Hotel California

Lovely small, clean hotel located in the heart of the old centre of Barcelona. Small clean rooms, daily changing of towels. Simple breakfast buffet from 7 till 11 a.m. The two main disadvantages: 1) the noisy area (since late at night the bars in the Barri Gotíc area are open till 2-3 a.m. and people tend to walk around talking loudly), but if you undertake a lot during the day you will easily sleep through it. 2) Small disadvantage is the small foyer. If you are three or more people together it will feel like a crowded place. But apart from these two points this is a great hotel on a great location. The shopping area is at your feet. The lovely Plaça Reial Square is around the corner. Sandwich bars everywhere around. The Ramblas area and the closest subway station just a 5 min walk away, Plaça Catalunya (for Touristic Lines and coach services to and from the airport and neighbouring towns) just a 10 min walk. I would certainly book this hotel again on my next trip to Barcelona. The photographs provided on the web site of the hotel very closely resemble the actual look of the rooms.

This hotel couldn't be more central - just 100 metres off La Rambla. Rooms are clean, fairly spacious, and bathrooms are a good size as well. The staff were friendly which is always a bonus and held our luggage in reception for us all day as we didn't fly out until late evening. Breakfast was ok, nothing to write home about, but pretty standard. I can appreciate this place might be noisy in Summer when you have to have the window open at night, being located just over a few pubs, but in Winter this didn't bother us. I'd stay here again, and would recommend it.

This hotel is situated very centrally indeed, being a stone's throw from the Ramblas, and a five-minute walk to Plaza de Catalunya, which is the transport hub of the city of Barcelona. I have stayed in many hotels in Barcelona (I lived there for a year and often go back to visit) and in my opinion this offers the best value for money of any I have ever stayed in. When you build your expectations, bear in mind that this is a 2 star, budget hotel in the centre of Barcelona, which is a vibrant, 24-hour European party city. Some of the reviews of the hotel I have just read for this page are laughably naive. You will not get satellite TV, you will not see a large American-style lobby and there is no room service - if you want these luxuries, don't expect to get them from a budget hotel, and book into a larger hotel nearby. The hotel is run very efficiently from a small front desk, by very friendly staff. The hotel is located at the heart of the city, where the Gothic Quarter meets the Chinese Quarter (also known as the Raval). This is not a tranquil, tree-lined part of the city - it's the hot, lively, noisy, seedy heart of the city. If you want to have a hotel with staid respectability, go and stay up on the Diagonal or in Gracia, which are the yuppie areas of town. A lot is made of this hotel's "gay friendly" atmosphere on certain web pages, but this is misleading - the hotel is welcoming of ALL people, not just gay people. I am a gay man myself but the majority of people who stay here represent a regular cross section of travellers - the hotel is not seedy. The rooms are a good size for a budget hotel but most importantly they are clean which, even now that there is so much competition in the hotel trade, is a luxury in this hotel category in Barcelona. I have had no problem with the space of my room on any visit. The bathrooms are not mouldy or musty, and are clean and to a similar standard as the bedrooms. I have had no reason to use the electrical points but I find it hard to believe that the wiring would cause any device to explode, as one reviewer has mentioned. More likely is that the reviewer has used an inappropriate adapter - European plugs deliver 240V and not 110V as in the US. I hope this balances up some of the negative comments. In brief, this hotel is not a luxury establishment but it is safe and clean, with a friendly atmosphere, and it's based in the most exciting part of the city.

I stayed at the Hotel California in Barcelona for 4 nights at the start of October. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, the Location was perfect, just off the Ramblas, the Room was god and the bathroom was excellent - large, fully tiled and very clean. the Breakfast was ok, various breads, preserves and cereals, and plenty of it. The only down side was that our room was on the 4th floor which was a bit of a hike twice a day, the stairs are quite steep. However this was a small price to pay for something that otherwise was excellent value. I would recommend this for most people...a good basic, clean, central hotel at a good price.

