Hotel Jazz: Great rooms, great pool, great price

This is our second time spending a week in Barcelona at the Hotel Jazz. For the price it’s unbeatable. Comfortable rooms with contemporary Spanish design. Great rooftop pool – not huge, but not a puddle like at some other design hotels like Cram. The rooftop pool has enough comfortable loungers, enough nice fluffy towels, and a nice little bar.

Very helpful and friendly desk staff. Great central location right in between the main square (Plaza de Catalunya, direct bus to airport, Corte Ingles department store) and the Eixample/Gracia shopping, restaurant and nightlife area.

Experience posted by brianscottgross, August 2011.

Excellent and Personalized Service – Wonderful Hotel

My 2 grown daughters, wife and I stayed in two rooms at the Barcelona Universal Hotel from July 29-August 1. It was a wonderful stay. The hotel staff assisted us with hotel and non-hotel matters: from recommendations for great restaurants and the best way to use the subway, to changing my daughters’ room (within 5 minutes!) when one of my daughters said the mattress was too soft for her taste and to arranging a late check-out. Our rooms were very clean and inviting. The hotel offered excellent value for the rate which we paid. In recent years, I can’t remember having a better hotel experience.

The only recommendation for improvement that I would make is the result of me being a vegetarian. The buffet breakfast (which was included in our rate) had an excellent range of meats (which I don’t eat), but had very little in the way of salads or fresh vegetables. There was some cheese, fresh fruit and yogurt, but only tomatoes (no lettuce, cucumbers or salads as such).  I would encourage the addition of fresh salads or salad vegetables.

I would enthusiastically recommend this hotel to friends (even vegetarians) and will choose it again if/when we return to Barcelona.

Experience posted by JeffMaccabim, August 2011.

Thanks for the great experience!

Hi everybody,

We are Silvia e Matteo from Italy. We stayed in Europark Hotel for four nights, from July 25 to 29. Since we entered, we found the hotel simply perfect! The place is very  charming, near the centre of a wonderful city, just few steps from a Metro station.

The staff is kind and efficient; when we saw our room we thought “this is a four star, not a three!”: it was spacious, with design furniture, a big double bed and a comfortable bathroom. The swimming pool on the roof  was perfect to take a rest after a tiring day.

We thank you for your kindness and your interest and we hope to come back soon!

Experience posted by SilviaeMatteo, August 2011.

Barcelona Fashion Showcase

The city’s main fashion events coincide once again. The Brandery fashion show, which takes place from 13 to 15 July, features an area open to the general public among its new features. The 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, from 12 to 15 July, is being held at historical site of the Barcelona University, while the ModaFad parade and market will be on from 14 to 15 July.

While The Brandery, an urban fashion fair designed to show off the latest trends from the big brands, is organising a competition for new talent, the 080 Barcelona Fashion catwalk, an indie fashion platform, is letting in big names.

The Brandery is the new hotspot of urban fashion, a hub of trends, design, music, creativity and business. Exhibitions, catwalk shows, live music… all under the same roof which, for the first time this year, will have a new sector open to the general public: The Brandtown Fashion Xperience, which will coexist with the traditional The Brandery trade show.Such apparent contradictions share the same spirit, that of putting Barcelona on the fashion map, publicising successful businesses and introducing up-and-coming designers.

Creativity and innovation are the concepts that inspire 080 Barcelona Fashion, an initiative driven by the Catalan Government, as an open, plural multidisciplinary, international fashion platform.

This July at least sees these two events coinciding with the ModaFad events and activities once again to provide a highly unique fashion week. And B-Hotel features Fitting Room, an event where design, fashion and arts come together.

The ModaFAD activity consists of the international showing of emerging fashion designers to boost the interdisciplinary, drive the concept of the designer and promoted, and encourage the relationship between the design schools, the young designers, the specialized modes of communication, and the industry.

