Budget travel in Barcelona, Spain
 

2 California girls mid-20's & 30's going to Barcelona in September for 4 days. Looking for a hotel that is centrally located to all the sites, and is safe, but that is average $150 (US) per night or less. Any suggestions?

I would say you have a nice budget! Should be plenty at that price or less unless there is a huge conference in town.

If you do a search here for Barcelona lodging/hotels or accommodations you will pull up a number of excellent suggestions as this is a frequent request..

I just booked reservations at Granvia, which has received good reviews on Trip Advisor. It is located in the Eixample neighborhood. Looks nice in the photos.

I stayed at the Hotel Banys Orientals in September 2007 and loved it. It's in a great area (Born) with lots of cafes, restaurants and quite safe and very fun - yet it's near all the sights. I'd definately recommend this area.

Check out Hotel Jazz, centrally located off Las Ramblas. Gets good Trip Advisor reviews and has an early booking rate.

One of my favorite ways to save money is buy food during the day and put it my backpack and have it in the room for diner. If you are checking in your luggage, be sure to pack utensils and a corkscrew.

One of the great places to stop for a wonderful variety of foood is the well known Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, commonly called La Boqueria. It is right off the Ramablas.

I'll second the Banys Orientals for location. Be aware that it gets a lot of tour groups.

El Born is a great area. To keep your costs down, I suggest you - as most locals do - have your main meal at lunch-time. Most restaurants serve a three course and great value Menu del día for some 8-15€, drinks and coffee included. You can normally choose from 3-4 starters, 3-4 mains and a couple of desserts.

Some time ago, a family owned restaurant in the center of Barcelona served the traditional 9€ menu del día for 1€ because of the financial crisis. Maybe pay a visit for the initiative? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...or-1-euro.html

We stayed at Hotel Cortes, Barcelona, Santa Anna, 25 www.hotelcortes.com/ [email protected], [email protected], Tel +34-933179112
I highly recommend this hotel for location and value. We got a prepaid price of 72€ for a double (90€ for the one night we were a triple) through Venere. The hotel’s own web site (in English) we weren’t able to book through. It was very clean, extremely large rooms and bathrooms, especially for a European city center hotel. Due to our itinerary and fact that one night there were three of us, we ended up staying in three different rooms (two doubles and a triple) and all were equally clean and spacious. Great showers. TV, Lift, free wi-fi that worked great. The location is superb – on a mostly pedestrian street literally a two minute walk from Placa Catalunya (aerobus drop off) and also from Las Ramblas – but much quieter than either. The breakfast was free but was pretty basic – 1 cup coffee, oj, and three sort of dry pastries, a slice of cheese. But for the price it was still an excellent deal even if you didn’t like the breakfast. Nice common areas and pleasant staff.

On a previous trip we stayed at Hotel Continental on Las Ramblas which we also liked but it was more expensive (still in your range though). The nice thing about this hotel is the 24 hour "breakfast" bar.

Eurocentric- Do you know what tour group uses Hotel Banys Orientals and if this is a recent occurance? During my 5 night stay in September 2007 I didn't see any tour groups in this hotel or in the area. The hotel lobby is somewhat small so I'd think it would be difficult to accomodate large groups. I normally don't stay in hotels used by tour groups so this is a real downer....

Hostal Goya on Pau Claris was a hit with friends of mine who went to barcelona this Spring. It is
small reasonable and well located. My friends say the website is very accurate.

Stayed in a fabulous modern 2 bedroom apartment on a pedestrian street in El Born area....from Habitat apartments. They also have a big selection of rentals in other areas on their website. As I remember it was 100 euros a night. You would have a fridge for some snacks (or you could cook...but why would you on vacation?) and the area is great.

Try and get to the tapas place El Vaso del Oro which is in Barcelonetta (sp?)....google it for address. This has the best tapas and filled with mostly locals. You have to get there before 7 to sit at the bar which is the only seating.