American travelers tend to complain that it’s difficult to find top service in Spain. It’s usually true that many of the country’s five-star hotels are not on par with those we’re accustomed to in the U.S. The one real exception in Barcelona is the Hotel Arts, a Ritz-Carlton property, which has 483 rooms and is located in the Olympic Port by the sea. It’s the hotel of choice for international business people as well as famous visitors like Pierce Brosnan who usually book one of the VIP Apartments (these duplex suites on the top floors of the hotel offer twenty-four-hour butlers and amazing views of the city). Over the past few years the hotel has been updated with a Six Senses Spa, on the forty-second and forty-third floors, and a sleek but casual restaurant overseen by Sergi Arola, one of Spain’s top chefs. There’s even a “coolhunter” guide who takes guests on customized art, shopping and gourmet tours of the city. Another perk: the outdoor pool has a great view of Frank Gehry’s steel fish sculpture. Rooms from $660. Editor’s note: Caveat emptor. I stayed in one of the VIP apartments a few years ago and found them to be poorly designed (see photo).

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Many sophisticated insiders stay at this five-star in a stunning landmark building, designed by modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Well situated on the chic Passeig de Gràcia, the hotel has twenty suites and seventy-six rooms decorated with Art Nouveau–inspired lamps and fixtures. Common spaces include a Mediterranean restaurant and a velvet-and-silk-lined café. If money is no object, book one of the five tower suites; each is luxuriously outfitted with Fortuny lamps, a king-size bed, a sauna and DVD players. Rooms from $560.