P_M

I am in the process of doing the one travel chore I hate, and that is searching for hotels. We will be arriving June 19 and leaving June 22 on a cruise so we need 3 nights. I'm finding hotels to be very expensive and we would like to stay under €300/night. Of course less would be good. We have our reasons for wanting to be near the Palau de la Musica, as we will have an early morning excursion from an office near there. I'm open to all suggestions but the ones I've looked at the most closely are the Rialto Hotel in the Gothic Quarter and the Oriente Atiram Hotel. Please let me know what you think of these, or if you have a better idea. We are two women needing single beds and of course safety is a priority.

Thanks.

PS Air conditioning is a MUST, but I can't imagine any hotel won't have it in late June.

KarenWoo

In 2010 we stayed at the Hotel Granvia in the Eixample neighborhood which is beautiful and safe. We had a tour of the Palau de la Musica, and I remember it was a short walk from our hotel. We walked to many of the sites we visited, such as Casa Battlo, Casa Mila and the Boqueria Market.
https://www.hotelgranvia.com/en

P_M

Thanks Karen. That hotel looks beautiful. I'll book something in the next few days, and that one will be a consideration.

Maribel

I agree with KarenWoo (surprise?, no!!). It's a lovely hotel, and the Eixample neighborhood is as Karen says, both beautiful and safe. Everything from there will be an easy walk. So consider it seriously.

P_M

Hello Maribel, I was hoping to hear from you. Thanks for jumping in.

P_M

I went into the Granvia's website and I hit a snag, as it kept throwing me out of the rate I was trying to book. I emailed the hotel to explain the problem and I asked about the rates, but they simply told me to book online. So I'm in a catch 22 with this hotel.

If this doesn't pan out I would love other hotel suggestions, or information about the hotels I mentioned in the OP.

Maribel

For safety's sake and to be away from the huge tourist crowds that make the Gothic Quarter a bit of a tourist tsunami these days, I would look for a hotel in the Right Eixample, within easy walking distance of the Palau but north of the Plaça de Catalunya. I'll post a few later.

KarenWoo

I’m sorry to hear you are having problems booking with Granvia. It’s a wonderful hotel in a great location. That’s so annoying.

I am sure Maribel will have some awesome suggestions.

Maribel

I'm really surprised that the Granvía wouldn't let you book directly with them via email. I tried to dummy book your room online to no avail, trying several different browsers.

You're certainly correct, P_M, that the June prices for a 4-star hotel in Barcelona are SKY HIGH (and that's NO hyperbole!!!), since it's cruise season, high season, convention/congress season, etc.
Barcelona in the summer has, notoriously, the most expensive lodging costs in mainland Spain. Truly. (Honestly, it's what keeps us away in summer, but I know you must be there to catch your cruise).

For 300 euros/night for 3 nights, starting June 19, in the safe and elegant Example, I see, unfortunately, very little (sigh!!!). I'm actually shocked at the rates I see, the worst ever. All my "usual suspects", like the Granados 83, Midmost by Majestic and Room Mates are above 300/night. Yipes! Truly, I´ve never seen rates here so high, and so many hotels are already booked solid (post covid revenge travel at its worst).

The best I could find in the Example are these 3-stars: Pratik Bakery (the Praktik is a local chain) on the lovely, tree shaded Rambla de Catalunya (easily walkable to the Palau), the Onix Rambla (also on the same lovely street) or the One Shot Aragó (the One Shot being a sold 3-star chain). These today are slightly under budget.

P_M

Thank you Maribel, I'll look at these. The hotel/bakery sounds interesting and fattening. 😀

Do you have any opinions on the hotels I mentioned in my OP? If you don't like those, its OK to tell me.

Maribel

Hi P_M,
I don't have an opinion because I don't know them. It's not that I don't like them as hotels; it's just that they haven't been on my radar.

Because of an incident several years ago--the theft of my gold and silver necklace, ripped straight off my neck by a bicycle thief while I was walking to our evening dining venue-- I just prefer to stay away from staying in the Gothic Quarter and La Ribera, and also because of the massive tourist presence there during the day.
I just feel more comfortable and safer in the Eixample.

Also, I would never stay on the always teeming and extremely touristy Las Ramblas, also a big target of pickpockets, which is where the Oriente Atrium Hotel is located. The only time I venture to Las Ramblas is to take a stroll through the Mercat de Sant Josef, known as the Boquería Market or to have a snack there at El Quim, the market stand-restaurant with amazingly delicious small plates, very well known (now that the uber famous Bar Pinotxo has moved to the Mercat Sant Antoni).

Traveler_Nick

Since Covid Barcelona prices have been high at all levels. Even if you're booking well in advance. At times approaching twice pre Covid prices.

Maribel

And especially high during the extremely busy cruise season.

ekscrunchy

The GranVia will always be close to my heart! My parents stayed there decades ago. They told the story, now famous in our family, when my Dad phoned the desk and asked for "jamon." He could not understand why the person seemed to not understand and he kept saying "jamon." Eventually a waiter came to the room with a giant platter of...jamon. My parents were stunned.

My Dad wanted jabon! (soap)!

There is another tale with my parents at that hotel, involving a bathrobe that. my Dad was apparently trying to sneak out in his suitcase. You can imagine. That one was told by my mother.

Then I stayed there on a weekend trip to Valencia in 1968 when I was in summer school.
And then I went back in the late '90s with my partner.
I still remember the front desk guy, Juan Gomez.

Of course it's not the same hotel anymore since it's been renovated, but the interior was beautiful. I hope they retained those details.

P_M

UPDATE:

I went back to the website and I was able to book rooms at the non-refundable rate, where you pay in advance. I'm always very uneasy with paying in advance, but I added this cost to my travel insurance so I'm covered if, God forbid, something happens where this trip is off.

Thank you all very much. I was not even looking at Eixample, I was only looking at the Gothic Quarter and Las Ramblas area. I would have never found this hotel without you. A big hug to all of our Barcelona experts!!

PS. I will be traveling with my sister, who has never been out of North America. This will be her first hotel stay in Europe. Her first impression of Spain will be mind blowing. As a joke, I think I'll tell her we are staying in a dump, just so I can see the look on her face when she sees the Granvia.

KarenWoo

P_M, I am so happy the GranVia worked out for you!

morganphoenix0071

I'm looking at ByPillow Mothern, looks quite new and within your budget!

Maribel

Glad you were able to book and I know you'll love the Granvía. It has kept its wonderful architectural details and the location will be super handy for you.


For others following this, the ByPillow group is a somewhat budget chain(hostal-like small rooms but nicely decorated and good amenities) with 3 hotels in Madrid, now 5 in Barcelona 3 in Sevilla, 2 in Bilbao, 2 in Girona, 2 in Cádiz, 1 in Alicante and they´ve taken over the seaside Cap Sa Sal outside of Girona.
The Velázquez 45 one in Madrid, due to its very chic location on one of Madrid´s most elegant streets, Calle Velázquez, does not necessarily have "budget" pricing, as rates there are dynamic; they can be as low as 75/night and as high as 493 (on May 30---Taylor Swift concert)!