Barceló Raval

My first time in Barcelona...decided to push the boat out..got a good deal off tinterweb. Definitely made the right choice of where to stay. Wonderful experience..only downside is that the area is currently being revitalised so there were a few dodgy characters on the streets leading to The Ramblas...but saying that..it was fine as long as you kept your wits about you...didn't feel threatened at all...The roof terrace is a must visit...views are stunning..day & night..If we return to Barca ever..we will stay at this hotel...We loved it...

Everything just great. Only espresso machine was not working.

We booked this Hotel mainly for its location, not disappointed with that other than the comment off the driver when we got out of the taxi "be very carefully around here". That comment worried my wife, but personally I found it to be totally unfounded and most probably based on his preconceived prejudice of the local ethnic people who lived and worked around the Hotel. Anyway, upon arrival we presented ourselves to the desk and stated we had a reservation for 2 nights Bed & Breakfast in a ‘Superior Double Room’ the receptionist said that we had only booked a standard room and said we would need to upgrade for another 10 Euros. Rather than have an argument over 10 Euros I reluctantly accepted, so beware, obviously a scam as when checking out, they tried to add another 10! When checking in, I advised the receptionist that we had to leave the Hotel on the last morning before breakfast was available, but as we had paid for it, could we have it early. She said we could have a picnic made up. I checked this the evening before we left and was told it would be ready in the morning. Needless to say, the morning receptionist knew nothing of it and just finally after my insistence came out with a yogurt, an apple and a small bottle of peach juice, in a nice black cloth bottle bag with the Hotel name on it. Not very good for a so called 5 star Hotel. We have stayed in many 5 star Hotels and never been treated in such what I would describe as a contemptible manner. We found the Hotel room to be far to hot and asked for it to be turned down (they did send a maintenance man to our room, but he just said he would adjust it), don’t think he did as we had to sleep with all the windows open to stay cool (I don’t think I would like to stay there in the summer) so very noisy throughout the night!, the fridge did not work either, chocolate melted in it! Before leaving, I asked the receptionist to call us a Taxi to take us to the Sants bus station (about 3 miles away) as we had return Bus tickets to Reus Airport @ 7.00am, this was at 6.00am. The taxi arrived at about 6.15 and I told the driver what Bus station we needed. He took us on a merry-go-round and 20 minutes later and 18 Euros lighter, we arrived at the wrong station; he insisted that it was the correct one, wrong! We then had to get another taxi to Sants, we had a driver who was like driving miss daisy, every one including the cyclists were overtaking us, and again a merry-go-round was under way. I am positive he had it in his head that if we missed the bus he had a fare to Reus. Luckily, on my phone I have a built in Sat Nav, so when I put in the Hotel address it said turn left, he looked up and said ‘Sat Nav?’ he looked a little starteld, he he. The driver had no intention of turning left until he heard the voice on the phone!! Thankfully, the bus station was straight down the road and I recognised it. Just made the bus! So beware the tourist traps. Getting back to the Hotel, the one breakfast we had was good and you could ask for a hot (bacon, egg etc) if you like and the Staff at breakfast were very nice and friendly. One other thing to note, when asking for a Chicken Paella at the restaurant down the street! You get Rabbit, they insist it is Chicken, but it is defiantly Rabbit and a pricey one too!