De L'Arc Hotel

Was concerned about some of the reviews I read but the room we were given was perfect with a balcony overlooking the Ramblas. The double glazing patio doors killed the sound from the street when closed. The air conditioning kept the room cool even though it was off during the day as the door card kills the power to the room when you remove it to leave the room. The taxies seem to charge what the like as the meter in the cab only reflect's half the cost of the fare as they charge all the extra's for each suitcase, airport levy, etc. Agree a price before departure. There is a bus to the Airport every 10 mins at the top of la Ramblas in Cataluna square which costs €3.75 and takes about 40 minutes. The opentop bus tour is a must with tickets costing €18 for a day or €22 for 2 days. There are 3 bus routs Red,Green and Blue, all serving different tourst attractions and you can get off and on as often as you want.

AVOID THIS HOTEL. My partner and I had booked 3 nights at this hotel over the internet. Upon our arrival we found that the hotel has an older section (not shown in photos) and that we had been allocated one of these rooms with two single beds, not the double that we had booked. After asking the staff to be changed to one of the rooms that we booked we were met with an attitude of indifference to our request. No solution was offered from the staff. As it was already evening, we relunctantly decided to spend the one night and find somewhere else to stay the following day. However, when we got to our room the whole floor had a power shortage. After returning from dinner we experienced another power shortage and I complained to the staff at reception only to experience their indifference once more. Some reviews suggest that the location is the best thing about this place, but it is in the sleazier part of La Rambla (strip clubs next door and a stream of bachelor parties out front). The hotel has a lovely reception area, but the quality does not extend to the rooms and staff. DO NOT STAY HERE

I stayed a week at the hotel de l'arc and even if it looked ok the first day, it became a nightmare very fast. First I have to say that the hotel is partly renovated, but at least half of the room arent, and We were in one of them, so I can only give my advice on this type of room. But my guess is that if you get a cheap rate, you will be in this type of room. The hotel is VERY noisy. We were expecting it, having a room with a view directly on la Rambla (a famous boulevard for tourist, full of atraction night & day), but the worst is the noise inside the hotel, the phonic isolation is non-existent, you could clearly hear every move of the guests in the next room, or anything happening in the corridor. (bad luck, a baby and a couple of party-goers stayed at the same floor...) The breakfast is terrible, it's served in a very warm room, and you get some juices, bread, coffe, tea. nothing else. We even had perished cake one day, the best-before date was more than one month before! Of course for the price (8euros) it's a rip-off, but the worst is that they tried to make us pay by telling us only the 4th day in the week that it was not included, even though we booked with breakfast included. Every day before, the attendant asked us our room number and sayed nothing. I had to argue for some time to avoid paying. And then a few details that make it worse : The 2nd day, the A/C stopped working (it was 28°C outside). at least it was fixed quickly. The 3rd day we discovered the bathroom was infested with ants. You like it or not, but there are horrible prostitute and a sex shop the door next to the hotel. and the neighbourhood is not very pleasant, we even saw a demonstration of the local people against drugs and insecurity in the neighbourhood. I will not return to this hotel, nor recomend it, at any rate.

Hotel de L' Arc on La Rambla was not the worse hotel I've stayed at (that distinction is the Malibu Motel in Miami), but it was in the bottom 5. I had low expectaions but I am always looking for that "hidden gem" as another reviewer wrote. I paid 60 euro for 1 night before joining a cruiseship (which was a great cruise highly recommended area to travel), that rate I couldn't find anywhere other than bookings[--] (or maybe bookings[--]or something with a european suffix). First the good part; it did end up costing me 60 euro, it had a private bathroom in the room, it was on La Rambla and I got a balcony room overlooking La Rambla, I did not see any bugs, rodents, and it looked clean overall. Now the bad part, the bed was the creakiest bed I've ever had, intinacy was highly questionable and that sucked because I met my wife here after not seeing her for several months. The bathroom had no shower curtain (or shower curtain rod for that matter) I guess from dirtbags taking them home. The 13" TV had like 3 spanish channels, and was mounted on the wall in a good place to walk into and hit your head if you are above 5 7". No internet like the bookings website said. Small rooms, no ice, no fridge nothing really just a creaky bed in a small room with a private bathroom with a balcony overlooking La Rambla. I am amazed at the scale Europeans grade hotels, they are much less demanding than Americans. Hey for 60 euro's I wasn't that dissapointed, I got drunk out on the balcony and looked at the African hookers go through guys pockets after my wife and I got tired of seeing La Rambla. I got there at 8 pm and went out and I wasn't that impressed with La Rambla, I was hopeing for a Bourbon Street Spanish style, I saw a couple of human statues and a lady with a paralyzed cat that couldn't move, thats it. That and a bunch of Asian's selling a twirling magnetic disc thing that they'd catch, big deal. I'm gald I didn't make Barcelona my main vacation stop or I would have been really dissapointed. On the cruise my favorite place I saw and may return to was Cadiz, now that was a nice place! Hotel D L'Arc, a one star hotel with a private bath.

