Lily

Yes it is. Walk out the door and two blocks away is the Plaza Cataluna which is the beginning of Las Ramblas. Walk out the door the other way and you are in the Eixample which is great for evening strolling with the local residents.

lincasanova

a few days i mallorca would be beautiful ( weather behaving, of course)

it is a VERY large island and best visited with a rental car. otherwise you will not be able to get around as easily to see the gorgeous coastal scenery and renovated 15 century farmhouse estates/hotels.

valencia would be car-free, and a nice mix of historical architecture with of course the new science/opera complex by santiago calatrava.
also.. very good food, as most of spain, IMHO.

blanche5678

Beautifulspain ...I had not come across the apt web site -very helpful.

While we would not rent a car in Barcelona, sounds like it would be worthwhile in Mallorca. Is it feasable to tour northwest portion of the island and visit Palma in 3 days? We are are thinking of staying in Palma and touring from there as I am not sure seaside resort in March makes any sense

Andrea2652

My husband and I and our two teenage daughters spent 3 days in Barcelona last June after a Mediterrean Cruise. We didn't want to spend a lot of money so I found a bed and breakfast in the city. I booked everything online. What a find!! The room was small but very clean. It was in an old but well kept building in a quiet area of the city. The area was an upscale shopping district with designer shops after designer shop, quaint restaurants and residences. I'm from Boston and would equate the area with Back Bay, Newbury Street. I was considering renting at Las Ramblas but I can't tell you how glad I am that we didn't stay there. That area is very run down, nosy and sketchy. We did go into Las Rambas but was glad when we went home to our B&B.

I hightly recommend Suite Gaudi.
http://www.suitegaudibarcelona.com/s...id_categoria=4

Monti is very helpful and loves to speak english to her guests. We had a very early flight out so she arranged a taxi for us and showed me how to get our own breakfast in the morning. She will also recommend excellent, inexpensive restaurants.

Have a great trip. Barcelona is amazing.

lincasanova

interesting first post, beautifulspain

floydvic

You might look at this web site for links to hotels and hostals (Hostals are, generally speaking, small independent hotels and are often quite nice and are often not expensive).
http://www.barcelonaman.com/barcelon...a-hostels.html

JJBhoy

lincasanova,

Re beautifulspain's post - yes, I thought so too

blanche5678,

You should bear in mind that beautifulspain's opinion <i>might</i> not be entirely impartial.

Jim

mkdiebold

JJBhoy..what do you mean that beautifulspain &quot;might not be impartial?&quot; Are you aware of some conflict of interest?

blanche5678

that would be a shame --- I am a first time user and have been impressed with the willingness of others to share their experiences. I expect to check out suggestions to ensure they meet my specific needs but had not anticipated there could be hidden agendas. Caution is the word of the day!

that said .. this is a wonderful forum .. my trip will be better thanks to the advice / suggestions received

JJBhoy

mkdiebold,

As lincasanova also noticed, beautifulspain's one &amp; only post on Fodors was to push an apartment rental website named spain-holiday.com. That type of post is often a sign of a &quot;planted&quot; advert rather than a genuinely impartial recommendation.

I wanted to draw blanche5678's attention to this possibility but, to answer your question, no, I don't have any evidence of this. That's why I used the word &quot;might&quot; &amp; put it in italics.

Jim

lincasanova

but your are probably right as beautifulspainīs second post is also to send poster to the same website.

hmmmmmmmmm......

Laurengonzalez

My sister and I are opening a hostel in Barcelona in March. You can see our website at www.somniohostels.com. The location is very central, all the facilities are brand new (construction is finishing up now), and we know the city very well. We'd love to have you stay with us!

As far as day trips go, I'd recommend a trip to Montserrate, cava tasting in Penedes, perhaps a trip up to Girona, and a trip to the beaches at Sitges.

Let me know if you need any recommendations about things to do, restaurants, etc.

Lauren