Where to Stay in Barcelona: Reviews of Two Very Different Hotels

We spent five nights in Barcelona, Spain recently. A friend recommended Market Hotel located at Passatge Sant Antoni Abat, 10 at the corner of Carrer Comp Borrell 68. The location if Market Hotel is fantastic. We could walk to Ramblas and to many areas to which we wanted to go. If we didn't want to walk the Metro stop is close by, which is how we got to the hotel. (We were coming from Madrid.)

We were told that there was a short cut - a side street - which at first seemed scary but actually is quite safe. The door to the hotel is on that side street - Carrer Comb Borrell 68.

The hotel is a smoking hotel, like most of Spain but our room had no telltale odors of cigarettes. The hotel is small with about 40 rooms. The check in area is tiny but the clerks were very friendly and always ready to answer our questions. Nice touches were the free bottles of water and apples we found everyday by the check-in desk. Next to that area is a lovely restaurant.

We found a tiny elevator but we walked up to the second floor -there are only two -to a simple and clean hallway. We had never encountered this so I will give you a tip. The door key/card turns on the lights via an electronic device on the wall.. They do this to save electricity and it works.

We had free Wi-Fi, a cute 4-poster bed, which was actually two separate twins made up to look like one bed, two chairs, two tables that acted as side bed tables and collapsed more than once, a slim table/desk, and a lovely bathroom with amenities. There were plenty of draws and a safe in the armoire.

I didn't see an iron but since you can borrow a computer in your room I am sure there is an iron to borrow. The room was a tad dusty in places and housekeeping didn't do the best of jobs when they cleaned our room but for an average of 90 € (Euros - multiply by 1.4% i.e.) we would return. In fact while we were there friends who arecoming to the area in May asked us to check on availability. They are full and when asked for a recommendation of a similar hotel we were told that there is nothing like Market Hotel in the area.

We didn't intend to spend a fifth night in Spain but all flights to NY were canceled due to rain. We called some hotels that the airline gave us. Wi-Fi was a must. We found Alfa Hotel, which is a Best Western. I couldn't believe the price -53.50 €.

We were picked up by a shuttle and driven to a very nice hotel whose one negative is that it is nowhere near the areas you will be visiting. This is a full-service hotel with a pool and a no smoking floor. We were very pleased with it for the night. We had a wonderful meal in the restaurant. I would suggest that if you have an early flight and have kids, Alfa Hotel might be somewhere you want to go the afternoon before you leave. The kids can blow off some steam in the pool and you can easily get to the airport.