My husband and I stayed there for one night last September, following our Mediterranean cruise. At the time,the hotel was going through renovations. We were in a room one flight up and it faced an alley so it was quiet. The room was out-dated and fairly clean. It was small and modest. I guess what can you expect for 65 euros? However, just before our cruise, we stayed at Hotel Splendid Apsis for 75 euros and it was really nice, large, modern and clean. So when I got to Hotel Arc, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed. However, the location is great. It's located right on the Ramblas and there's a lot of action happening here! I would think the rooms would be much improved since the renovations.

For the centre of the Ramblas / Barcelona, its fine, but the rooms were small, staff a little unfriendly and the view from the window - wall.

I just got back from a couple of days in this hotel. I had read the reviews and was a bit nervous about the place before I got there. The road it is on is wide and has a small market, it is a really good location - yes there is a sex shop a couple of doors down, and yes there are a very few very very ugly prostitutes in the street, but there was no problem. The road has lots of restaurants, some ARE pricey, Mickeys on the left of the hotel stung me for 120 Euros for 5 G+Ts and some tapas. The hotel is being modernised. I had a very nice room ( if you have an elecronic key I bet you are in a new room ) It was very clean, yes small but this is a budget hotel. Breakfast is basic. In conclusion, at the prices I think it is a steal - It is walking distance from the harbour, and really close to the metro. My room had aircon, wood floors and twin beds - it was a convention week for a very big show and I paid 110euros. As always I am happy to answer questions. I would stay there again. From the prev review, the choice of room seems critical.

Reading the above reviews i can't believe i stayed at the same hotel. The smell of damp was unbelivable, i can still smell it on my clothes when i got home. Horrible grotty place. Our room was tiny. We had a twin but they were so close together it felt like we were sleeping the same bed! The floor looked clean but trust me my socks weren't, having walked around the room in them. The hairdryer in the bathroom was hanging by a single wire......dangerous was not the word for it. No shower curtain so showers meant a flooded bathroom. Horrible, grotty, smelly hotel. Stay here are your own risk!

My husband and I were there last month. Room: we stayed in two different CLEAN rooms. One had a terrace with no kind of view, but it was a pretty big room and the other had the view to the ramblas......that one was perfect. Service was also good. Location: It was walking distance from the clubs and also from the bars and main turistic area. The only thing is that if you are going with a family, you might not want to come back too late to your room because the strip/peek show places start opening. As a matter a fact, this hotel is located next to a peek show place, but is decent.....You do see some UGLY prostitutes, but none of them bother you and there is always a lot of cops around.....in my opinion, I did not feel scare in any way and WILL DEFINITELY STAY THERE AGAIN!!

The hotel is right on La Rambla, so it’s definitely very convenient for sightseeing, whether on foot or on the underground (but not for a car/taxi). Only the beach isn’t as near as they might want you to think. I would say it’s about a 20 minute walk. Despite its location, we heard no noise. I think we were in a newly renovated part of the hotel further back. The room and bathroom were both fairly large. The furnishing was boring but clearly new. It was clean, but housekeeping was inconsistent. Breakfast is not included but you can go to the café next door (but be careful not to be double-charged). But there are dozens of cafés/restaurants in the area so you can have any breakfast you want for less elsewhere. For some reason, the cleaning staff seemed set on saving toiletpaper, so we had to ask for more twice. Service was intermittent. Some were very friendly and helpful, but another one acted like she’d never heard anyone asking for a restaurant recommendation before. Overall, this was a pleasant and convenient place for a couple of days, but lacking service. I would recommend this place for budget travelers. One last note: AVOID the café on the strip directly outside this hotel. It’s not listed on the menu but they charge you $13 for each coke. I’m not kidding. Oh, and then they demanded a tip. Hah! In fact, stay off the strip for food/drinks.