Bigger Better B-hotel!

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“As a Barca-addict by heart, coming for the 19th time to the BIG city, I already had magnificent hotels at my disposal (cfr. Hotel Jazz!! — also an NN-Hotel) but not at all at these conditions… Always searching for something stylish with a modern feel, nice atmosphere & preferable a nice sunny swimmingpool. This hotel was simply puuuuuuurfect! We only booked 2 weeks in advance and paid about the half of what a hotel near Ramblas or Placa Catalunya would cost. Had a HUGE infinity pool on the rooftop with a stunning view and large sunbeds to tan yourself away for hours .

When ordering a glass of cava at the poolside, the waiter both gave us 33cl cups filled with bubblicious goodness! Didn’t hear us complain! We ordered some orange juice & appetisers too, and at those prices we didn’t expect to get FRESH juice with really nice pan con tomate at a topspeed!

The people at the desk were really helpfull too, and even got us a glass of cava for free when waiting for a cab. The hotel is located rather far from ramblas to do it on foot, but for about 10 euro a taxi will take you there in minutes.

The room was spacious, nicely decorated with a large bed & a sweet bathroom with a massive bath, flatscreen, airco and even a little balcony! More then enough to satisfy our needs!

I really impressed my gilrfriend with this hotel, who was only in BCN for the second time. Highly recommended for younger couples!

Cheers,”Â

Peter De Bruyn (stayed during period 24th – 27th of July)

www.b-hotel.com

Hotel Jazz – Experience

“We’ve just returned from 4 nights in Barcelona at the Jazz, for out 10th wedding anniversary. It’s a very nice hotel and clean hotel with a modern twist but the best bit is on the roof – the Pool and bar! Plenty of sunbeds if you got up there early enough. The hotel could do more to promote this feature, as it was very difficult for us to find a) a hotel that had a pool and b) some pictures of it on our various web searches.
The salad we had as room service food was very good as it all is in Barca, and the location was excellent too, right by the metro (which is excellent – fast, cheap and with aircon on the trains – London take note), and very close to centre of Barca – Placa de Catalunya and Las Ramblas.
The bar is small and seemed ok – though we didn’t use it as it lacked atmosphere for us and we wanted to sample the local bars and cafes anyway.
Free internet access in the bar area which was pretty good too.

The beaches are excellent too – take your ipods though to reduce the noise from the constant chanting of “Cola light, Fanta, Cerveza, Cold Beer” from the drink sellers who trek up and down all day.
I’ve recommended this hotel to 2 people in the last 2 days.”

Experience added by Choppa, July 08.

www.hoteljazz.com

Hotel 1898–beautiful but the staff lets it down

“We just returned from five days in Barcelona staying at Hotel 1898. I really wanted to like this hotel and the facilities are beautiful but the staff lets the place down. Upon arrival, we were struggling to get out of a cab with all of our luggage, our eighteen month old son and his pushchair–being dropped off into the madness of the Ramblas–and the doorman at Hotel 1898 simply stood and watched us. Did not lift a finger to help until we pulled all of our stuff together and struggled over to the door. That should have been a sign.

Check in was okay and the room was lovely, if a bit small for a so-called superior, especially when you add the baby cot. My husband went down to reception to ask for matches and they did not have any. That’s okay but when he asked where he could get some or purchase a lighter, they simply shrugged and turned away. When I needed a cab, which I did every day since I was on business, I went out to the doorman who told me I had to go ask at the desk–despite the fact that there were four cabs lined up in front of the hotel with no passengers! And when I did ask at the desk, I would have to wait ten minutes or more while these empty cabs idled outside. What’s THAT about?

We had a function to go to on Saturday night and asked for an iron to iron my husband’s shirt. We were told none was available for guests but that we could use their laundry service to get it pressed, which would cost us money, of course. Very very naughty from a supposed five star hotetl

The prices are high, yes, particularly on the rooftop bar where a drink sets you back 12 euros or more. And none of the receipts–for room service, drinks, anything–let you add a tip. So, if no one is working for tips, it’s no wonder the services is so shoddy! We kept loose euros on us to tip the deserving ones such as the rooftop bar servers. The rooftop is lovely but maybe instead of staying here, you should just visit it.

