Barcelona hotel help: Astoria vs. Meson Castilla
 

I'm trying to keep the cost for the room, including breakfast, under 150 euros per night for 5 nights in July.<BR><BR>I have a reservation for Meson Castilla's double room with terrace (including breakfast) for 121 euros. And I see that I can get a reservation at the Astoria hotel for about 148 euros (126 euros for the room and 11 euros pp for breakfast).<BR><BR>I'd like to be comfortable but, this year, I am also trying to keep costs down. I'm interested in relative atmosphere AND location. For the money, which is better value? Which location is better? Which would you choose?

Paule -<BR><BR>I think it's mostly what your taste is re decor. The Astoria is more contemporary, while the Meson Castilla has a more of an &quot;old Spain&quot; ambiance. I personally would opt for the latter, because it seems more unique and I prefer smaller hotels, but this is your call.<BR><BR>Note that the Meson's rates for 2003 have increased, and the terrace rooms are now 129E (&quot;see 2003 prices&quot; on the lower corner of the rates page on their site). If you opt for the Astoria, I'd suggest going to a cafe down the street for breakfast, where you will only pay about 4E instead of 11, and maybe meet some locals.

Thanks, Leslie, I appreciate your response. Checking my confirmation, I see that it does say 129 euros, and that's still a pretty good price.<BR><BR>As far as location goes, is either better?

I'm actually planning my own first trip to Spain, so hopefully some experts will weigh in on the subject of location. <BR><BR>However, just looking at a map (the Lonely Planet laminated ones are great, with street indexes, a metro plan, and fairly good detail) I'd say that the Meson Castilla is considerably more central. It's quite near the Placa Universitat metro, and the Placa Catalunya (and its metro station), which is essentially the center of the tourist area. The Astoria is a good bit further west, with the two nearest metro stations being Diagonal and Hospital Clinic (both several blocks from the hotel.)

Meant to share this great website, which allows you to enter any address in Barcelona or Madrid and get a photo of the building! You also get a map, and have the ability to &quot;look&quot; across the street (at your view!) and &quot;walk&quot; up and down the street or around the corner to check out the neighborhood.<BR><BR>http://fotos.qdq.com/

Has anyone stayed in these places to give me a sense of the experience of the 2? <BR><BR>I thought that the Astoria was perhaps a little away from the center, but in the outer edges of the more upscale Eixample, and that sounds nice.

Paule -<BR><BR>If you have not already done so, text search each hotel name (w/out the word &quot;hotel&quot; and Spain - there are many postings here on both, favorable for each. I haven't stayed in either, but have considered them. It's my impression that the Astoria has more amenities/services, if that's important to you.