Hotel 1898 - Barcelona, Spain 

LH
Posted: Fri, May 08 2009
We booked a "priviledge" room with a Ramblas view. This room catagory does not have a balcony, but is huge and luxurious. The only problem we encountered is that a Ramblas view also comes with Ramblas noise. This means roosters at dawn and loud church gongs every 15 minutes beginning at 0800. Our suite shared a wall with the ancient church and actually vibrated with each gong! Book on the sides away from the church. We love a view, but it's just not worth the noise. Other than that, this is a gorgeous hotel. Do NOT miss the underground spa pool and the rooftop pool. And be forewarned: some of the interior rooms are extremely small.

BB
Posted: Tue, Nov 11 2008
Very nice hotel, we reallya enjoyed our stay in Barcelona. Fantastic view from the roof of the hotel and a very nice pool and bar!

KP
Posted: Mon, Nov 03 2008
Hotel 1898 was very nice and better quality than i was anticipating. While I couldn't hear any noise from the busy street, I could hear a lot of noise from the nside hallway and from other rooms. The rooftop pool and terrace were closed for "last minute" renovations which I found very disappointing since the weather was still beautiful outside. The indoor spa was great though. The location was great, close to Metro, Gothic quarter, Market and lots of shopping. I would stay there again as long as the rooftop pool was open.

JN
Posted: Sun, Nov 02 2008
Beautiful hotel in an excellent location and we enjoyed the indoor pool after walking 6 hours+ per day. Restaurant was very good.

Overpriced
Posted: Tue, Jul 22 2008
I had originally booked the Hotel Arts for our 3 night stay in Barcelona for our wedding anniversary. Upon reading the reviews and seeing the location of Arts, I cancelled this booking to stay at 1898. What a mistake. The cost was about the same, (370 Euros a night for a bedroom with terrace at 1898). Paying this sort of money, I expected, rightly or wrongly so, to have some sort of standard of service. How wrong we were. We arrived to be told that there were no irons and ironing boards allowed in the rooms, that they were a 'risk', so if you wanted anything to be ironed, you had to pay for laundry (I am surprised no one else noted this?). The luggage we brought along would have cost well over 100 Euros to be ironed. How ridiculous. So we nipped to Carrefour next door and got a travel iron!!!! Not exactly what I had in mind for our special break!!!!! The room (532 I think it was) was smaller than I imagined it would be, spotlessly clean I hasten to add, with a nice private terrace to lounge around in, which I appreciated. It was nicely decorated, but not at all spacious in size for the price we paid. The service is what lets this hotel down. We had problems getting a taxi one night and there were 4 people behind the reception desk doing nothing, whilst the concierge over the road at the Meridien, were hailing every available taxi for their clients. Very irritating. Also, the service on the roof top terrace was spectacularly awful. I shouldnt have to send my husband to find a waiter to get us drinks, or have to look at remanants of breakfast left by other guests for half an hour. The location, la rambla, is awful. Coming from Amsterdam, this was the worst place for us to be situated. What a nasty, smelly, crowded tourist hellhole. We went to Hotel Arts for a drink one lunchtime and I severely regret cancelling that booking. There were staff everywhere. Service was efficient and polite and professional. This was truly a 5 star experience. I shall be booking there on our next trip for sure. I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone, because I felt it was majorly overpriced for what you get. Majorly disappointed and not sure why this hotel is number 1 in Barcelona????!!!!!!!!!!