Barcelona Alexandra Hotel Curio by Hilton?

[mjcatlvr]

Hi all!

We have a pre-cruise day in Barcelona. Has anyone stayed at this Hilton? Comments about area etc. would be much appreciated. Where/ what to do?

Also, getting from this hotel to the cruise port the next day? Best way? How long should it take on a Sunday? Cost?

Safe, smart to walk to La Familia Sagrada? Distance?

Thank you in advance.

 

[CruiseDigits]

On 9/10/2019 at 10:35 AM, mjcatlvr said:

Hi all!

We have a pre-cruise day in Barcelona. Has anyone stayed at this Hilton? Comments about area etc. would be much appreciated. Where/ what to do?

Also, getting from this hotel to the cruise port the next day? Best way? How long should it take on a Sunday? Cost?

Safe, smart to walk to La Familia Sagrada? Distance?

Thank you in advance.

 

We love Barcelona, we just returned home!

 

We haven't stayed at the Alexandra Hotel but the area is nice.  It's right at Passeig de Gracia, the street with La Pedrera, high end stores, many walking tours, and a small part of the hop-on hop-off routes.  There is so much to do,  definitely consider La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and Las Ramblas.  If I could only eat one meal I'd get sangria and pintxos in El Poble Sec on the street Carrer de Blai -- there are multiple pintxos restaurants on the street, our favorites were La Tasqueta de Blai and Koska Taverna (our absolute favorite, they serve beer but not sangria).  Barcelona has tons of walking tours, bicycle tours, beaches, great food, you name it.  What is your ideal day?

 

I'd take a cab from the hotel to the cruise.  For planning purposes I'd use 20 Euros and 30 minutes but it shouldn't take that long.  This is the link to the official Barcelona taxi calculator: http://taxi.amb.cat/s/usuari/calcula-la-teva-ruta/eng.html

 

The hotel to La Sagrada Familia is just over a mile.  I guess it just depends on what time of year you're going, time of day, how much you like to walk, etc.  We did a ton of walking every day so we tried to find ways to cut out any extra walking (and we are walkers) so I personally wouldn't walk it -- plus you have to get back!  As an FYI there is an international Mass every Sunday morning at 9 am that is open to the public.  No cost way for you to get inside but they also corral you out pretty fast after Mass.  If you want to go that route then I recommend arriving no later than 8:15 to make sure you get in.  Otherwise buy your ticket in advance to make sure you get in!

 

For all of this pickpockets are prevalent in Barcelona so you'll see people walking around with backpacks on the front of their chests.  Don't wear expensive jewelry and be aware of your surroundings.  We've spent almost two months there over the past two years and haven't personally had any problems but we've seen at least one confirmed pickpocket in action with others suspected.

 

Have fun!

[midwestchick]

On 9/11/2019 at 4:23 PM, CruiseDigits said:

We love Barcelona, we just returned home!

 

We haven't stayed at the Alexandra Hotel but the area is nice.  It's right at Passeig de Gracia, the street with La Pedrera, high end stores, many walking tours, and a small part of the hop-on hop-off routes.  There is so much to do,  definitely consider La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and Las Ramblas.  If I could only eat one meal I'd get sangria and pintxos in El Poble Sec on the street Carrer de Blai -- there are multiple pintxos restaurants on the street, our favorites were La Tasqueta de Blai and Koska Taverna (our absolute favorite, they serve beer but not sangria).  Barcelona has tons of walking tours, bicycle tours, beaches, great food, you name it.  What is your ideal day?

 

I'd take a cab from the hotel to the cruise.  For planning purposes I'd use 20 Euros and 30 minutes but it shouldn't take that long.  This is the link to the official Barcelona taxi calculator: http://taxi.amb.cat/s/usuari/calcula-la-teva-ruta/eng.html

 

The hotel to La Sagrada Familia is just over a mile.  I guess it just depends on what time of year you're going, time of day, how much you like to walk, etc.  We did a ton of walking every day so we tried to find ways to cut out any extra walking (and we are walkers) so I personally wouldn't walk it -- plus you have to get back!  As an FYI there is an international Mass every Sunday morning at 9 am that is open to the public.  No cost way for you to get inside but they also corral you out pretty fast after Mass.  If you want to go that route then I recommend arriving no later than 8:15 to make sure you get in.  Otherwise buy your ticket in advance to make sure you get in!

 

For all of this pickpockets are prevalent in Barcelona so you'll see people walking around with backpacks on the front of their chests.  Don't wear expensive jewelry and be aware of your surroundings.  We've spent almost two months there over the past two years and haven't personally had any problems but we've seen at least one confirmed pickpocket in action with others suspected.

 

Have fun!

 

What are pintxos? I’ve not heard that term.

Has pickpocketing increased over the last several years?

[CruiseDigits]

Here's a short article on pintxos, though the description of "tapas on bread" doesn't do it justice:

https://www.timeout.com/barcelona/food-and-drink/pintxos-in-barcelona

 

In the El Poble Sec there are several restuarants all along the street with the food at the ready.  You grab a table, a plate, order a drink, and pick what you want to eat.  When you've had enough to eat they count the toothpicks and you pay your bill.  We usually stop at several different restaurants as they all have different specialties and variations.  Delicious.

 

Here are a couple of pictures we took:

[CruiseDigits]

As far as pickpocketing, I don't know if it's worse or better than the past.  We've been to Barcelona three times now -- about nine years ago, two years ago, and then last month.  We've always exercised the same vigilance and never personally had any problems.

[midwestchick]

3 minutes ago, CruiseDigits said:

Here's a short article on pintxos, though the description of "tapas on bread" doesn't do it justice:

https://www.timeout.com/barcelona/food-and-drink/pintxos-in-barcelona

 

In the El Poble Sec there are several restuarants all along the street with the food at the ready.  You grab a table, a plate, order a drink, and pick what you want to eat.  When you've had enough to eat they count the toothpicks and you pay your bill.  We usually stop at several different restaurants as they all have different specialties and variations.  Delicious.

 

Here are a couple of pictures we took:

 

Looks wonderful.  So, they’re more like tapas? 

[CruiseDigits]

Tapas in the sense that it's a small portion of food, yes.

[CruiseDigits]

The street name is Carrer de Blai, it's in the El Poble Sec neighborhood.  Here's a screen shot of the map search:

 

 

Edited September 13, 2019 by CruiseDigits
Remove duplicate photo

[midwestchick]

Thank you

[midwestchick]

4 hours ago, CruiseDigits said:

As far as pickpocketing, I don't know if it's worse or better than the past.  We've been to Barcelona three times now -- about nine years ago, two years ago, and then last month.  We've always exercised the same vigilance and never personally had any problems.

 

We didn’t have a problem either.  We stayed at Hotel Granvia and walked all over.  We’ll practice the same precautions.  Love my theft proof purses.