Barcelona, Spain Hotels...Any Suggestions?

[IceSk8ersMom]

We stayed at the AC Barcelona. Every morning there was a continental breakfast, which was included in the price of the room. The hotel is across the street from a mall. We also got all our pre-cruise supplies there, and we ate in a few restaurants, but I cannot recall any specific names. The bus stop is also right across the street. The bus took us to all the major tourist spots in Barcelona.
We enjoyed our stay at the AC Barcelona very much.

 

[tink too]

I was able to book Le Meridein directly by phone for our WBTA....for 179 Euros a night.....a GREAT price. DCL was gonna charge over twice that. It is the only 5 star hotel on Las Ramblas. It is a Starwoods hotel, so kids are free.

I've been looking at Le Meridien's website and also found that great room price. I was just wondering though, do they allow children in the room priced at 179 Euros or will I need to book a suite because we are a family of 3?

 

[jewelmicky]

I think it depends on how old....There are three of us (DD will be 8.) They will bring in a cot for you.

The junior suite is 100 Euros more....we decided to upgrade, for a bit more privacy.

 

[Floridagal23]

We stayed at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona (the ritz carlton property, but there is also a Hotel de Arts or something like that which is not the same) and it was lovely. We got a pretty good rate through Amex platinum and it included an absolutely gorgeous, excellent breakfast in the hotel in the AM - the hotel was right on the beach and super convenient.

 

[tink too]

I think it depends on how old....There are three of us (DD will be 8.) They will bring in a cot for you.

The junior suite is 100 Euros more....we decided to upgrade, for a bit more privacy.

Thanks for the info, Jewel.

Still can't decide what to do though because a family friend has just recommended another hotel they use when they visit Barcelona!

 

[sandiedvc]

We currently have airfare and hotel booked thru DCL. We wanted to come in a day early for the TA so if we wanted DCL to book the flights we had to use their hotel or pay a $75 deviation fee. We have Hilton Diagonal Mar for $415 for two adults. Prices on line now look like we could get the room for $348 a night. DCL has marked up the price it looks like, but I am not sure exactly what room type DCL had booked so if they had upgraded the room type from the basic one I quoted, the $415 could be a fair price.

I did go ahead and book the AC Barcelona this morning. 2 adults in the lowest level room-- 120 euros + 7% VAT= 128,40 euro or about $187.

Lots cheaper than the Hilton and in the same general area. As long as it is clean and safe, I am happy!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I was able to book Le Meridein directly by phone for our WBTA....for 179 Euros a night.....a GREAT price. DCL was gonna charge over twice that. It is the only 5 star hotel on Las Ramblas. It is a Starwoods hotel, so kids are free.

The other 2 I am considering are Casa Camper (small and hard to get), and Hotel 1898.

Wow that sounds great!
I'm starting to stress out (a little) about this even though it's a year away because reading all these posts about people booking these rooms (the same night(s) we'd need to!) are making me think we better hurry up and do something!

We originally booked air/hotel but it was with the 10nt baltic B2B with the TA. We cancelled the 10nt and put the air on the TA but the room was waitlisted- still waitlisted.

I don't know how it works to book a room on your own if you have DCL air. We might not even end up staying with DCL with the air anyway if we end up able to find it cheaper on our own later on! But how would it work if you have air with DCL but book a room on your own? Is that even possible? How would you get them to do your air bringing you in earlier so you can stay in your hotel you booked on your own?

And also what about transportation? When you book these rooms do you even have any idea how far it is from airport to hotel to port and any idea on what you'll use for transportation on your own/not thru DCL?

help! I need to get us rooms as inexpensive as possible before they are all gone! We're waitlisted for all the DCL hotels they work with yet I keep reading thread after thread about those same hotels being booked "on their own". Apparently DCL can't book more rooms in those hotels even though rooms obviously are still available to book on your own! So I'm wondering if we should book the rooms on our own -now before they are all gone!

I don't even know how to find Le Meridian or AC diplomatic online or phone numbers to book on my own! ack!

 

[tea for girls]

To BibbidyBobbidyBoo I would suggest that you check out www.tripadvisor.com. Type in Barcelona- it will then give you the option to see all Barcelona hotels/apartments. Barcelona has lots, and lots of rooms. (Many conferences from all over the world are held here and there are rooms aplenty.) Tripadvisor will list the hotel by popularity and you then can read reviews that customers have written about it. You can also just type in your hotel name in tripadvisor and information about that specific hotel are listed including phone numbers and addresses.

After I did research on hotels through tripadvisor I then contacted the hotels directly through email and usually was quoted a better price than I was finding on third party sites like Orbitz, etc.

It does take a little time and energy to do this but I consider it part of the fun of the trip. Good luck.

