Listed as a three-star, but not sure why (price per night?) Basically I feel this is a two-star with slightly larger rooms from what I can tell. We stayed for one night on our way back from a two-week Spain vacation. Great location if you have only limited time in Barcelona (1-2 days.) Lots of excitement and energy in the neighborhood, located on a cross street connecting the Ramblas and another major shopping street. It is very clean, nice Art Nouveau building and lobby, modern bathroom (though ours was small), we had a quiet room (at night) on a side alley, at least three very good bakery/coffee shop breakfast options on the same block.
On the negative side: thought they have an indifferent staff, thin walls, noisy plumbing from above rooms, and we found roaches in our room (location is in the middle of a dense neighborhood with many bars, restaurants, and hotels - so maybe not the hotels 'fault'), loud ongoing construction during the day (OK, fine on that one as you are out of the room hopefully enjoying this great city), a la carte amenities menu: pay for internet, pay for remote control, pay for safe (we thought it was unusual for a 'three-star' to charge for these incidental services these days.)
There are probably better options in this city; especially if staying longer than two days. We spent two weeks in Spain, mostly using the RS Spain Guide as a main source. From hundreds of helpful hints and recommendations provided in that book, this hotel is the only 'miss' we had in two weeks because we were expecting more from a three-star; but honestly the place did grow on us the longer we were there, and with lower expectations.
On our arrival in Spain we stayed at Hotel Jazz for three nights; an excellent choice that is not found in the RS Guide, but spoken of highly in these and other review Forums. Decided to try Nouvel on our last night in Spain.