There is exactly one Montserrat Monastery hotel, and it has 82 rooms. If we include the apartments and the hostel next door, the Montserrat Monastery offers a number of accommodations that is insufficient for the large number of visitors it receives. The alternative is to stay in the towns near the monastery.
That scarcity is precisely why it’s worth considering spending the night there. By late afternoon, the day-trippers have already left, the rack railway has made its last run, and the sanctuary is practically empty. You’ll be able to enjoy the basilica at sunset, the tranquility of the late afternoon, and the advantage of climbing up to Sant Jeroni first thing in the morning.
This guide covers the three accommodations at the monastery and explains which of the four villages near Montserrat is the best option for you and whether it’s worth spending the night there.
There are three places to sleep at Montserrat monastery, all run by L’Agrícola Regional: the Hostal Abat Cisneros (the only hotel, 82 rooms), the Cel·les Abat Marcet (92 self-catering apartments) and the Alberg Abat Oliba (hostel, private bathroom in every room). Book the hotel or the apartments direct and the rack railway is included free for your whole stay. If they are full, Monistrol de Montserrat is the only village below with public transport up to the monastery.
Where to stay at Montserrat monastery: the three options
All three are a five-minute walk from each other. They share a phone number and a management company, so you’re not really choosing between competitors—you’re choosing a level of comfort and a price range.
Hostal Abat Cisneros ★★★
The only hotelThe Montserrat monastery hotel, inside a building that has housed pilgrims since 1563.
The stone shell is sixteenth-century; the interior was converted into a hostal in the late 1950s and has been modernised since. Rooms have a bathtub or shower, satellite television, a telephone, hardwood floors and heating. Sixty-two of the eighty-two look out over the mountain or the square — those are the ones worth asking for by name when you book, because the difference between a view room and an interior room here is the difference between a hotel night and an experience.
There are single rooms, twins, doubles, four rooms with a lounge and twelve adjoining rooms for families. Downstairs you get a reading room, meeting rooms, a children’s playground, safety deposit boxes and a luggage service for groups booked in advance.
Cel·les Abat Marcet
ApartmentsNinety-two self-catering apartments on Plaça Abat Oliba, fully renovated in 2023.
Built in the 1960s and completely renovated in 2023, which has greatly reduced the difference in comfort compared to a hotel. The official description includes a bathroom, kitchen, heating, telephone, and television, and the apartments can accommodate one, two, three, or four people. They are located in a single seven-story building next to Abat Oliba Square, numbered by floor and equipped with an elevator.
The numbers speak for themselves. The hotel can accommodate 153 people; the apartments, 260. And more importantly, a hotel room here is usually a double, while an apartment can accommodate up to four people; so, if you’re a family of four looking for a room at the monastery, this is, in practice, your only option.
Here, having a kitchen is more valuable than almost anywhere else, because the dining options at the sanctuary are geared toward day visitors. The buffet closes at 4:00 p.m., the café closes at 7:30 p.m., and the supermarket closes at 8:00 p.m. After that, your only options are the set menu at the hotel restaurant and Bar de La Plaça. Being able to cook is what turns two nights here into a relaxing stay, rather than a logistical challenge.
Alberg Abat Oliba
BudgetA 1952 building renovated in 2018, and the only budget bed on the mountain.
Calling it a “hostel” doesn’t do it justice. The third through sixth floors house thirty-eight family rooms that sleep between four and eight people; the first and second floors feature shared rooms that sleep between four and ten people in bunk beds—which can be shared or reserved as a whole for more privacy. What sets it apart from other hostels is that every room has its own bathroom.
There is a communal kitchen, kitchenettes in the family rooms, a dining room for groups, free Wi-Fi throughout, bicycle parking, a lift with disabled access, a children’s playground, and laundry and drying facilities. Check-in is from 13:00, check-out at 10:00. Children under three stay free.
The detail almost nobody mentions: if you book a stay at Hostal Abat Cisneros or Cel·les Abat Marcet through the official website, the rate includes rides on the rack railway during your stay, as well as free parking at the Monistrol-Vila station.