Detailed information can be found on each event website:

• The Brandery
• 080 Barcelona Fashion
• ModaFAD
• Fitting Room at B-Hotel

Hotel Barcelona Universal: Sehr empfehlenswert

Das Hotel Barcelona Universal hat unsere Erwartungen voll erfüllt. Zimmer, Frühstück, Service ob an der Rezeption oder an der Dachterassenbar, alles in unserem Sinne gut. Das Zimmer 218 hatte sogar noch eine große Terasse, so dass vor dem Zubettgehen dort noch ein Bier genommen werden konnte. Wir würden bei einem Aufenthalt in Barcelona erneut dieses Hotel buchen. Sehr empfehlenswert.

Experience posted by Schöenenberg, July 2011.

Sant Joan, the Night of Fire

The evening of June 23rd is the Eve of Fire before the Feast Day of St John the Baptist. Revetlla de Sant Joan is the Catalan name for this Eve.

In Barcelona and related Mediterranean areas, ancient pre-Christian traditions related to fire festivities are still among the most popular. Bonfires are lit in the streets or on the sand of the beaches, the rituals are jumping over the fire, touch the water that is blessed in the night or asking for some wishes, and there are fireworks too. Special meals are also served on this occasion. Coca de Sant Joan, a traditional Catalan pastry, can be found on every table.

Both if you are plannig to go to the beach, or staying in one of our terraces in Barcelona, make sure to enjoy this magical Eve and be ready for firecrackers and fireworks all night long.

Excellent Hotel Europark in Barcelona

We spent four days in Barcelona at the Hotel Europark, and found it to be an excellent location, slightly out of the main drag, which was good.

The room was nicely furnished and clean , and great breakfast. I would certainly stay here again.

Experience posted by malcolm, August 2010.

Jazz Hotel Barcelona

I have just returned from staying at Hotel Jazz, i cannot recommend it highly enough, great location, very clean, very friendly staff.

Bar and pool on rooftop was brilliant after a exhausting day. I will definately be coming back……

Experience posted by John Geoghegan, August 2010.

Everything ready at Gracia

Gràcia’s 2010 Festa Major or annual local festival (14 to 22 August) will be filling the district with concerts, workshops, exhibitions, sporting events and competitions, street parades, fire, giants, food, human towers and much more. There’ll be something for everyone. Prizes will be handed out for the best decorated streets on Tuesday 17 August.

Activities such as free beer tasting, children’s jigsaw-puzzle competition, exhibitions, story telling, gastronomy, courses and workshops for everyone, karaoke and street concerts to suit all tastes in the old town, from Habaneras to pop rock and disco music, as well as Celtic music, jazz, blues and rap, among other things.

Catalan tradition will be present as well, with bonfires, correfocs, traditional dances and parades, passacaglias, giants and human towers.

Gracia Festival: Barcelona’s biggest and most colorful street party

Probably Barcelona’s biggest and most colourful street party, the Festa de Gràcia gets underway on August 15th and, during one week, seventeen streets will be decorated for the celebrations, on another year of this historical event. The first reference of this festivity dates back to 1817, when Gràcia was a small village, and not yet absorbed as a neighbourhood by Barcelona.

Gràcia was established in 1626, in the surroundings of a convent called Nostra Senyora de Gràcia (Our Lady of Grace). Gràcia was an independent municipality until it was annexed to Barcelona in 1897 along with other villages in the plain of Barcelona. The expansion of the Eixample  district in the 19th century eventually led to the northward expansion of Barcelona, connecting Gràcia to the growing metropolis.

Given the confirmation that some two thirds of the event’s visitors will be attending its morning, afternoon and early-evening activities, it will hold its main family-interest shows and cultural events at those times.

Still, the night party may stretch out to 2 am during the week and 3.30 am during the weekend, with concerts and music.

The first event of the Festival was the poster contest. Aina Cordoncillo, local illustrator, has been selected among 268 participants, and her poster will be the Official Poster of the Festival.

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