Hi I know there are a lot of advise in previous postings about hotels in Barcelona but I am a little at lost, which hotel for the end of November ?<BR>Like a 3 to 4 stars, a nice one but not terribly expensive,.....?<BR>I am surprised that the Colon charges only 145 for some days and 180 on Saturday... this is for a regular double room, has anyone stayed in their regular doubles or is it mandatory to ask for the superior ones in the case of the Colon...<BR>Will appreciate some help,...<BR><BR>

Hi Graziella<BR><BR>I recommend the Avenida Palace, a very European 4 star hotel. It's got a great location right near the Ramblas and the Picasso Museum. I found it to be very clean and the Breakfast Buffet is huge. You may also like the Royal Hotel near Plaza de Cataluna.<BR>

You might try looking on Banchotel.com. I haven't used it myself, but some people at Fodor's have and have been happy with it. Let us know what you decide and how it turns out. Have a great trip.

Correction--that should be BANCOTEL.com

Graziella,<BR>s quite impressed by the H10 Gravina, and I think you'd really like it. I've posted about it several times, if you'd like to pull up my long description. You should be able to book it for under 145 in Nov. It's quite sharp, spiffy, pretty and well run with young, friendly staff. I know you enjoyed the H10 Villa de la Reina in Madrid, so I'm confident you'd like this one.<BR>This summer we stayed in the Gravina first, then when we returned to Bcn, we tried the Derby Astoria (a classic, Art Deco, older hotel, a cheaper sister to the Balmes and Claris), up next to the Diagonal and 3 blocks from the Passeig de Gracia, The Astoria has a classy, snazzier, more upscale location, near the designer shopping, but I actually liked the H10 as a hotel a bit more. We snagged an incredible 114 euro double rate, including buffet brk. at the Astoria (brk was even nicer at the H10 though). Check www.derbyhotels.es<BR><BR>The advantage to the Astoria is the proximity to great restaurants/tapas bars, like the extremely popular El Trovador next door, the new Paco Meralgo (great "raciones" that make a 4 star meal), Maria Cristina (lovely, exquisite presentation and service) and El Principal (ditto), a new member of the Tragaluz group.<BR><BR>The H10's advantage is that it's easier walking to the Ramblas and Barri Gotic (where I personally prefer not to sleep, even at the lovely Colon, where I'd want one of those exp rooms with balcony facing the Cathedral).<BR><BR>I can't find a 1-2 coupon, 100 euro Bancotel property in Bcn that I can get excited about and recommend enthusiastically. We've tried the Husa L'Illa, but the location isn't handy for touring.<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR>Maribel