annielou

Hi,
Any suggestions for a nice but affordable hotel walking distance to the Rambla? Will need one room 2 or 3 twins. Restaurant suggestions also greatly appreciated- tapas bars, seafood, anything good! Thanks

ThinGorjus

The Eurostar Crystal Palace is right off of the Passeig de Gracia and a short walk away from Las Ramblas.

I stayed at this hotel and loved the location. You can walk up the street to see La Pedrera. Lots of shopping and cafes on Passeig de Gracia.

The rooms at the front of the hotel are really great.

Thin

sobster

Restaurant=Cerveceria Catalana

Echnaton

Think twice if you really want to stay near Las Ramblas - it is a tacky tourist trap, very noisy, infested with pickpockets and the restaurants are terrible there (the kind with menus with photographs of non-Catalan dishes).

Barcelona is such a beautiful city with many charming neighbourhoods - why the heck do you want to stay at the least desirable place?

For hotel search, you might use www.hrs.de. Or try Hotwire.

alexislovesspain

we stayed at thr Hotel d'Arts .. in a high level corner room, with a view of the city out one side and a view of the Med. out the other.

We ate in the little plaza right across the street, great food. can't remember the name .. but it was on the ground floor and I think the second restaurant on the left. We were there before it got busy, as we had 2 small children with us.

Strolled las Ramblas during the day and the evening .. it was very nice, but I agree, I do not know if I would try hard to stay right in that location.

Enjoy

MFNYC

don't know what you consider affordable, but we likef the Inglaterra.

Restaurants:
Petra - Carrer de Sombrerers 13, funky place off the beaten path.
L'Oliva - Carrer Jovellanos 2, around the corner from Hotel Inglaterra. has great lunch deal.
Cerveceria Catalana - Carrer de Mallorca 236. Great tapas, hopping spot
El Gran Cafe - Carrer de Avinyó, 9
Senyor Parellada, adjacent to Banys Oriental hotel in Born area, C/ Argenteria, 35
Cafe Vienna - sandwich chain in various locations. A good place to pick up a sandwich to go.

cruiseluv

For some mysterious reason I have yet to comprehend many visitors consider Las Ramblas as the epicenter of Barcelona. I always try my best not to walk on it, the only time I do is to go to La Boquería market which is on it.

Check the Atrium Palace, sometimes they offer very competitive rates on their website. It's located near Passeig de Gracia and a few blocks from Plaza Catalunya.

annielou

Thank you all! Very thoughtful of all of you to relpy. The only reason we wanted to stay near the Rambla was because we stayed there about 10 years ago and loved the how lively the area was. What do yuo all consider the best area of town where they have good restaurants, shops and it's authentic Barcelona ?

yestravel

We just retrnned from Barcelona and agree that the Ramblas is not the place to stay -- packed with tacky tourist shops. We stayed in the El Born this trip and liked that area alot. We stayed in an apt right across from Senyor Parellada and loved the location and the Born area. We had 2 great meals at Senor Parellada - very good food and very reasonable.
Check out Maribel's guides for recommendations
http://www.maribelsguides.com/ - we used them extensivley and found them fantastic. She lists restaurants and hotels by area and budget.
Have fun!

mimipam

Any other comments on the Inglaterra? Maribels guides rec it and it looked good to me. It looked to be within walking distance to the Ramblas. They have a website. Do as yestravel rec and go on maribelsguides for good info. I am trusting that guide because of posts on Fodors. Going in July.
Happy travels!!!

MFNYC

We used Maribel's Guide for both hotel and restaurant references, but also cross-checked her recs with others. Tripadvisor has good recs for Inglaterra as well. The location is walking distance to almost everywhere, and also near metro stations. The breakfast (which may or may not be included depending on where/how you book) is very good as well. We booked through the hotel's website, and got the best rate there.

Echnaton

Authentic Barcelona is Barri Gotic, El Born and Eixample.

Barri Gotic is the old town (around the Cathedral), full of small shops.

El Born is young, trendy, full of bars and restaurants. Lively, but not tacky.

Eixample is also authentic, but more bourgeois and elegant.

My personal preference is El Born. Restaurants we liked in El Born:

- Cuines Santa Caterina is a food court in the historic market hall. Authentic, modern, inexpensive cuisine. Popular among the locals. http://www.barcelona.com/barcelona_d...santa_caterina

- Commerc24 is a cool place with innovative gourmet cuisine. High class, but young, casual ambiance. A tip from Maribel. http://www.comerc24.com/english/index.html

yestravel

We ate at Comerc24 and didn't find it esp young unless u count the 12-18 month old child who whined and cried the entire time we were there. She was with what looked like her grandparents....definitely high class and innovative though. We had the festival menu I believe, 7 courses of tapas and then desserts for 75€. U could also order ala carte, also pricey

annielou

Thank you all! We're looking to stay at Inglaterra hotel. It looks like it's close to every thing and in a good neighborhood. Thoughts or other recommendations?