There were many more small slights–room service order errors (because the person taking the order could not understand English), LOUD rooms–bring your earplugs, LOUD housekeeping staff–all if it adding up to make this more of a three star hotel than a five star hotel. It is beautiful but the service really lets it down. And since we were paying 225-275 euros a night, it should have been better.

I know this site blocks reviews that it considers derogatory so it will be interesting to see if they are brave enough to post this and even braver to address the service problems at their hotel.”

Experience added by W Sturley, July 08.

Good morning Mr & Mrs Sturley,

It is our maximum goal to reach our guests’ expectations, assuring them the most pleasant stay at the 1898 Hotel.

I feel sorry that those unlucky events made your stay not as perfect as we would have loved it to be.

After reading you comments we checked all the information and we would like to explain with detail.

First of all we would like to inform you that our hotel is a 4 star hotel and not a 5 star hotel, we try to offer 5 star services but obviously we do not have all of them.

Regarding the man in the door of Las Ramblas, he is a security man and not the bell boy; anyway we understand that he must help you and we will talk to him in order not to occur again.

We are a non smoking hotel so that is the reason why we do not have matches either lighters.

We would also like to comment that we do not deliver irons to guest rooms for security reasons and that is why we offer the laundry service.

Regarding the taxis outside the hotel there is also one explanation, as you could see, there is another hotel in front of us, both of us work with the same taxi company in order to have everything recorded just in case there is any problem with any guest. We should call to the taxi reservation telephone and inform them which room number takes each taxi, then they send us the taxi and they should wait in front of the hotel until the guest arrive, that is the reason why you could see empty taxis in front, they are empty because they are waiting for guests from both hotels with bookings done.

We will also talk with the house keeping manager in order to avoid all kind of noises, but as you could imagine they have to carry a really heavy trolley to clean the rooms and it is almost impossible not to do any noise at all.

We would like you to be completely sure that we have always cared of your complaint, and we will try to improve all this details.

We apologize once again and remain at your entire disposal.

Best regards,

The Management – Hotel 1898: www.hotel1898.com

Thank You Hotel Soho!

“We came to Barcelona for a short vacation. What we experienced far surpassed anything that we could’ve hoped for. The staff at Hotel SOHO was so warm & gracious. Our room was chic & stylish. And it was quite comfortable, as well. If ever the opportunity would arise, there’s no doubt that we’d stay again at this lovely hotel again. Thank you for making our visit so pleasurable!

Sincerely,”

Crystal Walker & Jaesan Subramaniam – Experience added in July 08.

www.hotelsohobarcelona.com

Soho Hotel=Fabulous

“I’m rather belatedly posteding an updated comment about the Soho Hotel following our stay in June. I posted a comment in March with regards to our stay in Hotel Soho at the end of February and an issue with the smell of smoke in our room.

I have to say the management of Soho proved their worth as Asun Pareja, the manager contacted me by email on receiving my post. I have to commend Asun on her complete professionalism and committement to delivering a quality customer service. I communicated the issue to Asun and in response she offered me one night’s stay in Soho free of charge if I were ever in Barcelona again.

By coincidence we were planning a walking holiday in the Pyrenees and would be passing through Barcelona for one night en route to Girona so I accepted Asun’s offer. In the run up to our trip, I contacted Carol Gasquez regarding sending a package of clean clothes etc in anticipation of our arrival. Carol was incredibly helpful and accomodating throughout.

 We then decided to extend our stay a further night in Barcelona and make a weekend of it and I booked a room in the hotel on a search engine website. I provided Carol with proof of this additional night and asked if possible could we have the same room for two nights. She confirmed that this was no problem at all.

When we arrived in the hotel on a Friday afternoon we were greeted by Asun and I also met Carol. Our room was fabulous. It was at the back of the hotel overlooking a park. It was completely silent at night so we had two amazing nights sleep. Also, I would assume that we were given one of their best rooms so I really appreciated the fact that they had given us the same room for two nights.

 I would recommend the Soho hotel to anyone who wants a special weekend in BCN. The staff are remarkably friendly and helpful. The hotel is special in it’s contemporary design and quirkiness. The location is excellent. We had breakfast in the hotel on both mornings and while it is pricey the buffet is large and varied enough to fill the biggest appetites. We also used the IT facilities on the lower ground floor and they were fantastic – two pc’s, a printer and lots of paper. There was also a large flatscreen tv and some large leather seats.

