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Flying into BCN on 9/29 for 3 nights pre-cruise - Suggestions?


CruiseVA
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We'll be flying into BCN on 9/29 and staying for 3 nights before debarking on an 11 night Med cruise. We're looking for any suggestions as we have never been there. The only thing that we "may" have booked is the cruise, so, anything, from hotel to whatever would be most helpful.

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Hi,

You’re on the same cruise as us. We were in Barcelona a couple years ago and loved it. We stayed at Jazz last time and liked it a lot. However, this time they are asking way too much, so I got us a room Street at Hotel LLeo. We are paying 488€ for three nights and the reviews are good .Both hotels are less than a five minute walk to Placa Catalunya, at the top of Las Ramblas, the area that people like to be near. Also, the metro and the Aero Bus and HoHo busses all pick up and drop off in that area.

We prefer the 3 star hotels and the non American branded hotels since Barcelona is such a charming city. Our friends stayed st the Le Meridien, the only 5 Star, and hated it but loved our 3 Star hotel and hung out with us and our group.

Other decent chains appear to be the NH chain and H10 properties.

The Gothic area is nice, too, and there is a nice Hotel Colon there, but the prices are closer to $275-$300 US right now.

 

Check Tripadvisor for reviews. That is what I’ve always done.

Most people prefer the Ramblas area but you have to be careful about your property if you dislike lots of noise. We prefer to be off set a bit. Also, pull up a map and make sure that you choose a property near easy transportation. The metro system is so easy to navigate, and the metro stops are plentiful.

 

One other thing, the hotels will give you a much better rate if you prepay, but we feel that six months is too far out to prepay, and until we secure airfare, we won’t consider prepaying a hotel.

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I just got back from a Spirit cruise and we stayed at the Silken Ramblas hotel for $90eu a night on Hotels.com. It’s a 4 star hotel that’s 5 minutes from the plaza cataluna Aerobus stop. It’s half a block of Las Rambla and 15 minutes from the Columbus monument where you catch the port shuttle.

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Some info that might help a few to understand the price differences for the same hotel(s)...

 

Barcelona is not a "vacation resort", it's a fully functional and very vibrant city with 2 million inhabitants. As such there are lots of things going on all the time at any moment in the year, from heritage festivals, art exhibitions, music concerts, sports events, business conferences and congresses, etc. and not only we locals here in Catalonia are very active -and there's a sizable chunk of "internal tourism" so to speak- but we receive millions of visitors every year for a wide range of reasons/purposes, not only tourism (business, medical, educational...).

 

The city, while not as big as say NY, Paris or London -neither in size nor in population- has proportionally "more rooms" in the market than some of those bigger ones. Also worth mentioning that there is no single event that "collapses" the city ever and that often several major ones are celebrated concurrently without disturbance to the rest of the city.

 

Having said that, certain events such as the Mobile World Congress in February (which attracts over 130,000 professional visitors at once) or La Mercè festival in September (which congregates nearly 2 million visits, locals and foreign alike, during the days of the festival) just to mention two, add to other type of visitors: regular tourists, cruisegoers, school breaks in other European countries, etc. and might provoke a race to book the best hotels (as in "most suitable", whether for reputation, comfort, location, price...) thus driving prices sky up.

 

Prices change daily and a hotel might have an absurdly high price one day and a much reasonable one the next. Note also, that many regular attendees to some of these events -be for business or for leisure- do book from one year to the next. I was thinking in listing some of these events that attract more people to the city so you can have an idea when planning your next visit, but I realized it'd be a long one, sorry. It suffices to say that there's no high or low season anymore... all year is "busy" albeit Jun-Sep is "busier".

 

Lastly to mention that the excellent transportation network available in Barcelona (metro, bus, train and tramway) alongside the reasonably manageable size of the city, makes it unnecessary to book a hotel "near this or that". One can book a hotel elsewhere and still easily move about, safely, efficiently, quickly, cheaply and in comfort, be by public transport or by inexpensive taxis. This opens up a world of choices when it comes to book a hotel. Just sayin'.