Montserrat monastery accommodation compared
There is one Montserrat monastery hotel and two alternatives beside it. This is how they differ.
| Option | Type | Capacity | Kitchen | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostal Abat Cisneros | 3-star hotel | 82 rooms · 153 guests | No — restaurant on site | Couples and comfort |
| Cel·les Abat Marcet | Apartments | 92 units · 260 guests | Yes | Families and longer stays |
| Alberg Abat Oliba | Hostel and family rooms | 38 family rooms plus dorms | Communal, plus kitchenettes | Budget, groups, hikers |
If you want just one recommendation, go for the apartments. They cost less than a hotel, the 2023 renovation has eliminated most of the reasons to pay the difference, and the kitchen adds value to an apartment in Montserrat.
How to book
All three are managed by L’Agrícola Regional, the same company that runs the restaurants and the shops at the sanctuary. That means one reservations desk for everything: +34 93 877 77 01, or reserves@larsa-montserrat.com.
- Book directly. The included rack-and-pinion train ride applies only to reservations made through the official website. Please note that this applies only to Hostal Abat Cisneros and Cel.les Abat Marcet.
- Book in advance for weekends and for the period from April through October. There are fewer than 500 beds between the hotel and the apartments, and since the mountain gets crowded every weekend, it’s best to plan ahead.
- Ask for a view room at the Hostal Abat Cisneros. Sixty-two of the eighty-two rooms overlook the mountain or the plaza, so there’s a good chance you’ll get one, and the experience is well worth it.
- Try the apartments first if the hotel says no. They have much more capacity.
- No pets at the hotel or the hostel.
Buy the combined card, not the individual tickets
An overnight stay changes the maths. Over two days you will use the rack railway or the cable car, the funiculars, the museum and probably the audiovisual space — and bought separately those add up fast. The combined cards bundle the lot into one ticket, and if your room already includes the rack railway you are only paying for what is left. Don’t forget the Montserrat Choir.
Choose a date to unlock pricing and full details for each option in Montserrat Mountain Card.
Check what your room rate already covers before you buy — the hotel and the apartments include the rack railway for the whole stay.
Hotels near Montserrat monastery: the four villages below
The mountain fills up more often than people expect, particularly on spring, summer and autumn weekends. At the foot of Montserrat lie the four villages—the four gateways to Montserrat — Monistrol de Montserrat, Collbató, El Bruc and Marganell . The difference between them lies not in price or charm, but in whether you can reach the mountain on foot, by public transportation, or by car.
The only rule to keep in mind is this: of the four towns, only Monistrol de Montserrat has public transportation to the monastery. From any of the other towns, you’ll need a car, but from Collbató, El Bruc, and Monistrol, you also have the option of walking up.
Monistrol de Montserrat — the only one with transport
This town, located right at the foot of the mountain on the banks of the Llobregat River, is the most obvious choice for those without a car. It has a station on the R5 line, served by trains from Barcelona. The rack-and-pinion train terminal is in Monistrol-Vila, which offers free parking for rack-and-pinion train riders and a small selection of hostels and guesthouses.
What you’re really buying here is the first departure of the morning. Staying in Monistrol means you can be in the square in front of the basilica (8:08 a.m.) before the first bus from Barcelona has even left the city (9:15 a.m.), which is very valuable. It’s a small town, so dining options are limited.
Collbató — the quiet side, and the walk up
Collbató is located on the southern slope, away from the railroad tracks and the bus route. There is no public transportation from here to the monastery, and that is precisely why it remains a peaceful and charming place.
Collbató is the historic route up the mountain. The old pilgrimage path leaves the village and climbs up the southern slope directly to the monastery, and even today you can walk it: about two hours of steady ascent along a route that led people to the Black Virgin centuries before any kind of railroad existed. Doing it on foot from lodging in the village offers a completely different experience than getting off the cable car along with hundreds of other people.
The village is also home to the Coves del Salnitre, the tourist caves located on the mountainside, which most visitors to Montserrat have never even heard of. If you have a car and are looking for a place to stay that offers a unique experience, this is the ideal spot.
El Bruc — for drivers on the A-2
On the southwest slope, right next to the highway exit. El Bruc is a small village full of charm and history. From its location, you have incredible views of the mountain, and fantastic trails leading to the monastery start from there. It has earned a place in Catalan history for the Battle of Bruc in 1808, when the local resistance forced Napoleon’s troops to retreat.
Marganell — and why it’s not the easiest option
The fourth village, on the northern side. It is included here only so you can rule it out: there is essentially no visitor accommodation, and no transport link to the monastery.
Further out, Manresa is a proper city on the same R5 line, with real hotels at prices well below both Montserrat and Barcelona, at the cost of a longer journey in each morning. And staying in Barcelona and coming out for the day remains the default for most visitors — our guide to getting to Montserrat from Barcelona compares every route on time, price and comfort.
A day trip from Barcelona is often the better answer
Be honest with yourself about what you’re looking for. If you wanted to sleep on the mountain to watch the sunrise and there’s no room, spending the night in a nearby town can also be a great option—if you have transportation. If not, stay at your hotel in Barcelona and head out for the day: a guided tour takes care of transportation, the line to enter the basilica, and coordinating the choir’s schedule—the three things that usually go wrong when you organize a visit on your own.
Every option compared on price, group size and what is actually included.
Staying overnight if you came to hike
This is the strongest argument for sleeping on the mountain, and it has nothing to do with the rooms.
The Sant Joan funicular doesn’t run at dawn, and the first train from Barcelona doesn’t take you to the monastery until mid-morning. In the summer, that means starting the climb to Sant Jeroni in full sun, on the busiest stretch of the mountain, with light that’s already less than ideal for taking photos. If you spend the night here, when you step out the door at first light, you’ll find a deserted trail.
The same is true at the end of the day. The views from the lookouts along the ridge are at their most spectacular in the hour before sunset—which is precisely when a day-tripper has to turn back and start worrying about catching the last rack railway train down. Spending the night here completely eliminates that time pressure.
If that’s why you’re coming, the apartments or the hostel are the right choice: both have kitchens, and an early breakfast will let you explore the mountain at a prime time. Our Montserrat hiking guide includes the trails, categorized by difficulty level, with a map to help you plan your route.
Is it worth staying overnight at Montserrat?
For most visitors, honestly, no. If Montserrat is one stop on a Barcelona city break and you want the basilica, the Black Madonna and a viewpoint, a day trip covers it comfortably and costs you nothing in hotel nights.
It becomes worth it in three cases. If you are hiking, for the reasons above. If you want to hear the boys’ choir at both of its daily performances rather than racing for one. And if you are the sort of traveller for whom the point of a place is what it feels like when the crowds have gone — because Montserrat after six in the evening is a genuinely different mountain from Montserrat at noon.
One practical caution before you commit: eating at Montserrat after dark is limited, and the shops and the supermarket close by eight. Plan the evening before you arrive.
Montserrat monastery hotel FAQ
Is there a hotel at Montserrat monastery?
Yes, there is one. The Hostal Abat Cisneros is the only Montserrat monastery hotel, a three-star establishment located in a building that has been welcoming pilgrims since 1563. It has 82 rooms and 153 beds, as well as an elevator and a restaurant, and 62 of the rooms offer views of the mountain or the plaza.
Can you stay overnight at Montserrat?
Yes. In addition to the hotel, there are the “Cel·les Abat Marcet,” 92 apartments with kitchens that can accommodate up to 260 people, and the “Alberg Abat Oliba,” a hostel with a private bathroom in every room. All three are located on the monastery grounds, very close to the basilica, and are managed by the same company.
Can you sleep in the monastery at Montserrat?
Not in the monastery buildings themselves, which are the private residences of the Benedictine community. The three guest accommodations are separate buildings located near the main square.
Does staying at Montserrat include the rack railway?
At Hostal Abat Cisneros and Cel·les Abat Marcet, yes: if you book through the official website, your stay includes rides on the rack railway, as well as free parking at the Monistrol-Vila station as a rack railway user.
Where can I find hotels near Montserrat monastery?
At the foot of the mountain are four towns: Monistrol de Montserrat, Collbató, El Bruc, and Marganell. Only Monistrol offers public transportation to the monastery via the rack-and-pinion train, so it’s the best option if you don’t have a car. To get to Collbató and El Bruc, the best option is by car or bus, and Marganell is the farthest away. Manresa, further north, is on the same R5 train line and offers the widest variety of hotels, although it’s even farther away.
Can you walk to Montserrat monastery from Collbató?
Yes. The historic pilgrimage route starts in Collbató and climbs up the southern slope directly to the monastery; the journey takes about two hours of steady climbing, depending on your pace. It is the oldest route connecting the town with the monastery and can be traveled on foot without needing a car.
How far in advance should I book a room at Montserrat?
As early as possible for weekends and for the season from April through October. There are fewer than 500 beds between the hotel and the apartments. If the hotel is fully booked, try the apartments first—they have more capacity.
Continue exploring Montserrat
If this guide helped you plan your visit, then it has done its job.
Sergio López Prieto · Local Montserrat Expert
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