Boria Bcn - Barcelona, Spain     

We stayed at Boria for our 10 days honeymoon in august 2007. A perfect choice for honeymooners with its luxurious and spacious rooms. I found the hotel through a hotel booking site, but since I prefer to book directly at the hotel I did so through their webpage, and it worked very well. I hade some questions before placing the booking and they replied quickly and placing the booking directly at the hotel felt secure. On arrival we hade complimentary cava and chocolates, a very nice touch when on your honeymoon, even thou we knew it wasn’t something special just for us, but that kind of thing really shows it’s a hotel that take pride in the details. Just as always having fresh flowers in the room, changed every third day. And it was fun to se the bed done in different ways almost every day. ;-) The staff was very friendly and helpful, and yes, the guy working the nightshift is just there for security, not as a receptionist. We loved the little kitchenette, one of the reasons for booking the hotel since I have a medical condition making me have to eat very regular and have all that space to prepare easy dishes and a fried and freezer (whit free ice, nice touch to) made it possible to have the ingredient fresh and chilled. The only downside was that the cooker didn’t work (it was not broken, just not in use) and that was a pity I think. Wonder why there were installed when one couldn’t use them. Maybe it hade something to do with security and insurances. You really should take advantage of the fact that you have one of the nice markets (mercat de santa caterinia) just a block away and go there and by fruit, hams, cheeses and prepare a lovely breakfast in your room. And the dishwasher was a nice surprise, no need to take any washing liquid or sponges whit you if you are used to that when renting an apartment. This is a hotel apartment, with all the service. But there could have been one ore two more channels on the telly for us English speaking. Even thou we went there to watch telly, its nice to have it on when eating breakfast and while preparing to go out. After 10 days, you are feed up with news, I promise you. The location is highly central, I and don’t understand how anyone wants to live at La Rambla when you can stay in El Born and La Ribiera. Most things is within walking distains and we found that taking the tube often took to more time than walking directly. But fore the times when you are to go a but further in the city, for example up to Park Gürel or Montjuïc, you have a tube station just around the corner. We highly recommend eating one of your meals on the restaurant Petit Safrà just by the market. Easy, well cooked food to a nice price. We eat there on our first night after recommendation from the receptionist and we returned on our last night as well. When you want to enjoy a real good seafood platter, go to Can Ramonet in the Baceloneta, but whatever you do, pleas just go pass the very nice looking restaurants that you pass on the way there from the hotel at the Historic Museum. The look nice, but the food is that as great as the décor and it’s heavily overpriced. Instead, wonder down in El Born and eat at one of the modern restaurants there, bestiari for example is a very nice one.

Found Boria at the last minute and it was a great find. The location was great as we much prefer El Born vibe to Las Ramblas. That being said, it was a 15 minutes to Las Ramblas so you're actually very centrally located. Also, the street that it's located on is very quiet which was a plus for a good sleep. The rooms were fantastic, much more than I expected. You could easily fit 4 people in the room we stayed in. there was a separate bedroom with a Queen bed (so actually two Queens), a kitchen, a small terrace, and the decor was tasteful and modern. The staff was very nice though they may not be as knowledgeable as some of the larger hotels. But it's a boutique hotel so it has that smaller, cozy feel. Overall, we have no complaints and had a great experience.