Ayre Hotel Caspe - Barcelona, Spain 

This is a clean, modern, well-outfitted hotel with a friendly and helpful staff. It is near the Sacred Family church and within walking distance of the Gothic Quarter. The hotel rooms are spacious and well-air conditioned. Highly recommended for pre and post cruise accommodations.

On the plus side, check in was easy. We arrived quite early from our cruise ship and took a cab to the hotel, which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The lobby was very large, modern and sparsely furnished - no warmth at all, and I don't mean the temperature. Check-in was a breeze. I had anticipated problems because of the early hour of our arrival, but there were none. We were given a room immediately. The room was spacious by European standards, and clean. But the bed was hard, and when I asked if they could do anything to help, such as an eggcrate topper, I was brusquely told "no." One of the reasons for choosing this hotel was price, which was lower due to the location. The other was that it offered free in-room Wi-fi. This was a necessity, since my husband absolutely had to do some work. We were dismayed to find that it never worked during both nights of our stay, not in the room and not in the lobby. The people at the desk weren't apologetic, and just plain didn't care. We were happy to see that there was an internet cafe right across the street, but when my husband went there, he couldn't believe that it was Chinese - ALL Chinese: management, customers, and keyboards! On our long walk toward the Ramblas we found two more internet cafes, but they, too, were strictly Chinese. We were in Barcelona two years ago and had no trouble finding one, but apparently immigration has been ramped up! We finally found one that he could use, but it was just to send an email to his boss explaining why he couldn't do what he was supposed to be doing. He needed his own computer to connect to the U.S. government's secure website. On our second day we left our room at 10:00 a.m. and didn't return until late in the evening. We found that our room had not been cleaned AT ALL! I went downstairs to the desk and was met with the same lack of concern and again, no apology. The guy simply handed us a couple of clean towels. We had not paid for the room in advance, just booked online with a 35 Euro deposit with the booking service the hotel uses. The next morning at checkout we asked for a reduction on our bill due to the necessary wi-fi not being provided and our room not being cleaned. No way, Jose. They would not budge, and offered nothing as compensation. We refused to sign the charge slip, but they had the info and we have just gotten the bill with the full amount charged. We are now disputing the charge. Yes, certainly we should pay for the two nights we stayed, but I believe that we are owed something for all the trips down to the desk to deal with the wi-fi issue, plus the lack of maid service. Sure it's a foreign country and wouldn't have ended this way in the U.S., but Spain's a modern country and this is inexcusable. About the neighborhood: I read so many reviews about the Ayre Caspe on Trip Advisor and there was much written about the neighborhood - some people saying it was dicey and others reporting that they felt safe. While we didn't like the location due to its distance from the main Plaza, the Ramblas, and other sites in the city, there is absolutely no reason to fear it. It's a residential neighborhood, lots of apartment houses, not unpleasant to look at, and completely safe. We walked it day and night, and even walked back at 1:00 a.m. from the Ramblas, a long trek. The streets weren't full of people, but there were no muggers or suspicious-looking characters, either. Fear of the neighborhood shouldn't stop you from staying here. But the sterile atmosphere, cold and indifferent management, and lousy service should make you look elsewhere.