H10 Itaca Hotel

A contemporary urban hotel, the 10-floor H10 Itaca draws a mix of tourists and business travelers with its great range of facilities and its location near the Barcelona Sants railway and Metro station. The sleek, yet warm and inviting lobby features a brown-and-blond color palette, lots of natural woods, leather furniture, crystal chandeliers, a library and an Internet corner with Miro-style art on the wall. It's a good spot to mix and mingle. Unlike nearby hotels such as the Barcelo Sants and Gran Torre Catalunya, this hotel has a swimming pool: an outdoor plunge pool with adjacent sun deck and outdoor covered bar. With a stay here guests can also enjoy an outdoor spa tub, sauna, fitness room and upscale restaurant. The rooms are modern "cheap chic", in keeping with the contemporary feel, and feature comfy beds, flat-panel TVs and free Wi-Fi.

Having the Sants railway and metro station two blocks west is a powerful draw for the H10 Itaca, located at the western edge of the Eixample. Parc de Joan Miro is two blocks south, and the Plaça d'Espanya and Fira de Barcelona trade fair in Montjuic are about a 10-minute stroll south. It's a little far to walk to central Barcelona attractions like La Rambla and the Passeig de Gracia, but luckily the metro can get visitors there in 20 minutes. The hotel is about a 15-minute drive northeast of the airport, and a quick metro ride.

The 97 rooms at the H10 Itaca are characterized by a clean, spare, modern look, with natural lighting, wood floors, and white walls and bedspreads. You can pull up the laptop and fire up free Wi-Fi, and the rooms also have minibars and 32-inch flat-screen TVs with a variety of channels. Beds are comfy, and rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, some with good views of Montjuic and the surrounding area. The smallest rooms are quite tight at 160 square feet, however.

The H10 Itaca is distinguished by its strong set of property facilities. The centerpiece is the outdoor plunge pool, bordered by attractive foliag. An outdoor sun deck and terrace bar lead into the lobby bar. The inviting outdoor spa tub and indoor sauna provide additional reasons to pack a swimsuit. Other features include a small fitness room, small business corner in the lobby, secured parking (for a fee) and upscale Catalan restaurant.