Wait, I don't know about Virtuoso! More details, please!
And I thought I was the winner for the most obsessing. I'm currently obsessing about itinerary, what to DO, when to DO it. (While still obsessing about where to stay).
Alice

My trip is three weeks away and besides obsessing about the packing, I'm getting was of anxiety about getting robbed. Never, ever, did I worry about this on any previous trip. I think I've read too much nonsense about Barcelona.

Ok, Virtuoso. You book with a Virtuoso agent; they only have selected hotels in a limited amount of locations. In Barcelona they have ten hotels, I think, and Majestic is one of them. You will not pay less if you use them, but you will get a free breakfast at the hotel, upgrade, early check-in and late check-out IF available. Plus $100 credit to use for things within the hotel, like food. You can find agents online, but the one I've been using is this person (below). I learned about this on the forum years go when planning a trip to Japan. I don't ask the agent to plan anything, or give me any advice--I only use her for hotels..

I will say that when I tried to book the MAJESTIC, their online site showed no availability for the night of my arrival because, as I learned, there is a big convention in the city. But the Virtuoso agent, Linda, was able to get me a room for that night....

Here is the info:

https://www.theluxurytravelgroup.com...terrill-luxury

Virtuoso hotels in Barcelona:


https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/luxu...t=HotelNameAsc

I'm already obsessing about being robbed, but you're right, it's in the press too much. We're just going to Florida for a week IN a week and I'm already obsessing about packing. My husband never takes more than 2 hours, but that's a whole different story.

I looked at Virtuoso, the prices are a LOT higher!

I have, at least for now, booked a 2 bedroom apartment that's cancellable, and of course, will keep looking. My husband thought the Majestic wasn't worth the cost (looked pretty nice to ME).

Wait...the Virtuoso prices are higher than what??? I'm surprised, because I always found that they were the same as the rack rate on the hotel websites. But I've not used them all that many times..maybe ten/twelve times total..

Your husband takes two hours to pack? The man here does it in even less time--I think 20 minutes, but then I have to take it all out and fold everything and make sure the tops go okay with the pants, etc. AND I am the one who packs all the bathroom stuff, the cables, etc.

Me? I begin taking things out up to three weeks before leaving home. Pile all the "maybe" clothes on the sofa, plus all the bottles of vitamins, perscription stuff, and many, many "what if this happens" like BandAids, antibiotic ointment, Benadryl, antibiotics for respiratory infections, anti-itch cream,on and on... I'm getting overwhelmed just writing this, and now Jeopardy is on (7:30pm in Florida)

Quite higher than the rack rate at the Majestic, at least for the junior suite I was looking at. I was surprised. Maybe because I'm going in high season?

Alice!! Can you imagine this? I was lying on the table at physical therapy an hour ago and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I remembered something: I had seen the same difference in prices at the Majestic that you mentioned. And I remembered that I immediately e-mailed Linda, the Virtuoso agent, to ask about this--"why are your prices higher than the on the hotel's website??' She (Linda Terrill) told me that the Virtuoso prices included fees like tourist tax, hotel tax, etc...and that the hotel's site did not include those, but that they would show up wifi I went ahead and booked directly with the hotel. I did a sample booking, and she was correct...

Apart from all this, I'm sure the apartment will be great, and it should be a lot less $$$ than a large suite at the hotel...

I just checked my confirmation and i am booked into. "Deluxe City View" room. (This seems to be the second-lowest price option and Ii just looked again at the photos--the room looks VERY small, but it's only me, and I can always hope for that Virtuoso upgrade) If you would like, I could ask to take a look at one of their suites...let me know exactly which one you might consider....

(

Well! That makes sense. I think booking.com DOES include those fees. That being said, if it was just me, I'd book at the Majestic, but since I need to accommodate 2 different sleeping schedules, I'm going to stick with an apartment. The Junior Suite looked like there were doors between the bedroom and the small living area, but the difference in price between that and the apartment is a LOT. Of course, I will keep looking at apartments because I do obsess for no good reason about this...

Funny that you didn't remember right away! My brain does that more and more.

I'm a little worried about noise at the hotel. I emailed them directly and they didn't promise anything. So I will bring my earplugs and white noise app and - continue to look. When we were in Normandy 2 years ago, I found a cute LITTLE Airbnb that was set back from the road on a separate property that was quiet as a tomb. Little, but my husband could go downstairs in the morning while I slept in. Right off the main road. I don't think I'm going to find anything remotely similar here.

I w

Alice!!! You never posted photos of the apartment!! (I can't give an opinion, but would love to just look at the photos if you don't mind posting a link...)

So as if my anxiety was not bad enough, Maribel just sent me a report about all of the road closings due to floods and rain that are centered around the area that I will visit after Barcelona....

ekscrunchy - take a look Haven't had time to do any more looking and we leave for Florida on Saturday so I probably won't (well I might while I'm IN Florida...). Let me know what you think. I think it's a little TOO central and I always worry about noise.







LOOKS okay, anyway.
Alice

Alice!! It looks great! If I wanted an apartment, I would not hesitate to book this one. Did you put the address somewhere? What is the street and cross street? The noise that sometimes bothers me in Europe is the sound of the early morning garbage trucks....but that would take place almost anywhere, and maybe even more likely in apartments that do NOT face the Main Street. But I'm a pretty good sleeper. And I always travel with an eye mask. I wear an eye mask every night at home, too, because light always wake me up...

