Barcelona Hotels

[makaylee]

Thank you ALL for your help! I Love this board!

 

[SettinSail]

We stayed at the Novotel City which admittedly is a little way out of the main town, but adjacent to a Metro and over the road from the Hop on Hop Off bus stop. The Cathedral is also walkable from the hotel, although takes around 20 minutes.

The current cost - I booked again yesterday for our next trip, is £89 for a room which sleeps four - children are free of charge, this includes breakfast, which was a fantastic affair, not just a buffet, but eggs cooked to order, bacon etc. etc. Just over the road is a shopping mall, with a Disney Store!!!!!! A Carrefour supermarket, a wine shop and an area full of restaurants, that is open until about 11.00pm.

There is a pool on the roof, although it closes at 6.00pm, and a terrace bar up there as well.

We looked into staying down on Las Ramblas, but most were over our budget and those that were within it were booked up! Also as we have a five year old, we wouldn't really get the benefit of wandering out late at night.

We got a taxi from the airport, which was about 26 euros and took about 30 minutes. However, we could have got the airport bus to Placa Catalunya and the metro a couple of stops on the direct line.

We shared a bus to the port, through our Dis board meet, but I think it was around 25 euros to the port in a taxi. You certainly can't walk it from the bottom of town, it is a long way down a very long pier!!!

Hope this helps.

Kate

Hi Kate, we are also at this hotel for 2 nights before our cruise. We are on the meet thread with you as well. Would love to meet up with you at the hotel for a pre-cruise hello! When do you arrive?
Shawn

 

[Adsmama]

So The Continental is in walking distance to the ship but the Coronado isn't?
Thanks so much for your help

no, they are both walking distance to the port shuttle/columbus monument. http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&um...ocal_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQnwIwAA you can click and go closer and see the circle with the estatua de colon, which is where I assume the port shuttle bus meets.

I believe the posters were saying that NO hotel is walking distance to the actual cruise ship as the pier and port is very long, hot and the DCL is the farthest away.

 

[Adsmama]

The port bus (Blue Bus) is a little difficult to find; it's not very well marked, and nobody I asked had a clue where it was. It's on the outside water side of the circle around the monument, and there's a little kiosk and a covered bus stop. Just leave yourself plenty of time. I waited in line an hour & a half because there were 5 ships in the port, and only one bus running. The line was pretty long, and since the round trip seemed to take the Bus about half an hour, it took a while...

I have no idea about the Continental, sorry, I don't know of anyone who stayed there.

Sayhello

Do you think if we got there about 9 or 10 am it's better?

 

[makaylee]

Is it pretty easy to get a taxi to the pier? I'm one of theose people who has to be one of the first on the ship and if I have to wait in line forever for a bus I think I would lose it!

 

[K8T]

Hi Kate, we are also at this hotel for 2 nights before our cruise. We are on the meet thread with you as well. Would love to meet up with you at the hotel for a pre-cruise hello! When do you arrive?
Shawn

We arrive Tuesday morning, so will be getting to the hotel around lunchtimeish.

Would love to meet up, we did with our last cruise - maybe the 'Party'otel' will be revived!!! (actually it wasn't much of a party, because everyone including us, was so shattered, we all went to bed and met in the morning! However, the thought was there!!!).

I will post on the cruisemeet.

Kate

 

[sabrecmc]

A taxi from our hotel on Las Ramblas to the ship was 8 Euros. If you are staying anywhere close to the port, I would not wait for the blue bus. Taxis were plentiful and relatively cheap.

 

[Dicecatt]

Check out the Hotel Curious, it is in my trip blog that is in my signature. It was affordable and clean with a great location.

 

[Anal Annie]

So if you take either a taxi or a hotel shuttle they will take you all the way up to where the ship is docked?! So minimal walking then? Do you just tell them a pier number or something as your destination? Does this Eurostars Grand Marina provide some sort of means to transfer back & forth to the ship? We'll eventually be looking for a hotel for 1 night pre-cruise and for 2 or 3 nights post-cruise.

 

[sinnika]

So if you take either a taxi or a hotel shuttle they will take you all the way up to where the ship is docked?! So minimal walking then? Do you just tell them a pier number or something as your destination? Does this Eurostars Grand Marina provide some sort of means to transfer back & forth to the ship? We'll eventually be looking for a hotel for 1 night pre-cruise and for 2 or 3 nights post-cruise.

Taxis will drop you off right at the entrance to the terminal for the Magic where you check in. The port bus (Blue Bus) is also close by. It leaves from Columbus monument, but for convenience, take a taxi. Taxi rates will vary depending on # of pieces of luggage and whether it is a weekday or weekend but should be reasonable if your hotel is near the port. If you want to combine some touring with your taxi ride, do a tour of the city (we did a 3 hour taxi tour after leaving the train station - we came in from Paris). Cost was 120 euro and we got to see everything we wanted. We would have paid almost as much for 4 HOHO bus tickets and our taxi ride so was a good use of our time and a great way to spend our morning. We boarded at 1:30pm and was able to go directly to our stateroom with our carry ons and bottled water we purchased in the terminal.

 

[sayhello]

Can you please tell me how you got the 2 for 1 on the buffet?

It was a special offer on travelzoo. 127 euro a night, plus a 2 for 1 on the breakfast buffet.

I believe the posters were saying that NO hotel is walking distance to the actual cruise ship as the pier and port is very long, hot and the DCL is the farthest away.

That is correct. Even the Eurostars, which is AT the port is nowhere near to walking distance to the cruise ship.

