pseudoswede
Jul 18, 12, 5:13 am
Hotel website (http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/spain/barcelona/nh-barcelona-centro.html)
Mrs. Swede and I took a long weekend trip to Barcelona. Based on her previous trip, she had four criteria for the hotel (1) it's located in Barri Gotic, (2) it's close--but not too close--to Las Ramblas, (3) it appears to be nice from the photos, and (4) it's not horrifically expensive.
After some extensive searching, I found the NH Barcelona Centro. The reviews raved on its proximity to Las Ramblas without the noise as well as its location within Barri Gotic. The pictures of the rooms and public areas were acceptable, as well. I booked it on Expedia for roughly $150/night (after applying a $50 BRG coupon, which I had to do via phone after booking on-line). Our rate included free cancellation as well as free breakfast.
Location
Our flight and bus trip got us to Barcelona Nord at 12:30am. The taxi driver did not know about this hotel. He frantically searched for the hotel in his map book as well as GPS with no success. That is when I remembered its former name (NH Duc de la Victoria), which is also the street it is located on. The GPS found that hotel. After a few minutes of searching, the taxi driver gave up and dropped us off in the middle of Placa Nova and guided us on his map book on where to walk. Fortunately, we only had two small carry-ons. Surprisingly, even being only two blocks away from Las Ramblas, the streets leading to the hotel were deserted at 1am (all shops were shuttered, too).
As we also noted later, the hotel is located on a very small street. The streets leading to Duc de la Victoria are managed by those pneumatic poles that rise and fall into the street to allow only those with allowed access to enter.
The location certainly cannot be beat if you want to be in Barri Gotic. It is 350m from Cathedral Barcelona, about 10 minutes from the Picasso Museum, and about 20 minutes from the sea. There is also a supermercat and pharmacia across the street. It was also a very easy 5 minute walk to La Boquirea as well as Placa Catalunya.
Check-in
Check-in was very easy. We were offered to upgrade our room to a "Superior Room" for 17 Euros/night extra, which also included free wi-fi. Since we didn't bring a laptop, and we each had a smartphone device, the free wi-fi was pretty useless. An upgrade to a Junior Suite was 30 Euros extra per night. We declined.
The receptionist also noted that our Expedia rate included everything in the mini-bar! We were skeptical, so we asked again in the morning, and it was confirmed. ^ We were also told it wouldn't be refilled during our stay. Naturally, when we checked-out, we were charged for the mini-bar, which, after the receptionist typed a bit, confirmed (yet again) we shouldn't have been charged.
Room
The Standard Room had a very small foyer. The first room to the right was a very tiny bathroom with marble floors. Straight ahead was the bedroom area (with a door). It consisted of a bench, two twin beds put together, a full-height closet (and in-room safe). We even had a balcony overlooking a quiet pedestrian street. There was also a TV and desk. Yes, the room was small, but we'd only spend enough time in there to shower and study the backs of our eyelids. It was in decent condition (floorboards showed signs of damage, tiny signs of mold in the grout in the shower), but overall pretty clean. The housekeepers did an excellent job.
The mini-bar contained two bottles of water, one bottle of mineral water, three beers, four sodas, one orange juice, and a bag of chips.
The room was quiet, save for the occasional noise of water draining down the pipes from upstairs rooms. There was very little outside noise to complain about.
Other Amenities
The lobby offers free wi-fi to guests. You have to get a username and password from the receptionist. They had a stack of them printed out (advice: don't take the top one, as someone may just stand there and punch in the login details without taking it). For the purposes of quickly checking e-mails and Facebook while enjoying drinks from the room's mini-bar before going out for dinner, it was very sufficient. The lobby was somewhat spacious and was never crowded except in the mornings (the hotel seemed to be occupied by a lot of people about to leave for cruises).
The breakfast buffet was impressive. There was a very large variety of breads, pastries, meats (hot and cold), cereal, fruit, juices, and yogurt. There was also cava and sangria available. You could order eggs from the waitstaff to be cooked and delivered to your table. There were also three Jura X-series espresso machines at your disposal. If breakfast is not included with your rate, it is an extra 10 Euros per person (which is still a decent deal given what you get).
Check Out
Simple except for the small bit about the mini-bar. They stored our luggage while we went to La Boquirea for some last-minute shopping and lunch. We returned, gathered our luggage, and walked 300m to Las Ramblas to find a taxi to take us to Barcelona Nord.
Summary
If you want to do the touristy things in Barcelona (this was my first visit), and want a clean, reasonably-priced room, this certainly fit the bill. The location is absolutely fantastic. Just be prepared to walk to the hotel if the taxi driver cannot find the place.
