Room Mate Carla Hotel

Eixample is a neighborhood built on order. It’s a rigid, octagonal grid designed by Ildefons Cerdà to bring light and air to a city that was suffocating inside its old walls. It’s grand, it’s architectural, and in some parts, it’s a little bit stiff. Then you walk into Room Mate Carla on Carrer de Mallorca, and the order gets a sharp, technicolor kick in the teeth. This isn't one of those hotels that tries to disappear into the background with beige curtains and polite floral arrangements. It’s a visual shout, a Mediterranean pop-art statement designed by Tomás Alía that makes no apologies for its existence.

The lobby hits you first—a blindingly bright white and blue space that feels like a futuristic beach club. It’s geometric, it’s sharp, and it’s a far cry from the dark, heavy wood you’ll find in the more traditional hotels nearby. This is the Room Mate brand’s whole thing: they name their hotels after 'friends' you’re staying with. Carla is the stylish, slightly eccentric friend who lives in the heart of the city and has a thing for bold patterns and high-contrast furniture. If you’re looking for a quiet, monastic retreat, you’ve come to the wrong place. But if you want to feel like you’re actually in a city that’s awake and breathing, this works.

The rooms continue the assault on the mundane. Expect more bold colors—yellows, blues, reds—and headboards that look like they were pulled from a graphic novel. It’s clean, it’s functional, and the beds are actually built for sleeping, not just looking at. But the real genius of the Room Mate philosophy, and the thing that should endear them to any traveler who has ever struggled with a 6:00 AM flight or a late night in a Raval dive bar, is the breakfast. They serve it until noon. It’s a simple, beautiful middle finger to the industry standard of shutting down the buffet at 9:30 AM just when you’ve finally managed to find your shoes. You can wake up late, crawl downstairs, and find actual food waiting for you.

Location-wise, you’re sitting in the sweet spot. You’re a ten-minute walk from the high-end madness of Passeig de Gràcia, where the tourists gawk at Gaudí’s Casa Batlló and the wealthy hunt for Loewe bags. Head the other way, and you’re within striking distance of the Sagrada Familia. You’re surrounded by the kind of upscale tapas bars and corner cafes where the locals actually live their lives. It’s a neighborhood of grand entrances and hidden courtyards, and Carla sits right in the thick of it.

Is it perfect? No. The elevators can be a test of patience, and if you’re sensitive to design that 'tries too hard,' the decor might give you a headache before your first coffee. The terrace is a nice escape, but don't expect a sprawling resort experience; this is an urban hotel through and through. It’s about the street, the grid, and the energy of Barcelona. It’s for the traveler who wants to be in the middle of the Eixample action without feeling like they’re staying in their grandfather’s guest room. It’s loud, it’s bright, and it’s exactly what a modern city hotel should be: a place with an actual personality, for better or worse.