Barcelona Hotel Recs

I thought there was a thread on this topic some time ago, but a search turned up only a reference here and there on Barcelona hotels. Any and all recs appreciated. As always, thanks in advance!

Last year we stayed at Le Meridien on La Rambla. La Rambla, Barcelona - Wikipedia The hotel is located right in the heart of the action. Marriott Bonvoy Hotels | Book Directly & Get Exclusive Rates

Last year, we stayed a couple nights in a boutique hotel called Hotel Sixty Two in Passeig de Gracia area. Just a 10 minutes walk from Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas. Hotel was very clean, quiet, complete with all modern amenities, located around very good shopping in Barcelona and, most important for us, it was not in the thick of things of the very busy and sometimes crazy Las Ramblas.

There was complimentary early evening wines from Priorat and Penedes.

Camper Hotel, one of our fav’s anywhere. Great, big, rooms, modern, balconies, hammock in room, separate bedroom, beautiful bath, fun and helpful staff. Great value, very good location just a short walk to La Ramblas and the Plaza.

I’ve had good experiences at the Colon and the Majestic. Two very different neighborhoods—the Colon is a bustling area near a large public square, the Majestic on the main high-end shopping drag.

I like the Majestic. It is on the Paseig de Gracia amongst several Gaudi buildings and a 10 minute walk (or 5 minute subway ride) to the Gothic Quarter. I’ve stayed there twice and like it quite a bit. I’ve also stayed at the Claris a couple of blocks away and like it, too, but not as much as the Majestic. My preference is to be a short walk to/from Las Ramblas, rather than living on it. YMMV.

I didn’t stay there, but if you want the best 5 start accommodations with a great location, I would suggest Casa Fuster.

We stayed at the Hotel Claris, which was fine and a great location, but Casa Fuster would be where I would stay next time.

My advice is avoid Las Ramblas. Personally, I hated the place and thought it a tacky tourist trap. There are great areas all around it, but avoid it if you can.

Not a bad idea to avoid Las Ramblas, but don’t miss La Boqueria marketplace adjacent to it.

We stayed at the Hotel Tryp Apolo. Good rates, nice rooms, helpful staff, and location was pretty good - but most importantly was almost on top of a metro staion, which we used constantly.

Cheers,
Andrew

My wife and I stayed at Condes de Barcelona in 2003, and it was terrific. Well located, very comfortable, and a view of La Pedrera from our room. If it matters, it also was not hard to find good room rates with a little searching. Here is the link:

My sense is that there many great choices in Barcelona, but this is the one I know and it was great.

Have fun!

I have stayed at Le Meridien, too. Quite servicable. I liked the location

I have stayed in all of these hotels (all of them multiple times) and have ranked them in order of my personal preference.

ABaC Barcelona is a very interesting hotel with one of the finest restaurants in the city. It is a small, modern, 5 star hotel that is about 10 n- 15 minutes outside of the city center but in a lovely neighborhood near Gaudi’s park. I highly recommend it if you are looking for an exclusive, unique experience. First rate.

Hotel Arts is on the waterfront and is a fantastic larger hotel with great service and some nice restaurants as well. The club level near the top of the hotel is an awesome amenity. I have also seen some amazing apartments/rooms at the top of this hotel with outdoor terraces that are spectacular. Not sure these are available or if they are they would be astronomically expensive.

Hotel Omm is modern in a good downtown location. Nice rooms and good service.

Le Meridien is a “corporate” hotel right on/around the corner from Ramblas. It is OK but nowhere near the quality (and price) of the others.

Have a great time. I love this city.

Camper Hotel, one of our fav’s anywhere.

We really enjoyed our stay in Barcelona in October- we opted to rent an apartment in the El Born/Ciutat Vella area- and we loved the 4 days we were there. Was a great location, nice terrace etc. Very easy walk to the old section of the city and Picasso museum. We used taxis to get around when not walking. Loved Barca!! Oh - and a quick walk to Cal Pep- where we ate twice!

http://www.blackandwhitehome.com/apartment.asp?Id0=3&Id1=71#

+2 for Boqueria… its a must do (go eat at counter in the back for lunch. Universal is great.)

For me Cal Pep was one of my best meals, worth waiting on line, and if you can sit infront of him, talk him up and let him pick stuff.
I like the Hotel Omm but the highly rated restaurant Moo was a big, overpriced let down. Really liked the bar though… worth a drink.
We stayed at Hotel D’Arts and liked it very much. On the beach, away from the sleeze of Ramblas.

Also I liked Cerveceria for their fried artichokes… could have eaten them every day.

The Picasso Museum and Segrada Familia were also really great.

I liked the Hotel Majestic. Nice hotel, killer location, not too pricey, and as others said, I’d rather not be on La Rambla if possible.

Another great one for breakfast/lunch is the Pinotxo counter near the front (just to the right as you enter), where you’ll be greeted by the amazing Juanito Bayams. He’ll pull you a cortado and snip you a xuixos, or go for the chipirones and mongetes with a glass of cave (great breakfast food!). Here’s a forward Gerry Dawes wrote for a book about La Boqueria: http://www.gerrydawesspain.com/2011/10/foreword-by-gerry-dawes-for-english.html

If you’re as blown away as most by the incredible display of seafood, you should definitely hit up Cal Pep. Or if the idea of having to wait in a possibly very long line - or eat as queue’d-up eaters salivate on your shoulders - doesn’t strike your fancy, make a reservation instead at Passadis del Pep for a multi-course seminar in cocina de mercado (market cuisine). It’s not as hard to find as some say, on a major square in El Born, down a passageway right next to a La Caixa ATM machine. There’s no menu, so expect an 8-9 course dinner starting with a bottle of cava, and possibly some jamon, anchovies, and pa amb tomaquet. Then begins a continuous flow of abundance, a succession of individual seafood dishes like pescadito frito, arroz de chipirones, cigalas encebolladas, gambas de palamos, caracoles de mar, almejas, espardeñas (sea cucumbers), or cañaíllas (sea snail), all very delicately prepared so that the natural flavor is featured. After that culinary orgy, you’ll be asked to choose between surf or turf for your main course. For us, it was bogavante lobster (not the spiny mediterranean kind, but the ones with claws from the Bay of Biscay) - I believe the turf was a lamb dish (but, seriously, you come here for seafood). For dessert, you might go with the classic crema Catalane (like crème brulee) - we had one with strawberries - and they’ll array a selection of after dinner drinks in bottles with chilled shot glasses. And probably cookies.

Hotel Colon has a half dozen rooms with nice sized terraces overlooking the square at the old cathedral. A nice set up if you Han get them

Funny on our first day in Barca- we have lunch at Cal Pep(wait about an hour or so…with a couple glasses of Cava while standing and salivating) and dinner at Passadis del Pep. Loved the dinner- but we had beef at the end, was a bit seafooded out. And maybe one or two too many after dinner drinks…was great fun and very good. Oh and about a 4 hour dinner- got there at 9 and left at 1.

We stayed at the Claris and liked it a lot. Good rooftop bar. Next time we want to try the Majestic, which is two blocks away. A better rooftop bar.