SLS Barcelona Offers A New Way To See Barcelona – And Avoid The Crowds

Barcelona is a destination that always sparks debate. Where else can you find wide boulevards lined with spectacular Catalan Modernisme facades, Michelin-starred restaurants alongside trad tapas joints, and dive bars that stay open long into the night? Then there are the galleries – surely some of the finest on the continent. And did we mention the beach?

But the very fact that Barcelona is so beguiling to so many is also making it difficult to justify a visit. Because the city has, in recent times, become the poster child for the impact of overtourism. Things came to a head in 2024, when local protesters made headlines around the world for taking to the streets and spraying tourists with water pistols. Their argument – and it is a difficult one to counter – was that the city centre had become overrun by visitors, driving up rents, increasing overcrowding, and placing unsustainable pressure on local life. 

This summer, visitor numbers are expected to exceed 30 million for the first time. For sustainably minded travellers, it poses a dilemma. So what if we told you there is another way? Introducing SLS Barcelona: the first newly built hotel in the city since 2015, and arguably a fresh answer to the overtourism question. Situated in Port Fòrum – a new marina district 7km up the coast from the city centre – it provides a new way to see the city without the creeping guilt.

Hotel Review: SLS Barcelona

Waking up at SLS Barcelona is a daily reminder that this is not a city-centre hotel. Pull back the curtains and the first thing you see are yachts bobbing in the expansive marina directly below and the Med sparkling long in the distance. It may only be a 15-minute drive into the city, but it feels more like a Balearic beach resort – albeit one flanked by a new highway, and high-rise apartments to the rear.

For those unfamiliar with the brand, SLS lands somewhere between the W Hotel and The Standard – a high-end lifestyle joint with bags of personality and the volume most certainly turned up. This is the European debut for the group, though existing outposts in Beverly Hills, the Bahamas, and Miami provide some sense of what guests are in for.

The lobby is Vegas five-star vast with a caviar bar, clusters of low seating and statement modernist chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. Designed by Philippe Starck, the vibe is trendy art gallery meets Mayfair nightclub. Having previously designed SLS’s Beverly Hills flagship, Starck’s fingerprints are everywhere: in the metallic finishes, the mood lighting, the fun and slightly surreal art that punctuates the public spaces.

That same aesthetic carries through to the 471 bedrooms with their bauhaus floor lamps and opulent bathrooms with marble vanities and the hammered metal mirrors. If you can, plump for a room looking out over the pool deck and its infinity pool below. This is where the hotel’s social life properly ignites during the day: a DJ spinning House, smart clientele arranging themselves on daybeds, and waiters speeding out from the pool bar with increasing frequency carrying trays of Veuve Clicquot.

For evenings, head up to Cósmico: a stylish hybrid of pool bar and DJ lounge with panoramic marina views and some very punchy cocktails. Breakfast meanwhile takes place in Lora, the hotel’s capacious main dining room, and is buffet-driven – which doesn’t always feel premium, but in this instance it works brilliantly. A significant number of food and beverage stations serve high-quality charcuterie, pastries, cheese, and fresh fruit alongside a far larger selection of hot food options than most Spanish hotels, including excellent made-to-order omelettes.

Lora was designed in partnership with Studio Paskin, the name behind hip London restaurants The Palomar and The Barbary. If you’re familiar with those spots, then you’ll recognise the aesthetic: artisan crockery, plush banquettes and warm tonal colours. From lunchtime, a bang-on-trend wood-fired Med-meets-Middle East menu kicks into play. The tuna tartare with fried capers and Urfa pepper aiolii are a highlight.

Even with three pools, a decent gym, and a highly impressive spa, you are going to need to leave the building at some point. The question, then, is whether you are in the mood for a seaside escape or a city break. Stepping out onto the Miami-style boardwalk, the former option feels very much in play. Follow its sweep down the coast on a ten-minute stroll and you will reach a wide, sandy, pleasingly uncommercialised stretch of beach – local in feel, with a dedicated section for dogs and a distinct sense of a neighbourhood mid-transformation. Construction crews were at work on a new promenade during our visit, with optimistic CGI posters promising a palm-lined boulevard in the not-too-distant future. When that arrives it will be cracking, but in the meantime the surroundings are still raw in places, with working industrial infrastructure providing the backdrop – evidence of the area’s recent history as a working port.

The marina offers a similar juxtaposition of past, present, and future: a friendly smattering of local bars, restaurants and a rather smart beach club, set alongside some brutalist port buildings and a changing cast of mid-sized yachts. Catamarans and private boats are available for charter directly from the marina, alongside jet skis for the more energetically inclined. 

Further afield, Parc del Fòrum hosts some of Barcelona’s biggest live music events, including Primavera Sound. The city centre is 15 minutes by car or, rather more stylishly, by boat. From there, the full Barcelona programme – Gaudí, the Gothic Quarter, the Eixample’s gallery-lined boulevards – is entirely within reach. And also entirely avoidable, should you choose to stay put.

C&TH Key Notes

—Drink to order: A tailor-made Martini at Kyara, the hotel’s ultra-modern cocktail bar, after the bartenders have mapped your flavour preferences.

—Treatment to book: The two-hour Grand Reset detox massage is the perfect tonic to a late-night in Eixample. €250

—Must-do: Visit Bar Brutal in El Born with its fantastic natural wine list and seriously inventive small plates. Just remember to book well ahead.

The Final Word

SLS Barcelona is not a historic city-centre hotel, but it is all the better for it. You get all the benefits of a visit to this magnificent city with fewer of the downsides, and plenty of extra reasons to justify a trip. Being able to enjoy a buzzy city break and a proper Ibiza-style beach stay in the same weekend trip feels like a cheat code.

BOOK IT

Doubles from €350 per night, slshotels.com