Azul Hotel

Busy. Very expensive. With that money I could have gone to a better hotel. Reception is very small. The elevator is messy. In the room: in the bathroom there are quite a few "broken" things, the pillows are messy, instead of putting a normal paddle they put paddies with blanket, also the room has a lot of noise pollution, they don't even have regular shampoos, soaps and shower baths. In general, my experience here is bad.

We needed a hotel for a few nights before leaving on a cruise out of Barcelona. Just needed a room for three adults, nothing fancy or expensive. Wanted to keep the price at around $200 per night. This one ended up being $213/night with everything included. The location was fantastic for what we had planned while in town. It was less than 100 meters from Placa Espana. So, the Aerobus from the airport let us off just across the street from the hotel. The five minute walk to the Placa Espana trains and metro allowed us to easily travel to the two places we wanted to go before leaving on our cruise. One day we bought our "all in" tickets at the booth in Placa Espana for Montserrat and spent most of the day there. Next day we took the Metro to Sagrada Familia. Easy and quick with only one change of metro trains. When leaving, we used an Uber Van to get to the cruise terminal. (Note - used the van because I wasn't sure three people and all the luggage would have fit into an UberX or one of the tiny taxis.) We were not very far from the cruise terminal so the cost was around $35, about he same as the cost of 2 UberX's. Our room was spacious and clean. A large bed (queen?) in one room, and single twin bed in another room. Bathroom even had a tub. That might be a first for us in Europe. Lots of closet space with a safe (ask at the desk for the key). We were on the 4th floor but seldom had to wait long for one of the two small elevators. Only caution would be when asking for suggestions on places for tapas. There are dozen of places around the hotel. But the clerk directed me to two places in the Las Arenas Shopping Centre, a former bullring just up the street. It was a little too convenient that he had cards advertising both (with Acta Azul printed on the back). They looked a bit pricey for tapas. Do you think they had an "arrangement"? We ate at the little place right next door to the hotel. it was fine. Also skipped the €9 breakfast at the hotel. Looked truly like a basic continental breakfast, no hot food and NO ESSPRESSO MACHINE. (If there was one I didn't see it.) Just stopped at a café up the street for coffee and pastries in the mornings For the price, quality and location, I'd definitely stay there again.

I loved my stay at this hotel. The rooms were clean, the staff friendly and the hotel well located (5 minutes walk from Espanya metro station). The only thing that didn't seem appropriate to me was the size of the breakfast buffet. For a 4* I expected a bigger buffet. I will return without doubt and can advise travelers who are looking for accommodation in Barcelona.