Small update: I received an e-mail recently from NH saying it now offers free wi-fi everywhere inside the hotel for their guests.
Mrs. Swede and I took a long weekend trip to Barcelona. Based on her previous trip, she had four criteria for the hotel (1) it's located in Barri Gotic, (2) it's close--but not too close--to Las Ramblas, (3) it appears to be nice from the photos, and (4) it's not horrifically expensive.
After some extensive searching, I found the NH Barcelona Centro. The reviews raved on its proximity to Las Ramblas without the noise as well as its location within Barri Gotic. The pictures of the rooms and public areas were acceptable, as well. I booked it on Expedia for roughly $150/night (after applying a $50 BRG coupon, which I had to do via phone after booking on-line). Our rate included free cancellation as well as free breakfast.
Location
Our flight and bus trip got us to Barcelona Nord at 12:30am. The taxi driver did not know about this hotel. He frantically searched for the hotel in his map book as well as GPS with no success. That is when I remembered its former name (NH Duc de la Victoria), which is also the street it is located on. The GPS found that hotel. After a few minutes of searching, the taxi driver gave up and dropped us off in the middle of Placa Nova and guided us on his map book on where to walk. Fortunately, we only had two small carry-ons. Surprisingly, even being only two blocks away from Las Ramblas, the streets leading to the hotel were deserted at 1am (all shops were shuttered, too).
As we also noted later, the hotel is located on a very small street. The streets leading to Duc de la Victoria are managed by those pneumatic poles that rise and fall into the street to allow only those with allowed access to enter.
The location certainly cannot be beat if you want to be in Barri Gotic. It is 350m from Cathedral Barcelona, about 10 minutes from the Picasso Museum, and about 20 minutes from the sea. There is also a supermercat and pharmacia across the street. It was also a very easy 5 minute walk to La Boquirea as well as Placa Catalunya.
Check-in
Check-in was very easy. We were offered to upgrade our room to a "Superior Room" for 17 Euros/night extra, which also included free wi-fi. Since we didn't bring a laptop, and we each had a smartphone device, the free wi-fi was pretty useless. An upgrade to a Junior Suite was 30 Euros extra per night. We declined.
The receptionist also noted that our Expedia rate included everything in the mini-bar! We were skeptical, so we asked again in the morning, and it was confirmed. ^ We were also told it wouldn't be refilled during our stay. Naturally, when we checked-out, we were charged for the mini-bar, which, after the receptionist typed a bit, confirmed (yet again) we shouldn't have been charged.
Room
The Standard Room had a very small foyer. The first room to the right was a very tiny bathroom with marble floors. Straight ahead was the bedroom area (with a door). It consisted of a bench, two twin beds put together, a full-height closet (and in-room safe). We even had a balcony overlooking a quiet pedestrian street. There was also a TV and desk. Yes, the room was small, but we'd only spend enough time in there to shower and study the backs of our eyelids. It was in decent condition (floorboards showed signs of damage, tiny signs of mold in the grout in the shower), but overall pretty clean. The housekeepers did an excellent job.
The mini-bar contained two bottles of water, one bottle of mineral water, three beers, four sodas, one orange juice, and a bag of chips.
The room was quiet, save for the occasional noise of water draining down the pipes from upstairs rooms. There was very little outside noise to complain about.
Other Amenities
The lobby offers free wi-fi to guests. You have to get a username and password from the receptionist. They had a stack of them printed out (advice: don't take the top one, as someone may just stand there and punch in the login details without taking it). For the purposes of quickly checking e-mails and Facebook while enjoying drinks from the room's mini-bar before going out for dinner, it was very sufficient. The lobby was somewhat spacious and was never crowded except in the mornings (the hotel seemed to be occupied by a lot of people about to leave for cruises).
The breakfast buffet was impressive. There was a very large variety of breads, pastries, meats (hot and cold), cereal, fruit, juices, and yogurt. There was also cava and sangria available. You could order eggs from the waitstaff to be cooked and delivered to your table. There were also three Jura X-series espresso machines at your disposal. If breakfast is not included with your rate, it is an extra 10 Euros per person (which is still a decent deal given what you get).
Check Out
Simple except for the small bit about the mini-bar. They stored our luggage while we went to La Boquirea for some last-minute shopping and lunch. We returned, gathered our luggage, and walked 300m to Las Ramblas to find a taxi to take us to Barcelona Nord.
Summary
If you want to do the touristy things in Barcelona (this was my first visit), and want a clean, reasonably-priced room, this certainly fit the bill. The location is absolutely fantastic. Just be prepared to walk to the hotel if the taxi driver cannot find the place.
Small update: I received an e-mail recently from NH saying it now offers free wi-fi everywhere inside the hotel for their guests.