Need recs for Barcelona Hotel for family of 4

[Eli_6]

I put off booking an Air BNB or a hotel when I booked the cruise because there were rumblings that the cruise might cancel. We will be in Barcelona May 25-28.  Now it seems like everything is $400-500 a night for most of the places I would want to stay. And I need two rooms or a family room because I have two adults and will have a 9 and 10 year old by the time of the cruise. I was really wanting to stay at the W, but at $1k a night ($500 per night per room), that is more than I want to pay.  Can anyone rec a reasonably nice hotel that I can affordably get two rooms at?  Even the Radisson was $375 per night...and I need two rooms. 

[ollienbertsmum]

I just went on to a couple of booking sites and the hotels do look pricey in Barcelona.  Big cities in general are really getting expensive.  Best price for a family room was at the Holiday Inn Express which is a chain that suits me fine when touring (and the main priority is a clean and comfortable bed for the night).  

 

I am not quite sure what you want from your hotel.  I am not sure how you define “reasonably nice”, your first choice is the W but  I really don’t think it is a great pre cruise hotel.  It is a bit of a trek from the main tourist sites, it is not near to the port unless you fly or swim.   If you just want the beach for a couple of days it would be much cheaper to go to Sitges and maybe do one day into Barcelona in the train.

 

My preference with young kids would be to get an airbnb.  It is easier to supervise them.  There were plenty for your dates between £250 to £300 per night.  Choose something central and near to a metro stop.  

[Eli_6]

6 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

I just went on to a couple of booking sites and the hotels do look pricey in Barcelona.  Big cities in general are really getting expensive.  Best price for a family room was at the Holiday Inn Express which is a chain that suits me fine when touring (and the main priority is a clean and comfortable bed for the night).  

 

I am not quite sure what you want from your hotel.  I am not sure how you define “reasonably nice”, your first choice is the W but  I really don’t think it is a great pre cruise hotel.  It is a bit of a trek from the main tourist sites, it is not near to the port unless you fly or swim.   If you just want the beach for a couple of days it would be much cheaper to go to Sitges and maybe do one day into Barcelona in the train.

 

My preference with young kids would be to get an airbnb.  It is easier to supervise them.  There were plenty for your dates between £250 to £300 per night.  Choose something central and near to a metro stop.  

Thanks for the response! I looked at the Holiday Inn, but it only has a full bed with a sofa bed (which are usually full or twin beds) which would not work for our family and we would need two rooms. We aren't obese, but we are not tiny people.  My husband is 6'1/200 lbs, I am 5'8/170 lbs and my sons are large for children--one about 4'11/105 lbs and the other 5 ft/70 lbs. (All the men on my side of the family are 6'3 to 6'7 and I think my boys are following suit.) Plus, no one wants to sleep with my older son because he flails about in his sleep and is super skinny so a jab from his elbow or knee REALLY hurts. We really need 4 twins/fulls or 3 beds with at least one of them being a queen or king.  I ended up reserving a hotel on booking.com that had a queen bed and two sofa beds.  It was $1500 for three nights, but that was honestly among the cheaper places I found. Most of the Air BNB I saw that were central with 3-4 beds were running $400-600 per night. A lot of the cheaper ones seemed to have the full bed plus sofa bed combo which would not put us sleeping comfortably. 

[marazul]

Three years ago we rented an apartment from this company.  It's not an airbnb, but a well run, well maintained business. 

http://www.aspasios.com/

We stayed at the Rambla Catalunya building which is in a perfect location one block from the Passeig de Gracia.  

 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I don't know what prices are like for later in the year, especially for 4 people.  However, I found decent prices at Hotel Granvia near Catalunya Metro (149 euros for superior room 2 people with breakfast, can cancel) for a late April one night stay.  I also considered Casa Mathilda, 166 USD.  For each, you'll be charged the city tax, something like 2 euros per night per person.  There's also Hotel Jazz.  And booking.com has places that are apartment rentals.  We're using one in Lisbon.  It may be worthwhile to check that site, especially with the "apartment" block checked.  Good luck.  Barcelona gets a lot of money from tourism.  Beware the high charges to enter any Gaudi buildings!  But you can look at the outside for free, of course. 

