Ramblas Internacional Hotel

The view over la rambla was great, with the mountains visible, and the hotel sits right by the gothic quarter. Rooms are small, though, and the tub is a strange choice. There’s no bathroom ventilation, and the AC was only so-so, but the fan helped. el raval is next door, which some people might feel uneasy about if they’re nervous around certain neighborhoods or people with darker skin. I’m from south florida and already used to violence, theft and things like that, and walking through there felt fine by south florida standards. The woman and one of the men who helped me gave good service, though I can’t speak for the rest of the staff.

The location is good, but the noise from the long-running Rambla works starts around 8am, when construction workers are very loud. I also saw staff cleaning my room windows from the street after checkout with the white guest towels, which made me wonder if they were trying to save on cleaning supplies. The place was badly maintained. My room and the corridors sometimes smelled of food and sometimes cigarettes, and I had to pass a kitchen door to reach my room. The bathroom was filthy, moldy, and had very unsafe electrical problems. Cleanliness and safety didn’t seem like priorities. The room wasn’t somewhere I wanted to return to after a day walking around Barcelona. Maybe a student could overlook the poor experience, but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone expecting basic cleanliness.

There’s live music in the bar at night, so it may not suit anyone wanting quiet. But if you want silence, La Ramblas probably isn’t the place to book.

The location is convenient for walking, and the staff were fairly polite and seemed to be trying, but I still can’t recommend this hotel. There’s construction right outside and it’s noisy all the time. The room was dusty, with dirt on the walls, and the whole hotel felt dirty. The elevator looked unreliable and broke down on our last day. There isn’t proper air conditioning, just a weak ceiling fan moving hot air around. The room felt damp and stuffy, with a musty smell. I wouldn’t give it more than one star.