Based on glowing ratings I arranged lodging for our family at Fashion House in Barcelona to celebrate the New Year. I found Fashion House in what I regard as a reliable guide, confirmed as a comfortable, affordable stay in a location ideal for exploring and experiencing the wonders of this city. We landed late at night, around 10:30, with four exhausted children ages 4 to 10. The taxi driver delivered us to the address, and even he appeared confused. uneasy, and we felt the same. Yet we unloaded our luggage and he drove off leaving us in the dark. We faced a door with no signage. Based on a previous experience at our lodging in Berlin which displayed a welcoming polished indicator on the front of the building, reassuring us we had found our home away from home, posted with easy directions to push the button on the clear and neat listing of entry buttons next to the door. So I knew to search and ultimately located the metal frame with the lodging noted at the bottom of the list, covered by a pealing piece of faded plastic. I pressed the button and the door opened. We entered to find a drab, rather stark entry way. A tired marble half stairway offered the option to take to an elevator big enough for two (we recently celebrated our almost 70's birthday, so we got the nod for the lift). The rest of our family climbed the full stairway, towing sleepy children and luggage. This hike led to a door. We knocked and to our weary relief, a host greeted us with a smile and somewhat gracious welcome. The reception room was a bit shabby with covered furniture that made me wonder what they were covering. The room had obviously been dressed up for the photos shown on the website. I scanned the room to see the stack of boxes hiding behind a door haphazardly overflowing with papers. The computer desk for documenting our reservation and passport verification was slightly recessed to the right of that fireplace you see in the site photos, wires dangling under the small table. A man dressed in less than formal attire appeared out of nowhere, plopped himself on the couch and appeared to be checking up on our host, perhaps to assess his demeanor and make sure we signed everything before we ran for the exit. Once all was signed sealed (here we were with our four exhausted children, trusting that it couldn't be as bad as it looked), we were about to learn a hard lesson; if your suspicious about the place, don't sign anything until you have seen your accommodations! We were respectfully escorted to the room set for our daughter's family. The first thing we encountered was the bed for the children, a double size mattress flush on the floor (later our host contended the bed was not situated on the floor, but there it was). The room smelled like a cleaning fluid hiding the odor of smokers. The lengthy counter topped with the remnant from the 60's, in this space, was the "kitchenette" dismaying some sort of coffee maker and tired electric stove.The drab cupboards appeared to be superficially painted to match the era of the counter top. I glanced at the flooring, thinking the last thing I had hoped for was my grandchildren sleeping on a mattress placed on that questionably mopped floor. As we were led to the next room, prepared for our other family of four, we apprehensively entered their intended similarly simply appointed albeit roomy accommodations. At this point I announced to our greeter, "These accommodations are unacceptable." This nice young man looked at me, paused and said something like "OK." Then he proceeded to take us to our room. It reeked of that masking cleaning fluid. I was not going to touch the bed with the cover matching the covers on the couches in the reception room. The small "balcony" attached to the room was obviously a landing for smokers. The humble bathroom included a simple outdated sink and a shower that fitted tighter than what we refer to as a MRI enclosure rather common in Europe, but this one was lined with drab tiles needing a more diligent scrubbing. After explaining handing of the dangling collection of keys needed to enter the building at night if a "greeter" was not present in the reception room, a key for that room, a key for our room. he said good night and left us to our despair. I grabbed the tired towels, placed them over the bed pillows thinking we had no option but to spend our sorry night on top of the bed covers, suspecting microscopic insects awaited us. Our sons-in-law promptly departed the building to comb the neighborhood for alternative lodging. We were not naive, knowing in a big city there are areas not advisable for wandering around the empty streets at midnight. This was that kind of area. We have seen worse, but most certainly, this was not much better. Now I am consumed with worry about our guys. Its near New Years and past midnight. This is a city renowned for its fabulous New Years celebration, so lodging is virtually non-existent by this time. They did find one boutique hotel three blocks away, and escorted my husband and I, thankfully unmolested, to the one room available for one night only. Our guys lovingly forced my husband and I to check in. I was distraught leaving my precious family at Fashion House for the night. At least the children were able to sleep, while our daughter and her husband were horrified and nauseated, forced to listen through the thin wall to the sounds of some poor soul wrenching his guts out for seemingly hours. Needless to say, the rest of our family made their escape first thing in the morning leaving the unwieldy bundle of keys on the flimsy computer desk in the reception room. Fortunately we were able to find comfortable, clean, welcoming and delightfully staffed lodging in a bright and thriving part of this magnificent city. Of course we were obligated to pay for three rooms, reimbursed for the nights they were able to fill with other unweary guests. Left with over $1000's expense which we gratefully accepted as the cost of measurably more than acceptable lodging. Who wrote the reviews of praise posted for Fashion House? 4.5 out of 5? This is a travesty! Travelers, beware!…
What a lovely stay we had in the suite for four nights. The staff is super nice and helpful. The general common space is calm and peaceful. The B&B is in a quiet neighbourhood walkable to everything - Gothic Quarter, waterfront and Sagrada Família. The suite itself is large with a kitchenette, it’s own bathroom, a terrace, and a comfortable bed. Finally, very reasonable pricing compared to the rest of the city. When you check out they give you a spare key to enter the building, if your flight is not immediate. The signage is a bit hidden so you really have to look out for 13 on Carrer de la Bruc. It’s clustered into a commercial building on the second floor.
