Les Cols Pavellons, Olot, Catalonia, Spain

Les Cols Pavellons in Olot, Catalonia, is a design hotel where architecture is the experience. Hidden behind the stone walls of a medieval farmhouse in the volcanic Garrotxa region, it consists of just five glass pavilions designed by RCR Arquitectes, the Olot-based trio of Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, who won the 2017 Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honour. Floors, walls, ceilings, even some of the furniture, are made of glass. Staying here feels less like a night in a hotel and more like a night inside a work of art.

Location: Olot, Catalonia, Spain

Les Cols sits on the edge of Olot, a small town in the Garrotxa, in the foothills of the Catalan Pyrenees, about 130 kilometres north of Barcelona and around an hour from Girona airport. The Garrotxa is a volcanic landscape of extinct cones, beech forests and lava flows, protected as the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. The higher Pyrenees rise to the north.

To be clear, this is not a high-mountain hotel: it lies in the volcanic foothills rather than among the peaks. It suits a summer or design-focused trip, perhaps combined with the Costa Brava, Girona or the Pyrenees themselves, rather than a ski holiday.

Rooms and suites at Les Cols Pavellons

There are only five pavilions, completed in 2005, so booking ahead is essential. They are arranged inside the walled garden of the farmhouse, inspired by the strips of a traditional vegetable plot, and wrapped in green-tinted glass and steel.

Everything inside is transparent or reflective: there is almost no furniture, simply a low bed, and the boundary between inside and outside dissolves into plays of light, colour and reflection. Each pavilion has a deep glass bathtub, like a private hot spring, where you can soak while looking up at the sky. Despite all the glass, the design means neighbours cannot see in. The pavilions are not designed for guests with reduced mobility, as beds are low and there are no chairs.

Facilities at Les Cols Pavellons

The hotel is a deliberately minimal, contemplative experience, without a spa, pool or other conventional facilities. What it offers instead is light, silence, the night sky and a sense of peace.

Breakfast is generous and local, with cured meats and cheeses from the Garrotxa, and on departure guests receive a picnic bag for the journey. Next door is Les Cols, the celebrated restaurant of chef Fina Puigdevall and her daughters, set in the farmhouse and also redesigned by RCR. It holds two Michelin stars and a Michelin Green Star for sustainability, and its philosophy is cooking with "food that hasn't travelled": seasonal, local ingredients, many from its own gardens. Note that the restaurant and pavilions are booked separately.

The mountain moment

The defining experience is night at Les Cols Pavellons. As darkness falls, the glass walls turn to mirrors and shadows, and the only things that matter are the moon, the stars and the warm water of your bath. The architects designed the pavilions specifically around this idea: being alone with the night and the space, rediscovering aspects of nature we thought we had forgotten.

By day, the surrounding Garrotxa invites exploration: walks through the Fageda d'en Jordà, a beech forest growing on an ancient lava flow; hikes up the Santa Margarida volcano, with a chapel in its crater; or a hot-air balloon flight over the volcanic landscape.

Why Les Cols Pavellons is one of the best mountain hotels

Les Cols Pavellons earns its place in our Design-led collection as one of the most extraordinary small hotels in the world, a genuine architectural pilgrimage created by Pritzker Prize-winning architects in their own hometown. Combined with a two-Michelin-star restaurant next door, it offers an unforgettable experience for lovers of design and food.

It is not a conventional hotel, nor a mountain hotel in the usual sense. But for adults seeking something truly unique, contemplative and beautiful, it is an unmissable experience.

When to go to Les Cols Pavellons

Les Cols Pavellons rewards a visit in any season, because the experience is about light, sky and silence rather than weather. Spring is especially beautiful, when the beech forests of the Garrotxa turn a vivid fresh green and walking trails across the volcanic park are at their best. Autumn brings rich colour to the Fageda d'en Jordà and Les Cols restaurant's menu follows the season. Summer is warm and lively, ideal for combining a stay with the Costa Brava or Girona. Winter nights are long and clear, perfect for watching the stars from the glass bath. With only five pavilions, book well in advance, and reserve a table at Les Cols separately, as the restaurant and the pavilions are booked independently.