[ollienbertsmum]

11 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Thanks for the response! I looked at the Holiday Inn, but it only has a full bed with a sofa bed (which are usually full or twin beds) which would not work for our family and we would need two rooms. We aren't obese, but we are not tiny people.  My husband is 6'1/200 lbs, I am 5'8/170 lbs and my sons are large for children--one about 4'11/105 lbs and the other 5 ft/70 lbs. (All the men on my side of the family are 6'3 to 6'7 and I think my boys are following suit.) Plus, no one wants to sleep with my older son because he flails about in his sleep and is super skinny so a jab from his elbow or knee REALLY hurts. We really need 4 twins/fulls or 3 beds with at least one of them being a queen or king.  I ended up reserving a hotel on booking.com that had a queen bed and two sofa beds.  It was $1500 for three nights, but that was honestly among the cheaper places I found. Most of the Air BNB I saw that were central with 3-4 beds were running $400-600 per night. A lot of the cheaper ones seemed to have the full bed plus sofa bed combo which would not put us sleeping comfortably. 

Thank you for the explanation.  I really could not understand your apparent fussiness.  My family are the opposite end of the size spectrum, the size of beds has never been a consideration for us. 
 

what you have booked does not seem too bad for Barcelona.  If you have booked a cancellable rate it might be worth checking back occasionally to see if anything else turns up.  Being really central is not essential in Barcelona, public transport is great.  

[ollienbertsmum]

10 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

 
I agree that the Gaudi buildings are expensive, you have to be sure that you want to visit!  You certainly do not need to see all of them, an outside view does work.   
 

Families with kids should make sure that an afternoon at the beach is included during the warmer months,  this is a cheaper way of passing the time than traipsing around a city.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

There's also Agoda. They seem to list a lot of apartments if you specify that's what you want.  But you need to specify you need 2 rooms, not just 4 people.  And everything is likely to be quoted in euros, since I don't think it's a U.S. booking site.  I saw at least one place (called Cosmos Apartments) that looked possible/reasonable, though a few more reviews would have helped me feel more confident if I were booking.  But it could be new.  And the kitchen is painted orange - fine for me, but your kids might like that more than you! 

 

I agree that as long as you're near a Metro stop (usually red M on google maps) you'll be in good shape.

Edited December 31, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea

[Eli_6]

On 12/31/2022 at 3:03 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

Thank you for the explanation.  I really could not understand your apparent fussiness.  My family are the opposite end of the size spectrum, the size of beds has never been a consideration for us. 
 

what you have booked does not seem too bad for Barcelona.  If you have booked a cancellable rate it might be worth checking back occasionally to see if anything else turns up.  Being really central is not essential in Barcelona, public transport is great.  

Yes, I booked a rate that I can cancel up until two days before and I plan to do what you suggested and check back.  Thank you for your response.

[shatzi13]

On 12/30/2022 at 3:47 PM, Eli_6 said:

Thanks for the response! I looked at the Holiday Inn, but it only has a full bed with a sofa bed (which are usually full or twin beds) which would not work for our family and we would need two rooms. We aren't obese, but we are not tiny people.  My husband is 6'1/200 lbs, I am 5'8/170 lbs and my sons are large for children--one about 4'11/105 lbs and the other 5 ft/70 lbs. (All the men on my side of the family are 6'3 to 6'7 and I think my boys are following suit.) Plus, no one wants to sleep with my older son because he flails about in his sleep and is super skinny so a jab from his elbow or knee REALLY hurts. We really need 4 twins/fulls or 3 beds with at least one of them being a queen or king.  I ended up reserving a hotel on booking.com that had a queen bed and two sofa beds.  It was $1500 for three nights, but that was honestly among the cheaper places I found. Most of the Air BNB I saw that were central with 3-4 beds were running $400-600 per night. A lot of the cheaper ones seemed to have the full bed plus sofa bed combo which would not put us sleeping comfortably. 

I laughed when I read your description of your son.  It totally describes my 12 year old son. I read it to my husband and he actually asked if it was my post.  

 

I have two hotels booked for 2 nights prior to our August cruise.  First is Petit Palace Boqueria Garden.  It has family rooms with bunk beds.  It seems to be far from touristy areas thought so I'll most likely cancel it.  Second is Condes de Barcelona.  This seems more centrally located but I needed to book 2 rooms for the four of us.