Reviews of Principal Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

The hotel is lovely, clean and...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2006

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Newhorizons

Comments:

The hotel is lovely, clean and fresh and centrally located to all the key sites and areas you and the staff are friendly. Breakfast is good. The rooms had air conditioning and breakfast is optional, so you can decide whether to eat there or not.



The hotel is on a parallel road from Las Ramblas but as its a couple of streets away you can't hear the general noise of the the surrounding roads, even with the balcony windows open. You can access the tube and buses easily and it's a stone throw away from the harbour. Everything is accessible on foot from here, the buses and tubes are no more than 5 minutes walk and there's no shortage of good places to eat.



If you want to keep costs down I would strongly suggest to go to La Boqueria, the infamous food market, which is nearby and is a great place to go and pick up some fresh produce and picnic at Parc de la Ciutadella, or wherever you're visiting. Also another way to keep costs down but still get great food is if you head away from las ramblas and go to the Poble Sec area. There are loads of restaurants down Avinguda del paral.lel, this road leads eventually down to the marina.



Do feel comfortable to sit for coffee and a bite to eat at the cafe at the end of the road before you turn in to the hotel. Its GOOD coffee and has a really chilled out atmosphere.



Couple of tips whilst in Barcelona:

1 - When you pay make sure you ask the Hotel to charge you in Euros - I forgot to check and they charged me in £ which meant I got their exchange rate rather than the true rate.

2 - If you're gonna use the tube system then make sure you get metro card called T-10. This lets you have 10 journeys for about 6 Euros and can be shared with a second person. So you could get 1 card for two people.

Excellent value for money,...

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Apr 2007

Tour Operator:

Hotel Club

Submitted By:

Miss S Mckelvey

Comments:

Excellent value for money, location, cleanliness and facilities. Just a couple of minutes walk off La Ramblas and nearest metro, which is Liceu, or ten minutes walk to next metro or aero bus stop at Player Cat.



Ideal base for La Ramblas two minutes, The Port five minutes, Gothic quarter ten minutes, Player Cat. Ten minutes.



Accommodation good quality for the price, much cheaper than some of the same standard elsewhere; if you are on a budget definitely worth considering.



Our room had a king size bed and settee which folded down at night as an extra bed, kettle and cups, central heating/air conditioning, lcd TV featuring one news channel in English, bathroom had a power shower and bath.



Breakfast was a basic continental type presented very nicely, the only downside was there was not much room to dine, but we managed ok.



The only negative aspect was the area appeared to be frequented by some with social needs, however I can honestly say I did not notice this to be any more apparent than some of the rest of the tourist haunts, and I felt very safe whilst staying here.



The hotel has recently been refurbished to a good standard and was very clean.



I would stay here again without a doubt and would recommend it for a city break base-if you are used to five star luxuries then maybe this is not for you.



But I found it to be perfectly charming and adequate for our holiday needs.