is just across the road, the Alhambra and Generalife Gardens are a 30-minute stroll away, and the Albaícin – one of the city’s most fascinating areas – spreads out ahead of you. Once you’ve covered the heavily decorated ground of the city’s famed hilltop palaces and gardens, tour the Royal Chapel, gawp at the views from the elevated Mirador de San Nicolás, and embrace the maximalism at the 18th-century Baroque Basílica de San Juan de Dios. Get some back story at the Archaeological Museum. Thread your way through the mediaeval alleys of the Albaícin, perhaps stopping to soak in a bathhouse before heading north to see the Sacromonte cave dwellings; then head to Federico Garcia Lorca Park to nose around the author’s former summer home (and spy the desk where he wrote some of his most famous books); then follow the castanet clicks to Tablao Flamenco La Alborea Granada for passionate dances over dinner.
Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt
This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .
