As the car broke free from the Barcelona traffic and gathered pace towards my destination, I glanced out the window as the signs whizzed past and was struck by a sense of deja vu. Pineda de Mar… Lloret de Mar… these were names that evoked memories of my first-ever foreign holiday, aged nine.

Back then, it took two days for my family to reach Spain’s Costa Brava by ferry, train and coach but now it was just a short flight and hour-long transfer to reach my base camp – regional grande dame Hostal de la Gavina in S’Agaro, near Girona.

From here I would sample the hotel’s new Gastronomy Route package, taking in meals at three top-class restaurants (including a Michelin-star experience) plus a wine tasting at a local vineyard, while enjoying all the benefits of the property’s beautiful coastal setting.

Star quality

Opened in 1932, originally as a private guest house, the property quickly became one of the premier hotels in the region, and over the following decades has welcomed showbiz guests including Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery, Monserrat Caballe, Shakira and Lady Gaga as well as royalty and heads of state.

There’s a range of 76 eclectic rooms and suites on offer, from a classic with terrace and superior with sea view right through to the expansive family residence and opulent Louis XV suite. Decor in the rooms is just as grand, whether it’s Mediterranean, Elizabethan or Imperial in style, while public areas on each of the hotel’s three floors are themed with artwork and artefacts collected by owners the Ensesa family during their travels around the world.

Haute cuisine

So far, so glamorous… but my true mission here was the Gastronomy Route, which aims to give a taster, literally, of the top-class cuisine for which the Girona region is quickly gaining a reputation.

Hostal de la Gavina sales and marketing director Christian Kirschner explained what inspired this new package. “The Gastronomy Route has been designed to reflect the exceptional cuisine and wine cellars of the Costa Brava-Girona region, as many of our guests have been enquiring about the best local experiences available.”

And I didn’t have far to go for the first stop on my culinary quest – down one flight of stairs, in fact, to the hotel’s signature restaurant Candlelight, where a sumptuous multi-course tasting menu was paired with wines from the impressive cellar.

Candlelight is overseen by Michelin-starred chef Romain Fornell, with up-and-coming local talent Oriol Fernandez running day-to-day operations. Fine dining, indeed, with a Michelin star surely not far on the horizon.

Other options at the property include lunch venue Garbi, where a selection of lighter dishes can be enjoyed in a prime spot overlooking the Insta-worthy saltwater swimming pool, or the Gavina Terrace for tapas, snacks and drinks.

Local knowledge

The culinary discoveries continued the next day as Marc Gronkel, founder of Girona Food Tours, showed me around this beautiful city (around a 40-minute drive from the hotel), highlighting local specialities including Xuixo, a deep-fried pastry with custard filling that I washed down with a traditional cortado coffee (gironafoodtours.com, from €85pp).

To walk off the calories, we traversed the medieval quarter to learn its history, sample jamon iberico and cheese at boutique delicatessens, and explore the city’s main food market. Although not included in the Gastronomy Route package, it’s an add-on that can organised by Hostal de la Gavina, and one I’d highly recommend.

Famous sons

The city’s obsession with food has also given rise to a multitude of talented culinary professionals, none more renowned than the Roca brothers – Joan, Josep and Jordi – whose El Celler de Can Roca was the first restaurant in Girona to receive a Michelin star in 1995 and has since garnered two more.

One of the highlights of Hostal de la Gavina’s Gastronomy Route takes in the talented trio’s latest project high in the hills surrounding the city. Created within an abandoned 19th-century fortress, and featuring a wine cellar housing 80,000 bottles, Esperit Roca is part one-star Michelin restaurant, part hotel and part shrine to the achievements of the brothers.

It’s hard to get a reservation here, but Hostal de la Gavina’s unique collaboration with Esperit Roca ensures Gastronomy Route clients will take their place at a dining table bursting with innovative ideas and interpretations of the iconic dishes served at El Celler.

My eight-course tasting menu began with an appetiser of five hors d’oeuvres celebrating flavours of the world, served on metal arms emanating from a globe. The theatre continued throughout a series of quirky, delicious dishes including a marine plankton mousse with enoki mushrooms and asparagus, and a sweet course of beet paste, death trumpet mushroom ice cream and a distillate styled into a cloud of bubbles that burst and dripped onto the exquisite dessert. It was a feast for all the senses, and an experience your clients will thank you for recommending.