Hotel El Xalet

El Xalet occupies a 19th-century villa with a tower on carrer Illa de Cuba, the street of the Americanos' houses, a couple of minutes from Sitges station. Sitges tourism identifies it as the Villa Avelina. Inside it keeps the floral stained glass and the original mosaic floors, and the rooms are furnished with antique pieces, different in each one. It is a small, two-star hotel with something unusual in these streets: an outdoor pool.

The former owners' room

The house has no two rooms alike, and the website itself presents that as its charm. There are four types:

• Double or twin, with antique furniture, a private bathroom, a TV, air conditioning and heating, free wifi and a fridge. A high chair can be requested.
• Single, with a double bed although it is for one person. They face the interior of the house and are bright.
• Suite, with two double beds, a tea and coffee corner and a huge balcony that runs along half of the interior facade.
• Double with terrace, room 104, which was the first owners' bedroom: an interior and exterior terrace and a marble bath.

The website does not publish fixed prices: you check them by date in its booking engine or on 938 110 070.

Pool, cocktails and summer dinner

The outdoor pool is in the garden of the house. Beside it is a cocktail bar, and in summer the restaurant opens, with traditional Spanish cooking, an extensive wine list and tables by the water. The rest of the year there is no restaurant, so for dinner you will need to go out into the centre: El Pou, for tapas, is a few minutes' walk away.

As a touch for a romantic getaway, the hotel leaves a bottle of Catalan cava with two glasses in the room for €25, or one of Sitges malvasia, the town's sweet wine, for €17.

Between the station and the sea

From the station it is two minutes on foot; the beach is less than ten, walking down through the centre. Barcelona is 40 minutes away by train. You are right on the Americanos' houses walk: Casa Manuel Planas, now the Hotel Noucentista, is on the same street.

The website does not mention parking of its own. If you come by car, expect to park in a paid space in the area; the streets in the centre are narrow.