Once again, I would like to thank Asun and Carol for their professionalism and assistance, our weekend in BCN was excellent. The focus on delivering an impeccable level of customer service is what makes this hotel stand out from all the rest. We will definitely be returning to BCN for a weekend break and will most definitely stay at the Soho Hotel.”

Experience added by wanderinglady, July 08.

www.hotelsohobarcelona.com

Experience at New Hotel Europark.

“I would like to say thank you very much for the warm welcome the staff and management gave me and my friend when we stayed at the Euro Park Hotel Barcelona.

The hotel was imacculate and the bedrooms very confortable. Thank you I most certainly would return to this hotel.

Regards” Mrs A Bourne – England / Experience received via email.

www.hoteleuropark.com

Gandules’08 – Free Outdoor Cinema at the CCCB.

August is a month of free films on the Pati de les Dones at Barcelona’s Contemporary Culture Centre (CCCB) will fill up with deckchairs (gandules) for Gandules 08.

Intercultural is the title of this year’s programme of films, where the common themes are moving to another culture and different cultures co-existing in the same space. Now a well-established event, it offers films every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Admission is free but space is limited.

The programme kicks off on 5 August with the short If The Camera Blows Up, by Óscar Pérez, in which a Pakistani records everyday events with a camera so he can send the tape to his family.

You can also see Italianamerican, by Martin Scorsese, in which the director produces a portrait of his parents, Italian immigrants in New York. The pick of the programme includes Ali, Fear Eats the Soul, by Rainer W. Fassbinder.

Unless otherwise stated, all films will be shown in their original language, with Spanish subtitles. Some may suffer a little from poor quality due to their age.

More info at the CCCB: www.cccb.org

Núñez i Navarro Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

The Alorda-Derksen Foundation. A new cultural space in Barcelona

The Alorda-Derksen Foundation is the fruit of passion for art in all facets and particularly for the contemporary international avant-garde.

This interest is shared by the whole ALORDA-DERKSEN family, lead by Manuel Alorda and Hanneke Derksen, who began collecting distinctive works of art in 1966.

The objective of the foundation is to cultivate interest in and knowledge of contemporary international art, and to act as a new space of international reference within the contemporary art world.

More info in: www.fundacionad.com

Hotel Europark in Barcelona: www.hoteleuropark – the nearest hotel

A giant giant thank you – Soho Hotel Barcelona

“On a recent trip to madrid I had a malfunction with my adaptor for my electrical devices. I could not charge my laptop or phone. I was supposed to meet my best friend who was coming in from PARIS at 10pm outside the bed and breakfast we were staying at in BCN. After three hours waiting, I began to panic and searched BCN for an internet spot—-I found nothing. On a whim I went into your hotel thinking that the front desk person would speak English ( I speak very little Spanish), and could direct me to an internet cafe. I approaced the girl at the desk….(cannot remember her name…Marianna, Marcella, it was a saturday night shift) and told her I was seperated from my friends and needed to find internet. She showed me downstairs and helped me get online. I had many emails from my pals in Paris explaining their flight had been cancelled.

This member of your staff, bascially saved my life and my sanity. She went out of her way to help someone who was not even a hotel guest. I was so thankful and happy—-you would not find this kind of generosity or trust in NYC, where I curretnly live. I travel to spain for work—and you can imagine on my next trip I will be calling the SOHO HOTEL home. I hope the managers of this HOTEL know they have a very great staff and hopefully you can track down this employee and send her my sheer gratitude and thanks.

Again. Thank You.”

Ty McBride – experience sent by email, July 08.

www.hotelsohobarcelona.es

Soho Hotel in Barcelona

“I’ve just returned from a long weekend staying with my boyfriend at the Soho. I don’t have anything bad to say – i loved all of it! The hotel is so stylish and modern, the staff are very friendly and helpful, and the location is perfect.

I have already recommended it to my family and friends, and will definately be coming back in the future.

Thankyou for a wonderful stay!”

Experience published by laurenk, July 08.

www.hotelsohobarcelona.com

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