The hotel is an Austrian chain, in the El Born district, everything almost new as it only opened in June this year. We managed to get a discount through lastminute.com due to a late booking for a City break of 3 nights. Not too sure if we would have paid the full amount for the size room we had which was a classic room, quiet, facing the hotel courtyard below, probably 3* size but with all things considered, it being new and as you would expect for a 4*, had a safe, hairdryer, slippers, tea/coffee it was good value.

I have to say I was not impressed with the design of the kettle lid as it was a fixed vertical flip lid and we could not fill the kettle using the tap in the sink. I had to resort to using the tea cups to fill the kettle. There was no bath, a walk-in shower but powerful enough. There were nice touches such as a shoe polish machine next to the lift on our (first) floor, see photo.

There was one night where the water from the shower was only tepid but it was an exception. The room was modern and clean. The pillows were rather flat for us and there was only one spare in room. The quality of some of the fittings could have been better, e.g. the desklamp and light switches were modern but a bit plasticy for me. Our price did not include breakfast so we did not eat there but were quoted 25 Euros each for the buffet which was pretty steep. I believe you can book the hotel with breakfast included which would be a cheaper deal.

One of our main requirements was for WIFI in the hotel and we chose this hotel over others due to this. Very pleased with the connectivity and speed both at reception and in the room. As mentioned in other reviews there are a couple of PCs and printer near reception for public use. You can book your tickets on these PCs for Sagrada Familia beforehand to avoid the queues. You get a printed confirmation which you then have to exchange for tickets using your credit card at the La Caixa bank near the hotel (see reception for details).

As most of the other reviewers have said, the staff were outstanding and extremely helpful, special mention to Helen (we think that is her name). However, I have to say that the reception area/lobby was disappointingly small. We expected a grander and larger area for a 4* hotel and it certainly didn’t do justice to the stone building as a whole which is lovely and has a beautiful facade outside.

We loved the location as we wanted to be based in Barri Gotic with many small side streets, away from the hustle and bustle of La Rambla. Some people may prefer otherwise as the hotel is in a quieter location and not as ‘touristy’. Not so easy to get to from the airport, if you use public transport, other than taxi but we followed the hotel’s website for directions to the hotel which was spot on. We took the Aerobus (5.95 Euro each) and changed to local bus 14 (2.00 Euro each) to get there. However, it is not the reverse route back to the hotel, so we took a taxi which cost around 35 Euros for approx. the 10 miles to the airport. The hotel website for directions is:

http://en.kkhotels.com/hotels/barcelona/barcelona/location-city-map/

The maps you get with the tours and tourist offices are sometimes not detailed enough for the little side streets, so perhaps arm yourself with more detailed ones from the internet before you set off. Reception has a few maps which are very useful, including a local El Born one.

We took the hop on hop off bus for 2 days and one day walked locally around. There are many sights close to the hotel, e.g. Arc de Triomf, Parc De La Ciutadella (park near hotel), Santa Maria Del Mar, Catedral Gòtic (market day on Friday), Picasso Musuem, Choclate Musuem, La Boqueria food market, evening performances (Flamenco dancing or Spanish classical guitar – tickets available from reception) at the Palau de la Música Catalana.

Barceloneta (beach) for many seafood restaurants and La Ramblas are about 15/20 minutes walk away. There will be more to see when the Antic Mercat de Born (the Born market building) near the hotel is finished, expected next year in 2013.

Do try the seafood restaurant La Paradeta http://www.laparadeta.com/ which is on a side road behind the hotel. The hotel reception will be able to direct you. You pick your own seafood from a wide selection; including razor clams, lobsters etc and they cook it for you.

All in all, definitely worthy of a 4*, we had a great stay and would recommend this hotel.