 

[bellelinus]

Wow that sounds great!
I'm starting to stress out (a little) about this even though it's a year away because reading all these posts about people booking these rooms (the same night(s) we'd need to!) are making me think we better hurry up and do something!

We originally booked air/hotel but it was with the 10nt baltic B2B with the TA. We cancelled the 10nt and put the air on the TA but the room was waitlisted- still waitlisted.

I don't know how it works to book a room on your own if you have DCL air. We might not even end up staying with DCL with the air anyway if we end up able to find it cheaper on our own later on! But how would it work if you have air with DCL but book a room on your own? Is that even possible? How would you get them to do your air bringing you in earlier so you can stay in your hotel you booked on your own?

And also what about transportation? When you book these rooms do you even have any idea how far it is from airport to hotel to port and any idea on what you'll use for transportation on your own/not thru DCL?

help! I need to get us rooms as inexpensive as possible before they are all gone! We're waitlisted for all the DCL hotels they work with yet I keep reading thread after thread about those same hotels being booked "on their own". Apparently DCL can't book more rooms in those hotels even though rooms obviously are still available to book on your own! So I'm wondering if we should book the rooms on our own -now before they are all gone!

I don't even know how to find Le Meridian or AC diplomatic online or phone numbers to book on my own! ack!

BIP, don't stress . . . it is easy to use taxis to transport yourself around Barcelona, and they all seem to take 4 people plus baggage . . . we used a taxi to get from the port to our hotel at the top of Las Ramblas, another to get from the hotel to the port, and another at the taxi stand at the port to get to the airport at the end. The distances just aren't that great - it's not like Orlando and Port Canaveral.

I would recommend you book a hotel room on your own, provided you can do that and still use DCL flights. Part of the higher cost for the DCL rooms is the transport being included.

 

[sandiedvc]

Don't worry about the hotel! If you want to book everything thru DCL, I am sure that a hotel will open up for you. A lot of the people who are booking hotels on their own booked a hotel with Disney when they first opened the reservations.

I knew nothing of Europe or Barcelona. The whole idea was overwhelming so I just booked everything with Disney. I knew we had trouble with very expensive one way airfare for the Panama Canal trip and I didn't want to mess with that either.

Disney Cruise Line was my safety net school! I needed to have something I could depend on. Now I am working on my "reach" schools. It might not work out, but I can try. I am feeling a little more confident, but I am still looking at DCL hotels as they will have cruise desks.

If you want to keep the DCL air, you might want to check with DCL or your travel agent. I believe that they told me when I booked the TA that if you wanted to come in a day before the cruise they would charge a $75 air deviation fee. They would waive the fee if you booked a hotel thru DCL. It has been a long time tho' so don't trust my memory!

Good luck. There is a certain peace in not having to worry about arrangements and leaving the planning to DCL.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am SOOO anal!! I just booked a Med cruise yesterday for August 2011 and I couldn't resist popping into this thread to snoop! What an eye opener for hotel prices!! And I know nothing of how Euros compare to the dollar! Before I booked yesterday I looked at what DCL wanted for airfare! $2,000 pp!! I looked on kayak.com and saw we should be able to book on our own for somewhere between $900 - $1,100 so I said PASS to the DCL air!!! Plus we have some credit card miles we could put toward the air so that will help too.

OK, so moving on...just wondering...do most people go over 2 or 3 days early if they book on their own? Our cruise is scheduled from a Wed. to a Fri. So I figured we'd go over on Sat or Sun (arrive on Sun or Mon), have a day or two to do whatever and then fly home on the Fri. that the cruise gets back?! NO?! Is that not what most people do? It looks like a lot of people in 2010 are planning to stay in Barcelona afterward too?! Is there a reason not to head straight home if the ship gets back at 7:00 am?! Am I missing something with that?? What time does DCL recommend to book your flights home?

Sorry to snoop into your 2010 folks threads but I am anxious to try to learn as much as I can from ya'll!!! I am especially curious about hotel reviews & such so I will be reading up on tripadvisor & following all of you closely!!

 

[jewelmicky]

Here are the links for the hotels I have found.

By the way, NONE of these take a deposit...all you need is a credit card to hold the room. They have a 24-36 hour cancellation notice...or one nights payment.

Le Meridien Barcelona http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1931

Casa Camper
http://www.casacamper.com/barcelona/default-en.html

Hotel 1898
http://www.hotel1898.com/

I think any of these would be GREAT...all centrally located...Taxi's are plentiful and reasonable.