Do you think if we got there about 9 or 10 am it's better?

I really can't say, since I wasn't there at 9 or 10am to see. Maybe someone else can chime in. Are you leaving on a weekday or a weekend? I have to say that on Friday, I saw several Blue Buses going. We boarded on a Saturday, and I have to wonder if that was part of the problem...

Is it pretty easy to get a taxi to the pier? I'm one of theose people who has to be one of the first on the ship and if I have to wait in line forever for a bus I think I would lose it!

I would think that would depend on where you're coming from. Most places, there were lots & lots of cabs around.

So if you take either a taxi or a hotel shuttle they will take you all the way up to where the ship is docked?! So minimal walking then? Do you just tell them a pier number or something as your destination? Does this Eurostars Grand Marina provide some sort of means to transfer back & forth to the ship? We'll eventually be looking for a hotel for 1 night pre-cruise and for 2 or 3 nights post-cruise.

Eurostars Grand Marina does not have any form of transfer to/from the ship or the airport. There were a ton of taxis out front when I left.

Sayhello

 

[armyferret]

Yowza! Trying really hard to book something without going insane on the budget - so far the cheapest thing i have found is a holiday inn express for 100 euro per night - anyone have any experience there?

Pretty much everything i have tried is booked up, or upwards of 200 euro per night, and they want us to have 2 rooms, since there are 4 of us - though i will most likely end up just *Forgetting* to mention one of my kiddos on the reservation.....

even the novotel is up to 198 euro for just one night... crazy!

 

[sinnika]

Keep an eye on hotwire.com Especially as you get closer to the date, more rooms often open up (for people that are holding multiple reservations at different hotels, or if hotels are not full). I booked DH in a 3 star in the financial district for $95 (US dollars) a night in June 2 weeks before the date.
You don't know the name of the hotel when you book so it is a chance you take, but you can't beat the price. Look at only 3 stars or better. You may want to hold your reservation for the Holiday Inn just in case. Most hotels have a cancellation policy. However, with Hotwire or priceline, once you book, you pay for it and its non-refundable.

 

[CaliforniaCastaway]

I know it's still expensive, but Le Meridien Barcelona is running a Family Suite promotion for 375 Euros. This is one of the Disney hotels. When I asked Disney about it, they wanted over $1000 for 2 rooms! This hotel is right on Las Ramblas and is a 5 star hotel. Although it is still expensive, just about everywhere else requires 2 rooms, which when added together will be even more than this. The other thing is many of the hotels don't offer connecting rooms. We didn't want to wind up on different floors, no where near each other. This hotel is supposed to be in a great location.

 

[Adsmama]

How many people are in your party? Have you looked at www.booking.com? We are staying at a hotel for 59 euro a night near the port pre cruise and the NH Due la victoria (89 euro a night) or the Hotel continental (for 97 euro a night). We are booked for both and can't decide...Anyone outside of the OP have suggestions bw the two?

 

[makaylee]

How many people are in your party? Have you looked at www.booking.com? We are staying at a hotel for 59 euro a night near the port pre cruise and the NH Due la victoria (89 euro a night) or the Hotel continental (for 97 euro a night). We are booked for both and can't decide...Anyone outside of the OP have suggestions by the two?

Have you looked them both up on trip advisor?

I ended up choosing to use Priceline because I couldn't decide. I just knew I wanted at least 3 stars and to be in Las Rambles area. I bid $75 a night and they accepted. I was so excited because when I looked the hotel up (Hotel Astoria) it got great reviews and is normally $140 a night. Another big plus was it took the what hotel should I pick dilemma away...it chose one for me.

 

[CruisingSarah]

Hi, I also have a Barcelona Hotels question...can anyone recommend or know of a hotel near the beach/Olympic Port area which has rooms with a balcony which will sleep 3? I am not doing well with this, most of the ones I have found, surprisingly for beach hotels, do not have balconies except in the (very expensive) suites or the balcony rooms can take 2 but not 3 guests.

The only one I have found so far is the Eurostars but I have stayed there before and the balconies are tiny, not really deep enough for a chair. Also I would prefer a location slightly further out along the beach.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

[MKJEcruisers]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express-22 just recently. We were on the May 26th Med cruise. It was less than 100E per night and included breakast. It was convenient to the hoho bus as well as the metro. We just got a taxi to go to the port which was very easy.

 

[pillow]

I haven't read this thread in detail, but wanted to throw out the name of hotel we used in 2007 -

http://www.hispanos7suiza.com/

They are suites, so solves the problem of finding a room for a family of 4 (which I remember being a challenge). I recall the rates on bookings.com being quite good. I just checked the hotel website, and I see that a suite for 4 is around $180-$200 Euro - not bad.

The location is near the tourist bus line (which we loved) and very close to the Sagrada Familia. The restaurant is nice and our rate included breakfast. There is also a Starbucks and McDonald's very close. Nothing is cheap in Barcelona, but this place worked out quite well. Good luck!

Jodie

 

[K8T]

Yowza! Trying really hard to book something without going insane on the budget - so far the cheapest thing i have found is a holiday inn express for 100 euro per night - anyone have any experience there?

Pretty much everything i have tried is booked up, or upwards of 200 euro per night, and they want us to have 2 rooms, since there are 4 of us - though i will most likely end up just *Forgetting* to mention one of my kiddos on the reservation.....

even the novotel is up to 198 euro for just one night... crazy!

Hi

Are you four adults? Only I am looking at the Novotel site and it is 80euros for two adults and two children.

Kate