Carl

We are planning on staying here for a 5 days during our first trip to Barcelona (in fact our first trip to Europe).<BR><BR>Is this a good choice ? I havent confirmed the reservation yet, so please let me know whether this is the right choice or not. The location seems decent enough and the price ($120) is actually beyond my budget, but I cant seem to find anything better ! <BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Carl

Leslie

Carl, check out www.bancotel.com -- its a voucher program, which might just get you more bang for your buck. Do a search on Bancotel here for further reviews.

Sandy

Carl - do a search - I asked the same recently and got a very positive response. Will be staying there in mid October and will be happy to report afterwards.

Maribel

Carl,<BR>The H10 Gravina is a super choice!<BR>If you can snag a room for $120 including brk, then certainly go for it. Their rack rate is 165 euros, and I've seen an internet rate for 145, so your rate is a great deal. Plus, it's a very popular place and always full. I stayed at the Gravina in June (have posted on it here a couple of times since then because it impressed me) and couldn't have been happier, even though it isn't in the Eixample, my favorite BCN location for lodging.<BR><BR>The Gravina is a stylish place with a young, energetic, friendly desk staff who speak good English and handled the chaos produced by the day long national labor strike with grace, extending my stay because of the strike and making an extra room available to my friends. The rooms are very attractively and newly decorated (some doubles have balconies, others have little sitting areas) with snazzy, gleaming baths and plenty of toiletries, power showers, etc. A plentiful buffet brk., constantly replenished, is served in a pretty yellow downstairs room (free IHT to read along with brk), there's a bar for cava (Catalunya's bubbly) and snacks and lots of info on touring.<BR>A sharp place run with precision and style, and the H10 chain is an up and coming group, competing with the AC and NH chains (equivalent to the W's in the US) and trying harder to win over their business. <BR>See it at www.h10.es<BR><BR>I later stayed at the Derby Astoria (114 internet rate) in the Eixample near the Diagonal/Passeig de Gracia, but I liked the overall quality of the H10 a bit more (as did the friends traveling with us), although the Astoria's Eixample location is more upscale and the area around it more attractive.<BR><BR>I've used the Bancotel system for 7-8 yrs and have saved bundles with their coupons, but in BCN it's hard to find that nice, well-located property that requires only 1-2 coupons (50 euros a piece) per night MID week. If you're staying 5 nights, then there's the problem of the weekday stay. The BCN hotels *usually* accept these coupons only on wkds, holidays, every day Jan or Aug. Depends, then, on when you're traveling. The Rivoli Ramblas would be an exception, but would require 2 coupons per night on the wkd. and 3 mid-week, if I'm reading the rules correctly in my Bancotel directory. Is that right, Leslie, or do they accept 2 per night all week?<BR><BR>Making the coupon system work for you requires some time-consuming, creative planning, since they're sold in booklets of 5, not individually, so that you don't have coupons left over (use them or lose them).<BR><BR>Hope this helps.<BR>

Michael

I stayed at the Gravina in late 1997...probably before the redecorating Maribel mentioned...and I thought it was perfect...Maribel has already described it very well and I concur with her comments. It's in a quiet location; the staff was very friendly and energetic, and the breakfast was nice. I remember my single room being fairly large and I loved the four-star-level bathroom. You're doing the right thing!

Sandy

Expedia has this listed as a TWO STAR hotel. I wonder why?? Based upon Maribel and others recco's, I am booked there for 6 nights later this month. Current internet rate is 114 and 120 Euros/night with b'fast but excluding 7% tax. (That's the rate I was quoted booking direct with the hotel)

Leslie

Yes, Maribel, you are correct about the number of vouchers the Rivoli Ramblas will accept, however, I've read mixed reviews about the Rivoli Ramblas and switched my reservation in Barcelona to the Ritz.

Maribel

Leslie,<BR>You've made a luxurious switch!<BR><BR>Sandy,<BR>The Gravina is a 3 star property; the H10 hotels all have 3-4 stars (I checked the catalogue they gave me).<BR>You've found a great deal on Expedia, if that's for a double room, but I don't know why they indicate that it's a 2 star.<BR><BR>I checked my booking records, and when I stayed there in late June, the hotel's own website (www.hotel-gravina.com) had summer rates then of 102 euros single but 140 double including brk., plus VAT, and my friends, who grabbed a last minute room due to the labor strike, paid the high season walk up rate (rack rate) of 165. I overheard several people inquire at the desk that day about the double rate; they were all given the same 165 price, but again, this was peak season. $120 is a great deal.<BR><BR>For a first time visitor to Barcelona and to Europe, I think the Gravina is a very comfortable choice and handy to the Placa Catalunya where one can catch the Bus Turistic for "at your own pace-on/off" touring of all the city's sights, the Aerobus and the metro (which I don't use in BCN very often), plus it's an easy walk to the famed Modernist architecture on the Passeig de Gracia, to the Ramblas and to the Barri Gotic.

Sandy

To clarify, the rates I quoted were for a single room. I booked directly on the hotel website; actually, booking through Expedia would have been more expensive. Any suggestions for nearby restaurants???