Gran Hotel Barcino - Barcelona, Spain     

I don't know why anyone is so crabby about this hotel. My boyfriend and I stayed there and found everything to be just fine. The location is wonderful - just steps to La Rambla, the cathedral, and public transportation. The staff spoke English better than any other Spanish person we came in contact wtih. They were rude, my "Hi, we'd like to check in." was met with a "Who are you?" instead of something friendly, but that's not enough to ruin our trip. It was a large room, everything was clean, it had a nice bathroom, and a great terrace overlooking the street. Breakfast wasn't included and we didn't even walk over by their bar so I can't comment on that. The only thing questionable was the safety of the luggage room, it's not locked and they don't keep an eye on who goes in and out, but we didn't have any problems. They did take a copy of our passports upon check in but I've never checked into a hotel in Europe that didn't. Bottom line: this is a clean place with a great location that I would recommend.

Gran Hotel Barcino... I've stayed here 3 nights (140 Euros / night) in June 2008 and it supposed to be a 4 stars hotel...Yeah right!!! The bathroom and the room is the size of a normal bathroom. The elevator is enought for 2 people max. The view is miserable (pipes) and it is not even cleaned. I strongly encourage everyone not book in this hotel... I would rate this hotel as 1.5 star hotel. The staff are ok (depending on the shift) but really do not care about you. The bar is closed. The bed is very small and is so poorly decorated. Of course, the walls are so thin that you can hear all noises your neighboors make. The bar is closed. There is no pool, gym, restaurant, iron, landry, etc.... The only good thing about this hotel is the location. It is well located (town) which is a good thing because you do not want to stay in the hotel too long!!!