Hotel Turin Barcelona

Breakfast had a decent range of choices, and the luggage storage cost 1 Euro and fit bags for our family of four. The location was excellent, close to La Boqueria market and Carrefour, and the rooms were clean. The main problem was the air conditioning. The room was really hot in November, and opening the windows didn’t help much: it got noisy, and cigarette smoke from outside came in.

The hotel was near my office, so I booked it for a business trip to Barcelona and La Rambla with my four children. I entered two rooms for two adults and one child each, but the booking details and charges made no sense to me. Each room cost over 300 euros at the stated rate for three adults, and I paid the adult price for a child. At check-in, we were given two rooms with one bed each. The receptionist said Booking.com had collected the payment and the hotel couldn’t handle it, and there were no other rooms that night. He was very rude, saying he was too busy with bookings to reserve a room for me in advance. Booking.com later told me the reservation was for two rooms for two adults and a 12-year-old child. How does 700 euros for two rooms at a three-star hotel for three people make sense? It felt like a blatant rip-off. The children had to share rooms, two in one bed, while I put my clothes on the floor. That’s an absurd setup for a trip, and it ruined what should have been a lovely visit. Complaining to Booking.com didn’t help, and I felt my review there would just get buried, so I came to Google. Avoid this kind of booking if you don’t want to waste money and suffer. There was noise all night, so much that I thought it was Monday. I hadn’t checked out yet and had gone out to get a document. When I returned at 10:00 pm, the cleaner had taken my phone charger, saying she thought nobody was there, even though clothes and a suitcase were still in the room. I was speechless. Besties, whoever goes gets hurt🍴

The Wi-Fi was so unreliable that connecting was difficult, and the signal kept dropping even when it did work. The TV was barely usable too. My room was only about 14 square metres, very cramped, cold, dated, and had a strong smell, like an old building that hadn’t been looked after. For the price, the experience was completely unacceptable. The room felt poorly equipped and far below what I expected. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel and would tell other travelers to avoid it.

The colorful ceramic chimneys on the roof are a striking feature of Palau Güell, almost abstract sculptures that hint at Gaudí’s more imaginative work. Up there, the rooftops of the Raval district offer a quiet moment above the city’s bustle. Just off La Rambla, this is one of Antoni Gaudí’s less crowded but more surprising buildings. Once you pass through the imposing wrought-iron gate, the place opens into a play of light, materials, and symbolism from a particularly elegant, experimental period of the Catalan architect’s work. Inside, there’s so much detail: polished stone columns, carved geometric wooden ceilings, and stained glass that gives the rooms a warm, cozy feel. The central hall is spectacular, with its openwork dome bringing light in from above like a starry sky, yet it still feels intimate. Palau Güell is a great way to see a more restrained but already visionary Gaudí, away from the crowds at Sagrada Família. It’s a place to take your time and look around.