My Home in Barcelona

When I told the hotel my mother was in the hospital and near death, and that I had to return to my country, they simply said my booking could not be cancelled. There wasn't even a word of sympathy. Other hotels offered condolences and, exceptionally, let me change the dates or cancel. I've never cancelled a hotel room before, but this experience was awful. I'll be travelling to Barcelona often and won't stay here again.

The place is nice, clean, and in a good location, but the noise was a problem. From the second floor, we could hear activity and banging upstairs from around 8 a.m., and some in the evening too, as if furniture was being moved. I don't know if it was cleaners, the kitchen, or something else. The walls are so thin you can hear neighbours whispering, showers dripping, toilets flushing, pretty much everything. Management does try to keep things quiet, and there's a €500 fine for loud guests 😂, so it wasn't unbearable.

The location was nice, but the room was really uncomfortable in the August heat. The AC seemed to be stuck on fan mode, whether on purpose or not. There was no mode button on the in-room controller, so I had to find the manual online and work out how to change it myself.

A nice little hotel, and a terrace room can be a quiet place to sit late at night. Just know the terrace only looks onto the walls of nearby buildings, and people in other rooms may smoke out there. Next time I'd pick a street-view room. There's a shared kettle and tea, and reception closes at 6 p.m. The building's main door stays shut, but your room key opens it.