loisco

We will be going to Barcelona in April (April 1) as part of a larger trip. I have been studying the Fodor threads and trip advisor about hotels and am more confused than ever.

1. I am still not sure which area to stay in. We like to wallk to restaurants and sights, but the Ramblas area sounds very noisy.

2. I am not sure which of the other areas would be walking distance to restaurants and sights.


3. Re ac. We have found in the past that we can turn it on if a room is noisy, but I am not sure the ac will be turned on by April 1.

I would appreciate any advice on hotel selection. We will be there a week or so so we would want a 3* Also where do I find Maribel's website.?..

Thanks.

jd_dallas

See http://www.maribelsguides.com/

Her guide to Barcelona is very useful, and it addresses several of your questions. There are also links to her reports about other cities and areas in Spain, and her advice is very reliable.

I would avoid staying directly on or within a block or two of Las Ramblas, but there are plenty of places within easy walking distance.

We found the Eixample area convenient and with quite a few good hotels and restaurants. We tend to walk a lot, and for us it was an easy trip to many of the sites we wanted to see.

jd

We stayed at the AC Diplomatic, and I would highly recommend it. It is a couple of blocks off of Las Ramblas,in a quieter area, but an easy walk to restaurants and sights. We had a room on the 10th floor, and there was no noise at all. The A/C worked great-don't know if it would be on in April. There is also a gym and an outdoor heated pool (rooftop).
A great and reasonable restaurant you can walk to is the Tapelia (www.tapelia.com) It is on Paseo de Gracia. Not much english spoken here, but the food is GREAT.

Kate_W

Like jd dallas, I recommend the Eixample district, north of the main part of Las Ramblas. It's a bit quieter (but still lively, an upscale neighbourhood with shops and restaurants), has amazing architecture, and I feel safer in it. The streets are less crowded, are generally wider and there seem to be fewer pickpockets.

I've stayed at the Hotel Astoria a few times and liked it. It's part of the Derby Hotels chain. There is another Derby Hotel a bit closer to the centre of things (but the Astoria is only a 15 minute walk away and close to a metro stop).

loisco

Thanks for all the help. It's coincidental but after hours of online study, I had chosen the AC Diplomatic on my own . The other I liked was the Apsis Atrium.

How much weight do the trip advisor reviews carry?..you know I keep reading that the Apsis rooms were too hot ...or too cold...and in fact heating and ac must be a problem all over because it's in a lot of posts on a lot of hotel advisor sites.

Anyway,...if we stay on a higher floor, it would seem the noise would be less. I also assume that we can change rooms if very unhappy. Normally I wouldn't even consider the noise problem but we ran into it in Paris.

Again..thanks. We leave March 31 so I have to book soon.

jd

I'm not familiar with the Apsis, but I can tell you that there is no noise issue at the AC Diplomatic. I don't think you would be disappointed with the location-its a really easy walk to the Las Ramblas. If you want pictures and more detail about the hotel I will email them to you if you want to leave your email address.

loisco

Thanks, but unfortunately they are booked for the April dates we are going. I like the Neri too so I will have to post about that one...

Voyager2006

We recently stayed at the Apsis Atrium in August...had one of the larger rooms fronting on the Gran Via w/balcony. NO noise problem whatsoevere despite the busy thoroughfare and the temp in the room was totally controllable and fine. two blocks to the Metro and Placa Catalunya..lots of shops and restaurants and El Corte Ingles nearby. Easy walk to Las Ramblas.

The Neri is deeper in the Gothic Quarter where we have also stayed (at the Maribel-dismissed Colon which we actually liked but I think you'd be happier in Exiample. I'd spring for one of the larger rooms at the A/C Diplomatic if you can afford it.