Barcelona Airport Hotels

Barcelona - Hotel Information

Family Rooms: travelling with a family of 4 or more

Barcelona's central hotels generally have very few family rooms i.e. rooms that can take 4 people or more. Often there are restrictions on the number of people allowed in rooms due to size of the rooms or fire regulations. Hence the hotels may only have one or two rooms that can accommodate a family of 4 and these are always on request i.e. the hotel has reconfirm the specific room for each booking.

Options for families

1. Take 2 rooms (interconnecting or next to each other) or upgrade to a suite.

   Both these options have their drawbacks. Firstly it is expensive, and secondly it is extremely difficult (in most cases impossible) to get a written guarantee from the hotel that the rooms will be interconnecting. Even to get a written guarantee that 2 rooms will be next to each other is difficult. Hotels in general will not fully commit to such requests because it leaves them liable if for some reason they cannot fulfil their commitment. To upgrade to a suite is very expensive as these rooms are sold at a premium and no discounts are offered. Also, the suite availability and rate can only be provided as per each separate request. However, recently there have been several properties offering 1 bedroom apartments - these are ideal for families as they can take 4 and sometimes 5 people.

2. Apartments

   These are properties that offer 1 bedroom apartments, usually taking a maximum of 4 but sometimes 5 people. The properties are along the lines of "aparthotels" so the standard is generally good (i.e. equivalent to a 3-star hotel property) and they are priced in line with this. The benefits for families is that they do not need to take 2 interconnecting or adjacent rooms or upgrade to suites. Most are available on a self catering basis, though some do have a "with breakfast" rate. The self catering properties generally provide the best value for money and also give you the option of feeding the children according to their meal times rather than those of the hotel or restaurants.

By and large the hotel standards in Barcelona are good and equivalent to most of northern Europe. The vast majority of hotels have very good English speakers on the reception and serving meals. There are more and more new "purpose built" hotels, but the majority are traditional buildings and the rooms tend to be on the small side - much the same as for many large historical cities. Some of the hotels are a little on the tired side and could do with refurbishment, but these tend to be quite heavily discounted and so it is case of "you get what you pay for". Just about all of the hotels have a high standard of cleanliness and are well maintained.

• 3-Star

  You can expect the 3 star properties to clean and well kept, and the service to be helpful. The room facilities (i.e. television and phone etc) will also be what you would expect of a 3-star. Most of the bathrooms (all are en suite) have marble floors and tiled walls with a small bath and bath shower. These hotels are extremely busy and so a genuine personal service is not really the standard. However as with anywhere in the world, if you take the time to smile and be interested in the front desk/reception staff you will stand out and benefit from that.

• 2-Star

  The majority of these are clean and well kept establishments. The rooms will be small with basic furniture. Most will have tiled flooring which is a real benefit as it is much cooler in the hot summer months, hence easier to keep clean. All rooms have an en suite bathroom and although many of the bathrooms will be old, they are kept clean and in good working order.

• 4-Star

  These properties are generally of a good standard, with all the facilities one would expect of an international 4-star. Additional facilities often include conference rooms, gym and other business requirements. The breakfast in these hotels is usually a large hot and cold buffet, providing a good start to the day. Most have a small bar or café that can act as good place to meet up if travelling with friends. Some of the 4-star hotels are a little worn and could do with some refurbishment, but these are often heavily discounted and tend to be downgraded by us to 3 star superior properties.

• 5-Star

  High standard of property, with well thought out public areas and a good range of facilities.

Pools - there are a good few hotels that have pools in Barcelona and this definitely an advantage in the summer months when the city can become very hot and humid. See LINK (hotels with pools page).

Gyms - these are mainly found in the 4- and 5-star properties. They are in general very small and have very limited facilities i.e. 2 or 3 basic machines (bike and rowing machine). Most do not appear to be used that much and you get the feeling that they are there to fill the facilities list rather than provide a real place in which to work out.

Security and safety - the hotels take this very seriously and many have cameras at the reception, some have doormen during the day.