Boutique 1847

This place ended up being one of the highlights of my trip, even though Barcelona wasn’t the city in Spain I was most excited to visit. I went after Christmas, so it was quiet, and the location was stunning. There’s no elevator, but that didn’t bother me since I travel light. It’s true there’s no fridge or closet, but I’ve never expected either in a small place like this. There was a clothing rack to hang things on. If you need more, try a bigger chain hotel like the Marriott.

Set in an old building in the heart of the Gothic quarter, the hotel has a great location, and the room was clean and stylish. The problem was the noise: you can hear everything from other rooms and even other apartments in the building. Sleeping without earplugs was pretty much impossible. The room is quite small, too, and the bathroom has glass walls. Depending on who you’re travelling with, that could be an issue.

The location was convenient, but the place felt basic for what it cost. The walls are paper thin, and the rooms are much smaller than they look in the pictures. I knew there was no lift, but Booking.com said my room was on the 1st floor. I was surprised to find I had to climb 3 flights of stairs. On top of that, I was charged twice, and it took 5 days for the payment to be returned.

At 9am, someone was hammering tile just a few feet from our bed. While I was writing this, a second person started hammering farther away. We paid over €100 for one night of rest and didn’t get any. That’s all I’ll remember about the stay, and I can’t see how the room could cost so much per night. The hotel was hard to find and up several flights of stairs. The clerk was very friendly, and the room was somewhat small but fashionable. We’ll be telling this story from our honeymoon for years, with the hotel as the punchline.