 

PS... and yet tourism accounts only for 12-15% of the city's GDP :)

Edited by EnricM
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wow, how "precise" :)... where did you get that figure? It might well be so though. Still, normally, official figures from the Hotels' Guild do only reflect information about "their" members -which include most hotels in the city and some hostals (note "hostals", not hostels!), but we have plenty other options to choose from: B&Bs, tourists apartments (or "dwells" as the City Hall officially labels them), hostels, and also those hotels and hostals that are not members of the Guild. So not everything is lost, you can still continue looking, LOL!

 

Hostals are a sort of basic hotels -no frills, no extras, just a room with the essentials- unique to these shores and which are cheaper than hotels. Having said that, there are all sorts these days and some hostals are even more luxurious than basic hotels.

 

Tourists apartments, for which there's an estimated offer of 11,000 legally registered -and a few thousand more not in compliance with local law just yet!- have become a popular alternative for many visitors as they offer a different experience from that of a hotel. A bit like home away from home if you like. One can search them via popular sites like AirBnB, HomeAway, Booking, etc.(just google these names alongside the word "Barcelona"). Do make sure though to rent a properly licensed tourist apartment, more info here: http://meet.barcelona.cat/habitatgesturistics/en/

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EnricM

 

Re your comment about hostals, many years ago my company booked me into one in Pamplona. It turned out that it had a renowned restaurant. So, I was fed and watered very well.

 

I think many people try to book hotels with sites like booking.com, but if they contacted the hotel direct will find there is availability. Although I'll look on those sites I prefer to go direct anyway. Sometimes there are better offers and you are dealing direct with the supplier.

 

 

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We also stayed at Hotel Lleo and found it more than satisfactory.

 

The only thing I want to mention (and this is typical of what we found in Europe) is that if you want your room made up early, tell them at the desk. We came back at 3 pm and found the room not made up. I had forgotten to ask. After that, no more problems.

 

Very easy walk to Placa Catalunya where there is a tourist information booth. We went there first to get a map of the public bus routes because that was what we planned to us. They directed us where to buy a T1 ticket ... a MUST money saver if you'll be using the bus and metro.

 

As for what to see and do, I suggest you do some research about the city because there is SO much and no one, except you, knows what you like. You'll find loads of information on the forum. Just plug Barcelona into Search This Thread.

 

My one specific heads up if you plan on going to Park Guell, and want to get into the limited entry area, buy your tickets ahead of time. The park itself is free but the limited entry area, where you can get up close and personal with his works, has timed entry tickets.

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wow, how "precise" :)... where did you get that figure? It might well be so though. Still, normally, official figures from the Hotels' Guild do only reflect information about "their" members -which include most hotels in the city and some hostals (note "hostals", not hostels!), but we have plenty other options to choose from: B&Bs, tourists apartments (or "dwells" as the City Hall officially labels them), hostels, and also those hotels and hostals that are not members of the Guild. So not everything is lost, you can still continue looking, LOL!

 

Hostals are a sort of basic hotels -no frills, no extras, just a room with the essentials- unique to these shores and which are cheaper than hotels. Having said that, there are all sorts these days and some hostals are even more luxurious than basic hotels.

 

Tourists apartments, for which there's an estimated offer of 11,000 legally registered -and a few thousand more not in compliance with local law just yet!- have become a popular alternative for many visitors as they offer a different experience from that of a hotel. A bit like home away from home if you like. One can search them via popular sites like AirBnB, HomeAway, Booking, etc.(just google these names alongside the word "Barcelona"). Do make sure though to rent a properly licensed tourist apartment, more info here: http://meet.barcelona.cat/habitatgesturistics/en/

Just a % that came up on one of my searches - I do believe it though as many of the hotels mentioned by posters on CC have no availability when I'm there. From the Barcelona Port website I can see over 1400 passengers are expected to embark/ disembark off Preziosa there. We have decided on Hotel Lleo due to its proximity to Placa De Catalanya and public transport.

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Forums mobile app

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Just a % that came up on one of my searches - I do believe it though as many of the hotels mentioned by posters on CC have no availability when I'm there. From the Barcelona Port website I can see over 1400 passengers are expected to embark/ disembark off Preziosa there. We have decided on Hotel Lleo due to its proximity to Placa De Catalanya and public transport.

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Forums mobile app

I've also found out that the Merce festival starts 2 days after we leave Barcelona

 

Sent from my SM-A320Y using Forums mobile app

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