Options for getting to town when arriving at BCN at 11pm

Having never been to Barcelona my opinion may not be relevant, but if it were me (and I've been in similar situations in other big cities) I would trust the hotel's advice. They have nothing to gain by telling you it's safe if it isn't. If in doubt, spend a little more and take a taxi. Your comfort level is more important than a few $$.

El Prat (de Llobregat) is where the airport is located. A taxi would be far more convenient and reasonably inexpensive.

+1 David's suggestion.

Important: note the minimum fare for a taxi departing the airport is 20€... should the meter indicate less on arriving at the hotel (inc. all additional charges) -and if the hotel is in El Prat, where the airport is also located, that might be the case- the driver will charge 20€. That's perfectly legal. So you know

(Fares for 2017)

Thanks for your advice, which mirrors our thinking. We have about 6 weeks to decide but we keep going back and forth. In checking TaxiFareFinder, it seems the rate from the airport to the hotel after 8pm would be about 29Euro. Guess we'll wait and see how we feel when we arrive.

Thanks, again!

Which hotel would that be, if I may ask? (not trying to intrude, just to guess-confirm your thought)

Enric - Hostal Cal Siles, Calle Crta.de l'Aviacio, 34-36 El Prat de Llobregat. We will be leaving early the next morning for Cordoba and it seems easy to get to Sants from there. At least we hope so!

There's a far easier and cheaper way to your hotel darling :)).... simply catch the metro L9S (orange) at the airport and stop at Cèntric (3 or 4 stops away). It's the only metro line at the airport... there's no confusion. Ticket for the metro is 4.50€ p.p (because it's departing from the airport, otherwise it'd be 2.15€ for a single ticket, or 0.95€ if a T-10 travelcard was used) ... in any case much cheaper than a taxi -which will indeed charge you at least 20€. For info, metro is perfectly safe, clean, very comfy and very convenient. Your hotel is just 50 yards (yes, 50!) from the metro stop: http://bit.ly/2mdjBvS This is the metro schedule: https://www.tmb.cat/en/barcelona/operating-hours-metro-bus should you arrive too late for it, then I'd stick to the taxi, or, if you prefer N16 or N17, the bus departs every 15' or so from the airport, and it'll take say 20' give or take to the hotel.

Thanks, Enric! Our plane arrives at 11pm and we were not sure (and have not really checked :(, shame on us. We just thought our best options were the bus suggested by the hotel or taxi. I see the metro runs until midnight so we'll have to wait until we actually arrive and get our luggage to see if it will still be running. Thanks, again!

That's good to know Enric, and why local insight makes this Forum so valuable. One would automatically react by thinking the driver is 'ripping me off'.

... psss David, I already put my foot in my mouth once in a heated argument with a taxi driver for this... and then he pointed me to the small print on the official fares -which are displayed on a big sticker located on the inside lateral windows of the taxis, for the passengers to easily see and, supposedly, to R-E-A-D... which I hadn't done!

Carol = Catchum at CruiseCritic?

Enric - if you're asking if I'm someone else somewhere else - no. Not clever, or devious, enough to come up with catchy names :)

... someone mentioning the same hotel, which is not a usual choice, I thought I'd be you :))

Wow, quite a coincidence.

Doesn't say much for the chances of us mere mortals to be aware of the detail if Enric is not up to speed. Fortunately I can't remember the last time I wasn't picked up at El Prat. In fact it's a running joke when I ALWAYS head to the drivers side (our passenger side) of my friends car.