 

[bellelinus]

I am SOOO anal!! I just booked a Med cruise yesterday for August 2011 and I couldn't resist popping into this thread to snoop! What an eye opener for hotel prices!! And I know nothing of how Euros compare to the dollar! Before I booked yesterday I looked at what DCL wanted for airfare! $2,000 pp!! I looked on kayak.com and saw we should be able to book on our own for somewhere between $900 - $1,100 so I said PASS to the DCL air!!! Plus we have some credit card miles we could put toward the air so that will help too.

OK, so moving on...just wondering...do most people go over 2 or 3 days early if they book on their own? Our cruise is scheduled from a Wed. to a Fri. So I figured we'd go over on Sat or Sun (arrive on Sun or Mon), have a day or two to do whatever and then fly home on the Fri. that the cruise gets back?! NO?! Is that not what most people do? It looks like a lot of people in 2010 are planning to stay in Barcelona afterward too?! Is there a reason not to head straight home if the ship gets back at 7:00 am?! Am I missing something with that?? What time does DCL recommend to book your flights home?

Sorry to snoop into your 2010 folks threads but I am anxious to try to learn as much as I can from ya'll!!! I am especially curious about hotel reviews & such so I will be reading up on tripadvisor & following all of you closely!!

I was on the Med in 2007 and will be back next year . . . I think the most common choice is to come in at least a day early in case of travel problems and also to get over jet lag, and to leave the day you get off the ship. Obviously not everyone does this, but if you are sailing in and out of the same city, it's better to do sightseeing before rather than after for the above reasons

That being said, if everything went perfectly (and we all know it often doesn't) there would be no problem getting to the ship from a flight that came in that morning. It is an easy 15-20 minute ride from the airport to the port.

 

[Anal Annie]

I was on the Med in 2007 and will be back next year . . . I think the most common choice is to come in at least a day early in case of travel problems and also to get over jet lag, and to leave the day you get off the ship. Obviously not everyone does this, but if you are sailing in and out of the same city, it's better to do sightseeing before rather than after for the above reasons

That being said, if everything went perfectly (and we all know it often doesn't) there would be no problem getting to the ship from a flight that came in that morning. It is an easy 15-20 minute ride from the airport to the port.

Unless I lived on some remote island and only had one flight off for the week there's no way I'd try to do a transatlantic flight for a cruise and arrive on the day of the cruise! I KNOW some people will do that. But this is one gal that would not! I don't even want to fly 2 hrs from Maryland to Orlando on the same day! I know what the jet lag is like when we go to Hawaii so that's another issue I want out of the way ahead of time! The one thing that will come into play for us as to going on Sat nite, Sun nite or Mon nite will be if there's a really big diff. in price for the airfare. I am hoping to cover either 2 of us round trip or 3 flights one-way with credit card miles.

 

[bellelinus]

Unless I lived on some remote island and only had one flight off for the week there's no way I'd try to do a transatlantic flight for a cruise and arrive on the day of the cruise! I KNOW some people will do that. But this is one gal that would not! I don't even want to fly 2 hrs from Maryland to Orlando on the same day! I know what the jet lag is like when we go to Hawaii so that's another issue I want out of the way ahead of time! The one thing that will come into play for us as to going on Sat nite, Sun nite or Mon nite will be if there's a really big diff. in price for the airfare. I am hoping to cover either 2 of us round trip or 3 flights one-way with credit card miles.

I've never done it, either, and don't plan on it . . . but I know some people have a hard time getting enough time off work and have no other option.

 

[rocknspots]

We also sailed the Med in 2007. We booked our hotel... Atenea Mar... through DCL. Paid twice what we could have if we booked directly through the hotel but thought we'd get a "room with a view" since we were on the beach. NOT SO. The Disney name doesn't get you a better room IMO. Our room overlooked a small courtyard where we could watch drug deals going down. So I suggest you book wherever on your own and save the $$$. The Bus Tourista is a great way to get around Barcelona. It takes you to all the hot spots. Best deal ever. We went 3 days early so we could enjoy Barcelona and it turned out to be better than I ever could have expected.

 

[kileybeth]

Here are the links for the hotels I have found.

By the way, NONE of these take a deposit...all you need is a credit card to hold the room. They have a 24-36 hour cancellation notice...or one nights payment.

Le Meridien Barcelona http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1931

Casa Camper
http://www.casacamper.com/barcelona/default-en.html

Hotel 1898
http://www.hotel1898.com/

Thank you for this information. I am a huge tripadvisor fan but it is nice to hear first hand info.

We are booked on the WB TA sailing 9/18. This is a huge undertaking for me and I just want to get it right! It is so hard trying to figure out the budget I will need for this w/o knowing how it all works first. And since we only have a year to plan, the clocks a tickin' and I need to get my research done so I can tell how much I need to set aside/ save.

I think any of these would be GREAT...all centrally located...Taxi's are plentiful and reasonable.

thanks in advance for any/all info you have!

weird, my response went into the copied portion I was replying to?