I arrived at the hotel, having been ripped off by the taxi driver. That was only the beginning of the problem. What was described as the "reception area" was a 6 foot wide landing with 2 chairs on the stairs. Although already warm in Barc they had not yet turned on the a/c and only offered heat, which I certainly did not need. I was helped with my bags to the 3rd floor to my single room. Without exaggeration it was 7' wide and about 9'long, including a small desk, night stand and closet! When my suitcases were open on the floor I could not walk in the room. The en-suite bathroom was large, and so was the mildew all over. It was supposed to be a "quiet" rear facing room, but with the window open, the courtyard was filled with the sounds of a loud radio, a baby crying, an argument and in the morning a rooster crowing. All with a view of laundry hanging from windows. There was no electrical outlet other than for the cable TV (spanish only-no CNN) so I unplugged it to plug in my electric clock, WITH a converter, but the wiring was so bad it blew out the clock. The promised in-room personal safe does not exist. Cheesy bed, cheesy towels, the most depressing place I have ever stayed at in my life. I had booked on-line for 6 nights but fled after the first night. I peeked next door at a double and there was just enough room to get around the double bed. If you cant afford more, stay home!

Barcelona's Hotel California is central to the activity of the Old Town, the world famous Ramblas avenue is approximately 100 yards away. This is a small, two star hotel, no elevators so if you are on the third floor it is a bit of a climb. The hotel reception operates 24 hours and the staff all speak good English and were charming and very helpful. Rooms are simple but very clean, all with TV, efficient air-con and en-suite bathrooms. Not expensive for central Barcelona and if you don't want the inclusive breakfast (selection of cereals, pastries, rolls, juice, tea, coffee available from 7am to 11am) there are good restaurants close by serving everything you could wish for. The Hotel California (and when you check in the guy actually says 'Welcome to the Hotel California!') is in a very narrow side street so no view worth talking about even if you have one of the rooms with a tiny balcony. The entrance to this street was (and we were informed has been for quite some time) the dwelling place for several homeless people. They are not threatening in any way but when the local bars close (and there is an Irish bar right next to the entrance to the hotel) these vagrants become very noisy as do the many young tourists. With bars in Barcelona (and there are lots of bars in Barcelona) closing at any time between 2am and 5am don't expect a lot of sleep.

We stayed at this hotel on a Spanish Grand Prix weekend last year. We booked the trip quite late, and given the demand for accomodation that weekend we had a limited choice. Our priority at the time was something as cheap as we could get close to the city centre, which is exactly what we got. The hotel has a good location - just 2 minutes walk from La Ramblas - the main tourist street. However the street it is actually on is pretty bad. Having turned off La Ramblas onto a reasonably sized side-street, we had to turn off again onto what I would call an alleyway, and that was where we found the hotel. The area around is full of people sleeping rough. On turning onto the alley where the hotel was each evening we had to weave our way through a group of homeless folk cooking food on a fire at the corner. Having said that they did not disturb us or ever approach us, they minded their own business. The hotel itself does not have a bar or a restaurant. Our room was tiny and very dark. However the hotel was always very clean and the staff at the desk were always very friendly and very helpful. All-in-all if you are looking for a cheap trip, it's not the worst option, Do not expect luxury and a view becasue you will be dissapointed, however the price does reflect this.

This hotel is just two blocks away from The Rambla, Placa Reial and Placa de la Constitucion. Most of the top ten Barcelona has are walking distance from this hotel. The rooms are clean, Bathrooms are roomy and the closet space is amazing. They serve continental breakfast every morning. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Their prices are really good compare to other two stars hotel in the aerea. They have a noon check in but will hold your luggage till later if you have a late departure.....I love the small balconies each room have!

I would certainly return to this hotel and recommend it to friends and family.Very pleasant small 2*hotel with 4* value. Exceptionally clean and tidy. Breakfast was adequate and unhurried. Receptionist staff spoke OK english and were very helpful. Hotel California is situated in an ideal location, just off Las Ramblas and next to Placa Reial. Could be a bit noisy but that's what holidays are for. I have read that it is one of a few hotels in Barcelona that is happy to accomodate openly gay couples.

High standard, clean rooms, small balconys, OK breakfast. Close to Las Ramblas and only a short walk from Plaza de Catalunya. No traffic on the street below. Friendly staff.