The Place to Stay in Tossa de Mar
This faded-glory beachfront hotel offers everything you want
Most guides discuss Tossa de Mar as an option for a quick one-day excursion from Barcelona. Although not accessible by train, it’s about a 90-minute drive from the city and it’s easy to walk the castle grounds, have lunch and head back to the city.
Don’t believe them.
Tossa de Mar is a great, affordable place to spend a night or two, and there is a perfect old, faded-glory European hotel to make it easy. The Gran Hotel Reymar dates to the 1960s and the beachfront town’s cosmopolitan heyday, when it was briefly a Mediterranean hot spot. Today, it no longer has that hot spot vibe, despite Tossa’s popularity, and rooms can be found for €120-€175 a night on the fringes of the summer season, and for as little as €200 in season.
An icon of a mid-century modern design, the tiered resort sits at a key spot in the seaside city, on an outcropping that separates the main beach from a much smaller, less-crowded beach, Mar Menuda. As a result, Gran Reymar is a short walk from the heart of the old town but far removed from the crowds and the party atmosphere. There are other mid-range options in town—including the Hotel Golden Mar Menuda, across the street from the Gran Reymar—but most are aging and don’t have the full amenity package.
Gran Reymar has everything you want in a beach resort, including a relaxing private pool space, plenty of sun decks and easy access to the beach. In this case, Mar Menuda is a much nicer beach of soft sand on a quiet cove. (Mar Menuda is also home to the local dive shop, and the launch site for the daily dive treks.)
The Reymar is no five-star resort — many of the elements seem faded and you’re likely to run into groups of elder German and northern European travelers on bus excursions. The bars and restaurants are OK, but I’ve never felt compelled to eat at the restaurant. But the hotel is comfortable, the staff reasonably friendly, and you have easy access to everything in the town. (It’s a little longer walk to the castle, but not bad.)
We’ve stayed at Gran Reymar twice, both times at the end of September, when the crowds had thinned, and found it a great place to take a break from the city and hang out for a day or two of beach time. One tip: if you’re taking the bus from Barcelona. The Gran Reymar will send a van to pick you up at the bus station.
One big note: the Gran Reymar closes for the season each year from mid-October to mid-April.
You can find the hotel’s website here.
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