Eurostars Gaudi - Barcelona, Spain     

We stayed here for three nights beginning Dec.2nd. following a nine day cruise. We took a taxi that had room for four and cruise luggage. The taxis charge by the piece and for a larger minivan. We paid about 30 Euros with tip. While checking in, a member of our party had two carryons stolen by thieves in the lobby at around 9am in the morning. The girl at the desk let two men in the lobby while we were checking in. These men were not guests of the hotel and casually walked in, hung around the area and casually walked out with the carryon luggage before our friend knew what happened. I was involved with checking in and providing passports along with my friend. His wife went to the bathroom and our other friends were looking at the lobby internet and reading maps so stay vigilant even in the small lobby of a small hotel. The rooms were clean and modern and we had a good view of the circle and the towers of Segrada Familia a few blocks away. There is shower gel, soap, but no shampoo. They have fancy showers but only half partition of glass so flooding is common. The drainage is very slow. The towels smell like vinegar. The flat screen worked but not too many offerings in English. There are no good places to eat around the hotel. We don't like the cafe bars. The food is horrible and expensive. The good restaurants are down toward the Port and La Ramblas. The restaurants and cafes are smoke filled so those allergic, don't go to Barcelona. It seems like most people smoke. We saw many young teenagers smoking like chimneys. We used a two day hop on hop off bus at $23 Euros per person and caught it at the Segrada Familia. The metro was really close by the hotel- Monument station was less than a block away, 1.5 Euros each way. The Segrada Familia station was near the tourist site about 4 blocks away. Food is expensive, look for menu of the day offerings for value. Our US dollars don't go far in Europe. We enjoyed the Gothic Quarter and Park Guell. We visited some of the other stops and shopped in local districts on the tour bus route. We noticed that the general population and the non-tourist trade shop keepers have different hours from Americans. We get the impression that they don't work many hours a day. There is plenty to see and it will take more than three days to see many of the main sites. We paid 40 Euros for a taxi to the airport for 4 with 8 pieces of luggage. Other than the robbery, our friends enjoyed the Egyptian museum and Picasso Museum. It was an experience-good and bad.

This shouldn't be taken for the Gaudi Hotel from La Rambla (which I don't know, just that they are different). Eurostars' Gaudi is 10 minutes walk from Sagrada. If you're lucky you'll view it's roof from the hotel's window. Sagrada is close, but this is not downtown nor the gothic quarter (which is a little bit dirty imo). This is not a central hotel, but it's a quiet neigborhood (for a city). If you want the best of this hotel, ask for one of the rooms with terrace (last floor). They should be much nicer than the rest and bigger (especially if you've seen their website). We stayed in the smallest room, the one near elevators. Those are smaller than the regular ones, but we were OK, it was just a weekend trip. However, if you stay longer, get away from the elevators. The doors are indeed paper sheet, you will be woke up by your neighbors, not by the clock or sun ;) Didn't hear much of the noise on the street, but heard every foot step on the hallway. The hotel is 1 min from the subway station. Very very handy. One issue I noticed is that you will have to switch trains at least once from here, no matter where you head to. Didn't bother me a lot, but worths mentioning. Hotel is clean, furniture was new. A little bit cheap, trying to imitate expensive furniture. It is not... Anyway, better to imitate nice furniture than to have expensive ugly furniture. Didn't have anything to ask to staff so I can't comment. TV stations are not working well, but who needs that in Barcelona? Breakfast is enjoyable here (would be nicer with a view, but the hotel is very small) and there are so many things to do out there. Tip: Definitely go to Barceloneta if you like seafood. Choose any of the 100 fish restaurants there.