Barcelona hotels

Why all these posts on Rome and Venice on the Spain board :confused:

We stayed at Hotel Continental, quirky and nice. 24 hour snack buffett with wine and beer included.

we had a balcony room and knew it could be noisey but we wanted to experience it all and we really enjoyed hanging out on our balcony with our snacks and a glass of wine watching the activity of Las Ramblas!

Great location for subway and Hop on Hop off buses.

We loved this hotel also. Besides the fantastic location, friendly staff, convenient snacks and an abundance of character there is nothing else you need!

We did a similar jaunt in 2011--

For Barcelona stayed at Regencia Colon, near the old cathedral--really nice location, only 3-4 blocks off Las Ramblas, and all the nicer for it.

We used shareashoreexcursioninitaly for a shared van to Florence, and shared tours set up on our Roll Call using yourtourinitaly. Good experiences with both--especially the latter. (Also--thanks to the Rick Steeves book, we booked a "Terraces of the Cathedral" guided tour--got to walk around the roof of the Doumo, and skip the long section of the line to the top of the dome. It's described in his Florence and Tuscany guide, and you book it at the Cathedral museum, across the street. )

In Barcelona, definitely do the RunnerBean "free" walking tours. You won't regret it.

Here's my review with details, some links to pics, too.