I travel with an eye mask and ear plugs. I requested a room that faces IN and on a higher floor AND away from the elevator. But they said it was too early for requests, so I'll just keep bothering them every once in a while.
I don't have the address right now, busy getting ready for Florida. It's on Paseo de Gracias, but that's a LONG street, I don't remember the cross street. All the reviews mentioned a great location, ALMOST no complaints about noise, apparently the sleep sofa in the one bedroom is uncomfortable, some issues LAST year with water temperature. But I agree, it looks pretty good.
Okay, I need to cancel the papers, start filling my little travel bottles, etc. Travel in the US is easy. When we travel overseas, I have lots of extras of my drugs and a big bag of 'in case I get sick' drugs, inhalers etc. In the US I can get whatever I need. Tomorrow is the day for finding my warm weather clothes and then laying out way too many and then taking things OUT. And shoes, shoes are always a problem. Oh and a small knitting project.
Alice

You sound so. much like me!!! I just got my international drivers license. When I left NYC, I packed a suitcase for Spain and it's been sitting here in Florida, unpacked. I have to hoist it up, open it, and the out everything I packed, to try to whittle down the contents. I know I packed way too much, but the chore of eliminating makes me so anxious, I just want to put it off until the next day..and the next... I've sorted most of the medicine and supplements....I put them into bottles and label them myself...but even so, there is one giant zip-loc bag full of little bottles...I really, really need to leave some of that at home....

And then there is the reading material. I used to bring bout ten books, but this year, I began taking eBooks from the library...but I do't have say over when those will come due, so I still need to bring about 5 books.... on and on and on...

My book club met last night and I downloaded the new book onto my Kindle. And I bring New Yorkers I haven't read and can throw away after I do. Again, Florida is easy, Barcelona will be harder. I think the small knitting project will be a pair of socks I've already started.
I think you travel a LOT more than I do, although I've told my husband that time's a wastin' and we need to do more trips each year. So winter spring summer and fall. Summer is always the beach, summer and fall are perfect shoulder seasons and we've traveled (other than to Florida) in the winter before, so Florida (to visit friends) PLUS something else. We went to London in the winter once and it was great.

The NEW YORKERS!! I don't always read them when they come in the mail. Instead, I save them and put them in my carry on to read on the plane. But sometimes I don't read all of them on the plane, cause I fall asleep, so I end up dragging the same issues back and forth with me on two trips...I already have a few issues from November and December '25 in my backpack, along with later issues! I'm now going to look for a few used paperbacks soon Amazon that I can buy and take along. I always plan to read them on the trip and leave them in the hotel, but many times, I like the book and don't want to let it go, so I end up taking it home with me..

I now find that I am sometimes re-reading old books on my shelves from many years ago, it's quite enjoyable. I can, of course read the the New Yorkers on my iPad, but it's not the same. When I go to England, I LOVE buying reading material there, and when we were in Paris 2 years ago, I bought too much at Shakespeare & co.
We DO sound very similar, I have to agree with you.

Alice, I am at the MAJESTIC now. Let me know if you want me to check out anything here; my room (second floor facing Valencia Street, I think) might be the quietest I've ever had in Europe.... A tiny bit of muffled traffic noise in the distance during the day; not one sound late at night or early morning...

Thanks, ekscrunchy. I have tried to talk my husband into the Majestic, but he REALLY wants the 2 bedroom apartment (bad sleeper). The Majestic has a suite, but the suite part doesn't have anything you can SLEEP on. So I think I'm stuck unless I can find a nicer 2 bedroom - I might put him on the case, although our definitions of what constitutes a nice apartment differ a bit....

Alice

BUT, I'd love to hear about your trip and itinerary after. I'm having trouble figuring out what to do when. Two day trips for sure, that's about as far as I've gotten.

I do understand, and I would want two actual bedrooms if I were you. Suites often just have what I'd call a den, or an area to relax and watch tv on the sofa, not a second actual bedroom...or at least the few I've booked.. Keep us posted...I might be able to check out the outside of an apartment for you while I'm here..

It's at Diputaciσ, 268, Eixample, 08009 Barcelona. The Aspasios Paseo de Gracia Apartments. Take a look at the location if you can, that would be GREAT.

Interestingly, my husband said if I REALLY want to stay in a suite at the Majestic, we could. The price is much higher, but I think the junior suite has a completely separate room (it looks like it in the photos, looks like you can close a door between the bedroom and the suite, maybe you could see that as well). It's still available.

Very happy to hear it's quiet where you are, especially since you're facing the street. You get breakfast, is that right?

THANKS. Alice

Yes, a lavish buffet plus a la carte, served from 7am until 11am.
My room is 236 and I see that is it actually part of a suite. There is a large door that opens from the hallway. Inside that door are two doors, mine and another one. So if one party booked a suite, they would get my room plus another duplicate of mine....large bedroom, very large bathroom with free-standing tub and walk-in shower. Two sinks. Decor is traditional, lovely and comfortable, but not cutting-edge design. It's at the side of the hotel but in the back, facing Valencia Street. No noise. I should probably not say this here, but I put a few things on my plate at breakfast--a few cheeses, slices of cake, fruit, yogurt..and I take the plate back to the room. So I have snacks for later...here is a photo of my snack plate for tonight (I just finished lunch and it's; 4pm so will not go for a real dinner). Oh, never mind, I will take the photo later and post it after it loads.I can also make pics of my room if you ant, but it will be a little messy by now..

Those apts look great; they are right around the corner from the hotel in a very nice block, just off the main drag. Right diagonally across from Zara!! I will try to walk by in the next few days........