Guitart Grand Passage - Barcelona, Spain 

We came back from Barcelona yesterday havng stayed at this hotel for 4 nights. We were very happy with our stay. All rooms are in fact suites, and despite being relatively close to Avenue Diagonal (the main artery of the city), the triple glazing effect that the enclosed balconies provides meant that we were never disturbed by street noise. The hotel furnishings, though not new were quite well maintained; there was an LCD TV in the sitting room and a portable in the bedroom; there was more wardrobe space and more hangers than usual. The bed was comfortable, although the pillows were not great. The hotel is located several tram stops (or 10 minutes by taxi) from the main tourist attractions- and was all the better for it! We were attending a conference, so chose the hotel location for its close proximity to the conference venue. Having stayed in the tourist zone before, we had been disppointed on a previous visit. There is a really nice department store 5 minutes walk from the hotel, and lots of lovely restaurants- we asked the hotel concierge for recommendations, and he directed us to 3 different restaurants within 5 minutes' walking distance on consecutive evenings*, which were all spot on- catering for local people, rather than tourists- the food was excellent and very reasonably priced. *Casimiro restaurante was our favourite- wonderful fish and steak