winesaavy7

Im studying in Europe and will be traveling to spain for six of my 12 day vacation next week. I'd love to find a cheap but decent place (to split between four girls) and get some ideas on what to see-do there for those who aren't exactly on a normal vacation. Our main goal is to see the sights, eat some authentic foods and check out some places where mostly locals hang out. We will also be there on halloween and could use ideas on what to do for that as well!

grazie mille

escargot

My son spent five days in Barcelona in spring of 04 with three friends when they were all 19. they stayed at Pension Marie-Luz, address: Calle Palau 4, Fax: 933173463.
We had looked into hostels, etc/wasn't finding one that made parents comfortable, so one of them found this pension.
Good location, the kids loved the owners, it was clean, they had one room for the four of them w/ plenty of room, a sink in the room and a bath down the hall. Also a nice "common room" and inexpensive. They thought it was a nice lcoation b/c it was very close to las Ramblas, teh main street, and near train/etc but tucked away in a side street with some charm. Maybe this will work for you. If not, you can try hostels.com which is what we started on, but we booked ths one thru a fax and got our answer w/in the day. Son also said owners were very helpful in steering them to good but cheap eats in quaint places as well as popular and helpful w/ where to go and what to do. They also let them use fax when one needed to contact parents about something and said if that didn't suffice, they could use phone. nice people.

Robert2533

Here are a couple web sites to check out to see what's available:

http://www.hostels.com/en/es.ba.html
http://www.madridman.com/barcelona/b...nahostels.html

You'll also want to check out the following for more information on the city:

http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/
http://www.aboutbarcelona.com/
http://maribelsguides.com/

winesaavy7

Escargot-
thanks for the idea!
Robert-I'm 25, female, and just going back to school for a degree so typical 'student' housing ie; crowded hostels with group showers is def. not really my scene but I also understand my budget limitations! do you have any particular suggestions knowing my stats?

escargot

Now knowing your stats, I still suggest you look into Pension Marie-Luz; the reason my son ended up in that pension was because all the other local hostels we found that had room available were too many bunks in one room, sharing bedrooms with other kids, which they didn't want to do : b/c he & his friends didn't want typical hostel, b/c they (4 boys, 6 girls) wanted a different type of trip together after already having travelled extensively and lived away from home already for 4 years at boarding school - they also wanted a more normal surrounding than regular hostel before they all split up and knew (as it was) it would be two years before they could all meet up again- so I don't want you to think this pension I mentioned in first post was full of high school and college kids partying and being crazy all nigth - they were the youngest ones there. the pension I mentioned in first post sounds like what you are looking for, other guests at the time he was there were single male and females mostly late 20's and young couples in their 30's and 40's. My son had a sink in his room and a shared bath (which they shared w/ the room full of girls from their school so that worked for them) but they also had private baths. You might want to fax or email them to inquire, it sounds to me that it is what you are looking for, and we didn't find anything like this that was as reasonable and w/ more privacy, as in any of the hostels, etc.

escargot

i'm typing too fast - what i meant by not "knowing your stats" and then I kind of jumped to another sentence, was I understand your age and interests that you wouldn't want a "typical" hostel, - which is why I still think this is a good one for you to look at - I didn't want you to avoid it b/c my 19 yr old son and friends had stayed there - and think it was a pension full of college kids - it wasn't -that's why the parents liked it and this group of kids was like 19 going on 24- yes they drank at night in a club, but they actually get up to go touring, biking,etc every morning - my son said it was a quiet place, and all the older (young people late 20's and young couples) were really nice if hey sat in the common room (which was a living room attached to the kitchen for guests use) for tv/reading/etc. Just don't discount it b/c some 19/20 yr olds were there on their march break.

kybourbon

In Spain there is a difference between hostal (small pensione type hotel) and hostel (youth type hostel). Several with postive reviews by Fodorites are
www.hostalopera.com
www.hostalpalacios.com
www.hostalgirona.com

cjacob

I don't know specific names, but I have friends that rented an apartment in Barcelona. They are not expensive and clean, usually in good locations. I would either go to STS (student travel services) in the city you are studying in, all major cities have them, or just search the internet.

When I went to Barcelona I stayed at an awful hotel on Las Ramblas. I'm blanking on the name because I tried so hard to forget about the experience. Just be careful and make sure you read reviews of the hotels when you choose one.

On Las Ramblas there is a huge food market (at the entrace there is a Dunkin' Donuts if you need a taste of home), the food is great inside and it is quite the place to see. I recommend going there for a cheap breakfast/lunch.

Other then that, Barcelona can be pretty cheap except the museums and sites can get a bit expensive.

DixieChick

My daughter stayed at the Backpackers BCN Hostel this summer. She had a wonderful experience. It's very clean & homey, maximum of 4 beds per room (total of 18 beds), has a kitchen, free internet, patio, etc. I thinks it's 22 euros per person. Check out the reviews here:

http://www.hostelz.com/display.php/3774+Backpackers+BCN

winesaavy7

Escargot-
thanks again, i'll def. look into that today. booked a place for paris and now heading to do the same for barcelona
Kybourbon- I never knew about that! thanks!
cjakob- yeah i was looking into apartments as well but most wanted a min. of 6 nights. any ideas? Also, that market sounds cool, is Las Ramblas big or is the market easy to find?
Can't wait to have ceviche!