With an enviable seafront location close to Barcelona and its airport, and having undergone a recent refurbishment, AC Hotel Gavà Mar is a 69-room hotel that is ideal for the business traveller, but also a surprising destination for the discerning pleasure seeker, as well as those looking to celebrate a special occasion.
Designed by Barcelona-based architecture, interiors and design studio WIT, guest rooms are orientated toward the lush gardens with those situated on the two higher floors boasting impressive views over a little-known and untouched part of the Mediterranean. The newly renovated rooms feature upscale materials and a design that ensures guests can disconnect from the day-to-day and immerse themselves in the present.
Beautiful natural sand dunes, a pine forest, and expansive promenade; Gavà Mar is a largely untouched part of the Barcelona coast, just half an hour south of the city.
Room categories are plentiful and offer privileged views of nature: those on the ground floor have a private terrace and provide direct access to the gardens and pool area, whilst guests up on floors one and two can take advantage of the fresh sea breeze blowing lightly from the Med located directly opposite. In keeping with the Mediterranean theme, aesthetics include an abundance of natural light, finishes in wood, light tones, and a colour palette that references the hotel’s surroundings. Guest rooms offer a work area for the business traveller, whilst the suites offer a separate living area, bathroom with freestanding bathtub, and bedroom with a king bed.
Set among beautiful gardens rich in dry-weather vegetation, the hotel swimming pool area has direct access to the beach, and is home to a pool bar serving refreshing beers, wines, cocktails and soft drinks; the pool itself surrounded with a plentiful amount of sunbeds as well as three lush Balinese beds.
Les Dunes is AC Hotel Gavà Mar’s restaurant and features a beautifully-designed large terrace with a long imperial table as its focal point. With a peaceful setting just steps from the sea and flexible spaces that can accommodate all kinds of occasions, it’s a relaxing spot to while away a few hours trying out the menu which is based on local produce and timeless Spanish recipes.
AC Hotel Gavà Mar’s restaurant, Les Dunes, is a tranquil spot to while away a lingering (and exceptionally tasty) lunch.
We start our late lunch by ordering a bottle of white wine from the nearby Terra Alta region, and some tapas: pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato; a traditional staple of Catalan, Aragonese and Balearic cuisine, and considered an integral part of Catalan cuisine and identity), delicately smoked fillets of salmon and rich prawn croquettes. For the main plates, as tempted as we were by the rice dishes, we opted for locally sourced, slow-cooked beef short rib, and a simple but perfectly executed white fish served with a separate salad and olive oil. Service was friendly and personable, and the whole terrace was alive with families and couples — both local and visiting — enjoying a long, lingering and leisurely Sunday lunch under the July sun.
Les Dunes is also where guests will find a generously stocked buffet breakfast the morning after a comfortable night’s sleep; meats, cheeses, breads, irresistible pastries and plenty more on offer. As well as showcasing another side of the Barcelona coast to discerning travellers, the hotel also prides itself on being a venue for events, with eight fully versatile meeting rooms, in addition to outdoor spaces and a safari-tent-style marquee in the garden, which is a popular choice for weddings.
A tranquil environment with easy access to the town of Gavà, beautiful Sitges, Barcelona city centre and the neighbouring airport, AC Hotel Gavà Mar is a singular opportunity to explore a largely undiscovered stretch of the Catalan coast that is rich in biodiversity and with an essence of faraway that would surprise many a local of the big city itself.
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Photography © We Heart / courtesy, AC Hotel Gavà Mar.
