Les Cols Pavellons Glass Hotel in Olot
About an hour and a half north of Barcelona, the Garrotxa region unfolds as a quiet, volcanic landscape of nature reserves and storybook villages. One of these villages is Olot, and discreetly on one of its edges, tucked behind a 13th-century farmhouse, sits Les Cols Pavellons. It is deliberately disorienting, serene, and unlike any hotel experience we have had.
Upon arrival, you enter through what feels like a medieval barn, its façade entirely swallowed by ivy. There is no signage, only a very narrow, tall doorway that exudes mystery. Inside, the space is dramatically dark and austere; textured walls are the sole decoration. The original wooden ceiling structure remains exposed, and underfoot, the floor is bare earth. Lighting is a soft, warm line tracing the edges of the floor, complemented by what filters in through the front and rear doorways. From here, you are guided along a path of crushed earth, reminiscent of a Zen garden, leading you gently towards the pavellons beyond.
Designed by RCR Arquitectes, the same studio behind the neighbouring critically acclaimed Les Cols Restaurant. The Pavellons feel closer to land art than lodgings. Each room floats above petrified lava, constructed almost entirely from glass and metal, separated from one another by front and rear zen gardens. Vision and sound fade away. Once inside your pavilion, the outside world gently recedes.
Privacy is absolute. Each pavilion is enveloped in layers of translucent and denser green glass, forming a softly filtered boundary between inside and out. Between the glass walls and ceiling, blackout shades in the same green tone slide silently into place when complete seclusion is desired. Everything is controlled from a minimalist panel that also manages the ambient lighting, allowing you to adjust the space from daylight softness to near-total darkness. The result is profoundly calming and cocoon-like, a place that gently removes visual noise and distraction, somewhere between a sanctuary and a deliberate experiment in sensory reduction, where time feels suspended.
The bathroom is a highlight. A floor-level plunge tub fills with warm volcanic thermal water, inviting slow, unhurried soaking. Thoughtful amenities, including beautifully soft, warming slippers that feel essential rather than decorative.
Breakfast follows the same subtle poetry. Planned the day before, it arrives silently outside your door. A tray appears with fresh bread, yoghurt, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, honey, preserves, butter, tomatoes, orange juice, and thermoses of hot coffee and cold milk. It is simple, generous, and offers deep comfort. Few breakfasts have brought such a quiet sense of happiness.
At checkout, the experience extends beyond the stay. Guests are handed a picnic bag filled with bread, olive oil, dry-cured sausage, a round of cheese, salad, mineral water, and a bottle of wine. Tucked inside is a set of postcards with watercolours of local sights. On the reverse, hand-drawn maps show precisely how to reach each one. We followed them faithfully, spending the day wandering, picnicking, and gradually saying goodbye to the region.
Les Cols Pavellons is not a hotel for everyone. It beckons one to slow down, to find comfort in silence, and to embrace abstraction. For us, it was a dreamscape—painful to leave and forever etched in our hearts, a place we long to return to.
Les Cols Pavellons
+34 69 981 3817
Avinguda de les Cols, 2 17800 Olot, Girona, Spain
www.lescolspavellons.comSome on this post photos © Les Cols Pavellons