Hi all,
My first trip to Barcelona and second to Spain. I will be there 8 nights solo and am having a hard time finding a decent hotel near Plaza Catalunya and centre for around $150/night or less in second week of March. I don't want a hostel and I'd prefer a double room since I like my space.
I was considering an apartment but heard horror stories about holiday lets in Barcelona. Don't care much about nightlife and won't be out all hours. Any help would be appreciated.
I've mostly used booking.com for my two recent trips to Europe. You can choose Central Barcelona as your area and filter by price and qualities that are important to you.
I stayed at the Hotel Catalunya on C. Santa Anna this August. C. Santa Anna is about one block off Pl. Catalunya. It's a short but busy pedestrian street with shops and restaurants, but I heard no exterior noise at all because my room faced a sort of air shaft (I had that a lot in my budget hotel rooms). The hotel is extremely close to the Aerobus stop and the tourist office under Pl. Catalunya, and the Barri Gotic and Casa Batllo are both nearby (though in opposite directions). There's a two-floor supermarket on the Ramblas that's also not far away, and restaurants all over the place.
It's a two-star hotel, but in my experience two-star hotels in Spain are generally fine if you're looking for something functional rather than fancy. I had a single room and it was extraordinarily tiny (you can see what a big price difference there is between single and double rooms right now), so you'd definitely want to book a double. The elevator worked, the Wi-Fi worked, the a/c worked (not that you'll need it). The shower may have been small, but I'm so used to that that I just don't notice anymore.
An additional issue is that the hotel may try to charge you in dollars rather than euros, and you do not want that. So if you decide to try this place, address the issue up-front, via the Comments field when reserving and when you arrive at the hotel. Then check out on your last night if you have an early departure the next day so you have time to take a close look at the receipt when it is presented to you.
Careful: Booking.com is offering only non-refundable rooms at the hotel right now for the days I chose. Check the hotel's website to see whether you can do better. There are a lot of other pins on the map around Pl. Catalunya, so you do have some options.
I suspect that the length of your stay may be affecting room availability. It's something that concerns me when I'm expecting to stay more than 4 or 5 nights in one place.
Edited to add: It's a bit difficult to find the hotel's website, but eventually I succeeded.
I did a quick search for 2nd week of March and came up with...
http://www.hotelbrummell.com
http://www.yurbban.com/en
http://www.hoteleuropark.com/en/
Those all look like snazzier options than the Catalunya, that's for sure.
The Yurrban is the closest to Pl. Catalunya (a bit more than 1/3 mile) and also very near the Palau de la Musica Catalana. I don't know that precise area, but I assume it's fine.
The Europark is a bit less than a mile from Pl. Catalunya in an area I walked through at least once. It's solidly middle class (or upper middle class) residential, though I don't think you're ever more than two or three blocks from a restaurant. This hotel is quite a bit farther from the Barri Gotic than the Yurrban, though still just a bit over one mile from the Picasso Museum. It positions you well for seeing quite a lot of modernista buildings.
The Brummell is much farther from Pl. Catalunya and in a position that might involve walking through a not-terribly-gentrified area to reach the Ramblas. I did that often, by myself, but I'm a big-city gal. Heather, since you brought up the point of being a solo female traveler, I suspect you might not be comfortable with walking through some parts of El Raval. I'd choose one of the other options.
The NH Centro Barcelona is about a 5-7 minute walk to Plaza Cataluyna. It was the hotel used by the RS Spain My Way Tour that I took in October. Traveled solo and arrived in Barcelona 4 nights before the tour started because I had a long list of activities I wanted to accomplish. Booked what I believe was called a standard double. Nice-size room, particularly when you consider the smaller size of Euro hotel rooms. The bathroom was small, but perfectly fine and everything was spotless clean. The breakfast was very good and included in the rate. Lots of eating places and shopping between the hotel and Plaza Cataluyna. Easy metro access at Plaza Cataluyna.
As I recall, I paid approximately $140-150 per night. I found it very comfortable and affordable and suited me very well.
Hi Heather --
I was in Barcelona few weeks ago and stayed at the Hotel Continental Barcelona, which is at the top of the Ramblas and a few steps off the Placa Catalunya.
It was very clean and comfortable, and had both a small frig and TV in the room. Breakfast (pretty decent) was included in the price. (There is also 24 hour snack buffet which some might find helpful.)
The room was a bit gaudy (not Gaudi!) but it really was okay for me for the price. I was also traveling alone and I think I paid about 75 Euro per night. (You'll have to check for March.)
The staff was very friendly and helpful with bus routes and the like.
Happy travels!
SharYn
I stayed at the Hotel Europark in April and loved it. In April, we booked their penthouse and it was unbelievable. One of our top rooms in Europe. It was 190 Euros for a night. I got to split it so it was a pretty affordable splurge. They have smaller rooms and you could easily pay under $100 per night there. Breakfast is hearty and excellent. I liked the location - away from the hubbub but totally nice.
