Barcelona Hotel Help Please

You can use Google Maps to see how far the hotel is to the sites of particular interest to you. Click on Directions and select your preferred mode of transport (walking vs. public transportation) near the top.

I'm not familiar with the exact location of that hotel, but it's relatively close to where I stayed in 2016, and I thought the area was fine. There have been recent reports of an increase in street crime in the Barri Gotic, so I hope someone more familiar with the city will comment.

I stayed about two minutes away (walking) according to Google Maps, at the Hotel Colon. There were sites and restaurants within walking distance but not the most famous Gaudi buildings.

Barcelona is large(ish) but "compact". Nothing is "too far" from everything else, be on foot, be via public transport (yeah, we use these here, and they're perfectly all right, safe, clean, etc. LOL!)

Another characteristic of most European capitals is that there aren't many "residential-only" areas per se within the city limits if any at all. All neighbourhoods are a mix of commercial+residential therefore all of them have shops, restaurants, etc.

In fact, in the case of some cities, like Barcelona, many of today's neighbourhoods were existing towns that were "absorbed" as the city grew. In many cases, these towns dated several hundred years back, thus, they already had a web of shops, restaurants and other services.

Equally, sights and museums and other places frequented by tourists tend to be spread across several neighbourhoods of the city, which demands to move from one to another if you want to see them.

Lastly, also a tip from visitors from some US states: prepare to walk from A to B, and occasionally to take the metro, bus or tramway. Forget cars while in the city: traffic is horrible, parking is expensive and difficult to find, some neighbourhoods are semi-pedestrianised, etc...

Tip: in Barcelona, as in many other large cities in Europe (ie Paris, Brussels...), the lower the zip code, the more central. Thus for Barcelona, 08001 is "the heart" of the Old City.

I have not stayed there, but I've learned to use hotel booking sites to check the user reviews. This is what I do -- I decide what kinds of things are necessary, what is important, and what is desirable. For example, if we travel in the summer in Spain, we need air conditioning. We also like to sleep, so sound proofing is also necessary. Important is location. We would like to be near the sights. Desirable is a pool, a bar/restaurant. Oh, of course cost is important. We don't budge on necessary. Important things are a little negotiable. And we can do with desirable things if the other stuff is there. Do your research. One time in Mallorca we ended up in a large hotel that catered to partying teenagers. It was noisy, had no air conditioning and was not at all close to Palma city center. We spent one night, then spent a good portion of the next day trying to find a new hotel. We found it, but had to forfeit the money we paid for the loud place. Good luck! Buena suerte!!