Any suggestions for reasonable room?
just got back from spain march 26, spent three days in barcelona. i stayed at Hosteria Grau. super location near the ramblas, very clean and tidy, staff is great. cool bar next door that is part of the hotel. very reasonable. good metro connectivity. the metro in barcelona and madrid is incredible. have fun, be safe.
Barcelona is the only place where I didn't use the suggestions from RS' 2010 book. I wanted to stay in an apartment and went to Friendly Rentals.com. They have a lot of variety, you might want to take a look.
I also suggest friendlyrentals.com, if you are sharing with others, you could get an apartment in a good location, for cheaper than a room in a hotel.
Jo:
We stayed at the Hotel Continental Barcelona. It's nothing special, but the location is super - right on La Rambla, next to a metro stop and a short walk to the bus station to catch the airport bus.
I wrote a review and posted a couple of photos at http://bit.ly/cftV5k
Hope this helps. BCN is a neat city. You'll have a great time. Be sure to try the pailla at Les Quinze Nits in Placa Reial.
Charlie
NOTE: I've not been there yet, but I'm going in August and did some somewhat exhaustive research--using multiple guide books as well as google maps (using 'street view' to see what the neighborhood looked like--i'm traveling alone) and tripadvisor (I like traveler opinions and actual traveler pics) and I narrowed it down to the following:(please note that a hostal is not a hostel)
Hostal Residencia Neutral--$57/night single room shared bath or $90/night single room en suite
Caledonian--$70/night on Expedia, single room en suite
Hotel Peninsular--$82/night single room en suite
Hotel Barcelona Princess--$84/night on Expedia, really really nice hotel away from city center but on beach.
I booked at the Caledonian based on a combination of location and privacy and price.
If you'd like more info on these, I took (insane, OCD-fuled) notes, and I'd be happy to send them to you. Best of luck to you--I'd love to hear how your trip goes! I'm super excited about Barcelona, as I'm sure you are, too.
I stayed at the new W Hotel in Barcelona and really enjoyed it. The building is new and it's right on the beach, so it's perfect for warm weather days. Here's a write-up of it with more detail: http://www.visitingeu.com/western-europe/spain/2009/08/w-hotel-barcelona.html