 

[ScubaMickey]

I am SOOO anal!! I just booked a Med cruise yesterday for August 2011 and I couldn't resist popping into this thread to snoop! What an eye opener for hotel prices!! And I know nothing of how Euros compare to the dollar! Before I booked yesterday I looked at what DCL wanted for airfare! $2,000 pp!! I looked on kayak.com and saw we should be able to book on our own for somewhere between $900 - $1,100 so I said PASS to the DCL air!!! Plus we have some credit card miles we could put toward the air so that will help too.

OK, so moving on...just wondering...do most people go over 2 or 3 days early if they book on their own? Our cruise is scheduled from a Wed. to a Fri. So I figured we'd go over on Sat or Sun (arrive on Sun or Mon), have a day or two to do whatever and then fly home on the Fri. that the cruise gets back?! NO?! Is that not what most people do? It looks like a lot of people in 2010 are planning to stay in Barcelona afterward too?! Is there a reason not to head straight home if the ship gets back at 7:00 am?! Am I missing something with that?? What time does DCL recommend to book your flights home?

Sorry to snoop into your 2010 folks threads but I am anxious to try to learn as much as I can from ya'll!!! I am especially curious about hotel reviews & such so I will be reading up on tripadvisor & following all of you closely!!

We were on the Med cruise in 2007 and flew over a day early and came back a day later after the cruise ended. This gave us time to try and find the luggage that Delta managed to lose. I find it to our advantage to fly over at least a day early. We are booked on 8 day repo cruise for 2010. Try and pack light to conquer Europe's trains, busses, and taxis. I also exchange a small amount of US Dollars for Euros before arriving to have local curreny for snacks, drinks, pay-to-use restrooms, etc. Printing city maps off the internet ahead of time or buying them at B&N gives you a chance to review the train/metro routes and learn the main areas of the city.

PS - Found the luggage 10 days later in the Barcelona airport after a two hour search. Brought it home all clean and packed!

 

[HallsofVA]

So at this point, we are not sure why we would book through Disney for added hotel stay on back end of the cruise vs just handling ourselves directly. Are we missing any advantage to using them for this hotel booking in Barcelona besides it will cost us more money?

One benefit of booking the hotel with Disney is if you are also using Disney air, they will waive the air deviation fee (which is per traveller) so you can request a flight that gets in earlier, with fewer changes, at a more reasonable time. But the price differences we're seeing between the disney hotels and booking them directly could be significant enough to offset the $300 deviation fee for a family of 4.

Wow that sounds great!
I don't know how it works to book a room on your own if you have DCL air. We might not even end up staying with DCL with the air anyway if we end up able to find it cheaper on our own later on! But how would it work if you have air with DCL but book a room on your own? Is that even possible? How would you get them to do your air bringing you in earlier so you can stay in your hotel you booked on your own?

If you're using Disney air and want to arrive earlier or stay later, then you need to pay a $75 "deviation" fee per person. When you book air with Disney you are giving them the right to get you to the departure city in time for the cruise in the cheapest manner (to them) possible. That could mean one or more connections, a lengthy total travel time, and times that aren't convenient for a family. Paying the fee gives you the opportunity to dictate to Disney how and when you want to fly to/from the cruise. So if you're using Disney air and planning on arriving in barcelona 3 days before the cruise, you'd pay the fee and fill out a form requesting a flight that arrives 3 days early. (I'd also take advantage of the opportunity to request a specific flight on a specific carrier that works best in your schedule.)

If you want to keep the DCL air, you might want to check with DCL or your travel agent. I believe that they told me when I booked the TA that if you wanted to come in a day before the cruise they would charge a $75 air deviation fee. They would waive the fee if you booked a hotel thru DCL. It has been a long time tho' so don't trust my memory!

Your memory is good! That's the same information we were told.

 

[sunshine state kim]

http://www.hotelcontinental.com/home_ramblas.htm

We were on the last Disney Med cruise and are a family of 4. We stayed at the Hotal Continental Barcelona right on Las Ramblas. We had a little balcony looking right over the street which was perfect for people watching at the end of the day. We stayed 2 nights before and 1 night post cruise. The room for the pre-cruise was smaller, had 1 full queen bed and 2 trundle beds. With our luggage, we were pretty tight, but so excited about the cruise it didn't matter a bit. The free computer with internet at the front desk was handy. Free continental breakfast in the morning and little snacks available 24 hours. Beverages were free all day too. The people working there were so nice. Post-cruise we had a room with 2 queen sized beds. I can't remember exactly what we paid each night, but I believe it was right around 150 euro's per night. Not a fancy place, but clean, friendly with a great price and an unbeatable location. I would definitely stay there again.