With my family we've spend in Fashion house three lovely days. Location is fantastic( just few minutes walking distance from La Rambla ). The host - Matteo is very polied, helpful and is giving you a lots of ideas about how to spend time in Barcelona! Definitely place worth recomendation!
If you are in Barcelona, and want to stay in the heart of Barcelona and looking for an affordable yet royal stay. Look no further. This place is just what you need. The host Loan is super awesome. She takes care of all your needs. The moment you enter the place, the giant walls and high ceilings greets you with its modern yet Catalonian style. It is a bed and breakfast with suite and double rooms. Bathrooms for the twin rooms are shared and it’s one bathroom per two room. But that would hardly be an issue. The bathrooms are very clean. Rooms are huge with verandah. It has a great terrace patio where the breakfast is laid. Right next to the train station and places like La Rambla, the city centre, the Gaudi building, el cortese mall and all big fashion store just a walk away. Full 5 out of 5 to this place. …
The room was not very clean, especially the baseboards and window sills. Floor was sticky the whole time we were there (5 nights). We had one pillow without a pillow cover and the maid could not be bothered to fix that. The walls are very thin and we could hear the people in the rooms on either side of us. Fortunately that was only a problem for one day as the loud talkers on one side checked out the the first day we were there and the rest of the time, our neighbors were quiet. On the plus side, our room was in a beautiful old building, the room (with a small kitchen) was large with tall ceilings and tall windows that let in a lot of light.
If you don't mind having the bathroom down the hall, this is a great, economical option for Barcelona. Room was small but quiet and had a sweet little balcony. They also have a lovely terrace and shared living room, which is nice because Barcelona can be hectic so it isn't bad to have a place where you can just relax. Location is closed to a Metro station and easy walking to a lot of bars and restaurants. Staff was really friendly, too.
If you like to wander through Old Town, walk through the enchanting streets of the Exampla, have quick access to taxis, the subway and bus travel AND you want clean comfortable rooms; then I would suggest BCN Fashion House. The staff was very helpful talkative when asked. They helped us a lot when it came to taxis, checking in for flights and directing us to services. We loved the room! Spacious and comfortable with enough of a kitchen that we could have our snacks, cold drinks and leftovers available. We liked that our room overlooked the courtyard in the back of the building. The elevator was a bit cramped, but that is common in older buildings (it they have one at all). The best thing for us was that you could walk to Barra Gotic (5 min), the Sagrada Familia (20 min), and even the beaches (30 min). The BCN FH is a great home base for a Barcelona adventure.…
Visited in Oct 2017 with a couple of my friends for 5 nights. Perfect location, close to la ramblas, yet very quite. Airport bus stops at 5 minutes walk from the place. Walking distance to most of the sites. We were during the October 1st catalan referendum.
We chose this hostel for the location and price. I would not recommend including the breakfast as there are many bakeries located near by that provide a wonderful meal at a lesser cost. The location was very central to the metro, bus and Placa Catalunya which was very convenient. The wifi reception in our rooms was pretty much non existent so we had to go to the lobby. And the noise from the phones and other guests can disrupt your sleep, especially if you're near the bathrooms. I was leery about sharing a bathroom but that never posed a problem, the bathrooms were pretty clean but very wet and damp. I would recommend bringing shower shoes.
We have been to Fashion House for a long week end at the end of October. The room was very nice and the beds where really comfortable. The location is perfect close to everything and with public transportation just outside the door.
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