We wanted to have a relaxing two days after a hectic six days in Barcelona and I found this place on Google Maps by simply picking a mountain area near Barcelona. searching hotels then checking further on Trip Adivsor. This is a superb hotel in every respect, beautifully situated with spectacular views of the green mountains of Montseny. It's a great way to escape the heat of Barcelona--our rental car thermometer read 35.5 when we left the autopiste A2 and 30 when we arrived at the hotel after a 25 minute climb up steep and winding route 5301, about a 10 degree difference in Fahrenheit--though still quite warm (86 Fahrenheit) as it was the middle of a heat wave.
We had the basic room for a reasonable 90 Euro per night (booked through the hotel website, rates were a bit higher at sites like booking.com) which was extremely comfortable with a great bathroom with shower and tub, large flat screen TV (watched Spain win World Cup!), and all in all very comfortable--there is air conditioning, though it had some trouble keeping up due to the unusual heat wave. The more expensive rooms in the main building have balconies, some with the great views of the surrounding mountains. The grounds are very well kept, there is an outdoor fountain and waterfall near the main buildings. It's really more like a 4 star hotel than 3 in many respects, though there wasn't the very attentive type of service that comes with the highest end hotels, which was fine with me.
The restaurant was Michelin listed and superb from bread to dessert with a very reasonable 22 Euro menu at dinner (not including wine or VAT), a la carte at lunch with grill specialties. And they were very accommodating to my wife's vegetarian restrictions--making her off menu grilled vegetable plates at both our dinners. Breakfast was excellent, though as is typical in Spain, not inclusive of American type egg/bacon/sausage options, but the bread and croissants were very good and they had an espresso machine with pods that made excellent coffee. Oddly for a hotel near Barcelona they didn't seem to offer al fresco dining, though there were outside tables near the restaurant.
On our one full day there we drove over the Coliformic mountain pass to the town of El Brull and had a very good lunch there at the Castell restaurant. On the way back we parked at the summit of the pass and hiked around there, and just across from the parking area is a short climb that gives spectacular views in down both sides of the route. There is a restaurant there but oddly it was closed for vacation from mid July to mid August!
One unusual aspect of the hotel is that the Sant Bernat of the name refers to a family of St. Bernard dogs that are an official part of the hotel, they roam around the grounds and are very friendly. There is a small but lovely swimming pool situated to give stunning mountain views--but that's about it for outdoor facilities, though there are various other activities offered from the hotel or nearby that we didn't try--these included 4x4 tours, Segway, and guided walks, including an option for walks with the dogs, but there is a 20 Euro hour charge per hour for that! Guided walks by a human guide are 25 Euro per hour. We walked on our own, some of the trails leading from the hotel are actually mountain 4x4 type roads, and some are walking trails through the woods. We're tennis players and it would have been great to have a court there--would love to see that in the future.
There is WiFi, but it's slow and access is spotty. There was an outlet for Ethernet in our room but the staff seemed unfamiliar with that option, and I didn't bring my own cable so couldn't test it to see if it worked. Additionally my Vodafone service didn't work there, though I saw other guests using their phones, perhaps with a different carrier.
But overall we had a great time, and the staff was uniformly helpful and attentive--the desk staff spoke English well enough, but not everyone else did, but it wasn't a problem as we have some limited Spanish speaking ability, and miming etc can always work. On our final mornng we had to leave at 6:30 am for our flight back to the U.S., and the night before they brought croissants and muffins to our room, along with a coffee maker so we could have breakfast--another example of their excellent service. In summary: a wonderful way to relax in the mountains after a stay in Barcelona--we hope to return on another trip to Spain.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
