Hi, I am looking to visit Barcelona last weekend in April (with my two friends) and want to stay in a good area close to everything, good restaurants, cafes, bars, shopping, possibly the beach. please can you recommend as I am a little unsure. Also, will the weather be OK at this time?
Thanks.

The weather is usually very nice in April and on a sunny day you can go to the beach. Many even brave the sea. Barcelona is fairly compact, look in the Eixample and Barri Gotic.

Let me know if you would like my Barcelona doc. It's about 4/5 pages and covers places we've stayed at and eaten at.

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I would suggest the bustling El Born area with fabulous bars, restaurants and close to "everything" (Picasso museum, historical museum, Cathedral, the beautiful Santa María del Mar church, the famous Boquería food market, the Ciutadella park etc). 10 mins walk to both Plaza Catalunya and the Barceloneta beach.
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.c...s/el-born.html

Why did you tag this question ALSO with Greece, Italy & Portugal? ????

I have been there four times and have stayed in different neighborhoods each time. I suggest the B-hotel http://www.nnhotels.com/en/bhotel/index.php
because it is a) affordable (check their website for deals) b) very stylish, clean, and comfy and c) has an EXCELLENT lcation for getting around. The aerobus to the airport is practically across the street and it is right on Placa Espanya, which makes connections to everywhere else in the city really easy. It is also not far from Sants, the main train station.

I stayed there in April 2009. Went back to Barcelona in Spet 2010 and tried out a different hotel in the Sants area and wished I had gone back to the B!!!

I'm also going to Barcelona for the first time and am looking to stay in El Born. We are traveling with two teens and I'd like to get them their own room, so i'm looking at rooms for not much over $100 each/night.

kimhe: I tried your link, and the hotel guide comes up with zero hotels in Born? Can that be correct?

usernameistaken: B-hotel looks great, as do the prices. What area is this considered?

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to check out El Born and Eixample and hopefully find some nice hotels. Sorry for tagging extra areas, this is my first one and thought it said if I tagged more places I would get more replies. Noted for future. Thanks for the links also, v.v.helpful

Lots of hotels and apartments for rent in the Born area. Banys Orientals is one good option: http://www.hotelbanysorientals.com/en/index.html