Reviews of Grand Hotel Central, Barcelona, Spain

Impressive hotel that lives upto...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Apr 2007

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr M Reddington

Comments:

Impressive hotel that lives upto it's 5 star rating. It's staff and friendly and very co-operative.



On arrival we received a free glass of cava and bags taken to our room.



The room itself was modern, clean, warm, and comfortable with all the usual perks together with a great view of the Marina. Staff were friendly and very co-operative providing great advice on where to go for shopping, pubs, and clubs.



The bar and restaurant inside is cool and comfortable with affordable food and drink - in the end we didn't want to leave - hope it's not too long till we're back there again.

I booked a holiday (hotel only)...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Lastminute

Submitted By:

Mr M Brown

Comments:

I booked a holiday (hotel only) through Lastminute and the hotel was exceptional!



Very clean and tidy, and the room was nicely kitted out with TV/DVD, black out blinds, nice lighting and bathroom, etc.



The hotel was suitably placed near La Ramblas so getting about was very easy. It was also a short walk to the beach, which was equally very nice.



Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel and Barcelona as a holiday destination.

Excellent minimalist hotel....

Overall Rating:

9/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Expedia

Submitted By:

Mr A Holliday

Comments:

Excellent minimalist hotel. Superb central location and fantastic rooftop infinity swimming pool with views over the city. Helpful staff and superb restaurant.



Extremely comfortable beds, only complaint would be darkness of corridors within the hotel itself.



Will definitely return, mainly suited for singles or couples without children. You may want to take a travel iron as you have to pay for ironing service.



Free mini bar and flip flops were a bonus as well.

At first glance this new hotel...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2006

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr N D Pearce

Comments:

At first glance this new hotel in the heart of Barcelona pushes all the right buttons, stylish, great location, good sized rooms and a nice restaurant. Trouble is the hotel singularly fails to live up to its hype.



The reception staff seem untrained and unhelpful as when I walked past and asked for water and ice in my room and was told to call room service, sorry but the answer to my request should have been "of course sir, and is there anything also we can do for you".



When checking in we were informed that the mini bar in our room was free, great... trouble is there was only water, coke and alcohol free beer in there. I'd rather pay and have a selection of wines, spirits and beers.



The corridors and rooms are very dark and not welcoming, windows do not open and if like myself you smoke the air conditioning needs to be kept at full blast to disperse the smoke. Also when booking a double room occupied by two people it is a bit annoying to only have one, very small, bathrobe, and flip-flops (slippers) that, if worn, will cost five euros.



There is no bar in the hotel, aside from a little one in the restaurant which doesn't work as a 'bar'. When I return from an evening out I like a drink, not possible here.

The rooftop pool, while very nice, again suffers from the 'no bar' problem. While lying in the sun enjoying the view one would like a glass of wine, not possible unless you go down 7 floors to the restaurant to get one. The restaurant I must admit was very good and the only place in the hotel where the staff seemed to know what they were doing.



To top it off the underground trains run directly underneath the hotel, and in my room, on the third floor, each train was audible through a low rumble every 60 seconds.



To sum up, this hotel is all style over substance, everything at first glance is fine but scratch below the surface and it's disappointing, in fact we moved to another hotel on our second night.