Anyone stay at Hotel Continental Palacete/Barcelona?

[Pearl64]

We are staying in Barcelona for three nights prior to the Riviera's Maiden Voyage. I have made reservations at the Hotel Continental Palacete on the Rambla de Catalunya. I have gotten conflicting opinions about the Continental hotels. I can only find information about the Hotel Continental--a sister hotel but rated lower. I know about the pink interior which doesn't matter. What concerns us is safety and cleanliness. Any comments on the 24 hour food "bar" would be appreciated. I was having difficulty finding any place with room availability for next April 11-14. Is there something going on that we are unaware of? It seems all lower priced hotels are booked. Does anyone have any other suggestions as to where to book or will we be okay at the Palacete? We can cancel the reservation if necessary without penalty.

 

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Pearl

[Desert Cruizers]

We have a few friom our Liberty Roll Call this coming Oct 29th sailing there and some at the sister Hotel the Continental, however we chose the Hotel Barcelona Universal ( 2 night Min ) and ended up saving 100 dollars for our 3 nights. The Hotel is more modern and the rooms are so much larger and since we are there 3 days, we have the time to see La Ramblas. One thing we do have planned for the 27th, is the Runnerbean Walking Tour of the Old City.

Hotel Barcelona Universal Web Site:http://www.hotelbarcelonauniversal.com/ Let me add, the Hotels when you put in a date, will show the Day first followed by the Month, so 11/4/2012 ( Day 11/Month April/year )Price is showing 114.62 euros = 163.3 US $ X's 3 days = 489. We are paying $380 US $ for our October dates.

[helencw]

Hi Pearl,

 

Here's a good web site for finding hotels in Barcelona:

http://www.hotelscombined.com/

 

You can input your dates, select the number of stars. I put in your dates and 3 and 4 stars, and you get a long list of many possibilities in all price ranges and ratings. You can specify sorting by price distance to the center, or popularity.

 

If you click on the price, you get a list of several booking web sites with various prices. I would contact the hotel directly to book.

 

On the upper right there is a choice for map view, so you could select a hotel in your preferred location (I think near Placa Catalunya is the best since it's a transport hub (with the airport bus), at the top of the Ramblas, and very safe.

 

I stayed at the sister Hotel Continental last year precruise. It was safe and clean, with a nice staff. (recommended by Rick Steve) I loved the balcony over the ramblas. I had known about the pink interior and thought I could put up with it, but it got on my nerves by the second day.

 

On the 24 hour free food and drinks, it's subjective. I think the drinks are good, but in reality the food does not look as appetizing or plentiful as in the photos.

 

For post cruise last summer I used priceline and got Tryp Apolo for $106.

It was very good considering the low price.

 

This summer I will be staying at Hotel Catalonia Plaza Cataluna at 120 euros.

[Barbie075]

We stayed at the Hotel Barcelona Universal on Paral-el and it was great. Good pricing, nice sized rooms with nice clean bathrooms. You walk 20 feet outside the door and can get on the underground and get anywhere in town in just minutes. You can walk to Las Ramblas in 15 minutes or take the underground and be there in 3-5 minutes. The price was great!!!! The people at the front desk very nice. No restaurant, but price included breakfast, which was very good. The have a roof top pool with a great view.

[Desert Cruizers]

Barbie, we are planning on doing the Old City Walking Tour ( Oct 27th) and when you took the underground, from the Hotel Universal, what stop did you get off at, we might decide to take it back to the hotel rather then walking back later in the afternoon, then what station for the Universal exit. Going over , we need to be around Placa Reial and La Ramblas. Last question, where do you get the tickets for the underground. Thank you.

[Barbie075]

We bought the tickets just before boarding at a kiosk. I suggest you search local transporattion in Barcelona and they will have the different routes and stops. If you don't want to do that just ask at the hotel and they will direct you.

 

Have fun and enjoy staying at the Universal.

[quercus alba]

Barbie, we are planning on doing the Old City Walking Tour ( Oct 27th) and when you took the underground, from the Hotel Universal, what stop did you get off at, we might decide to take it back to the hotel rather then walking back later in the afternoon, then what station for the Universal exit. Going over , we need to be around Placa Reial and La Ramblas. Last question, where do you get the tickets for the underground. Thank you.

 

Here's a link to a good map of the metro. The Universal is right at the Parallel station. Placa Real is halfway between the next station (on the L3, green line), Drassanes, and the one after that, Liceu. On the other hand, it's a straight line walk of only a half mile from your hotel to Placa Real. You should also be aware that the Runnerbean Gothic Quarter tour (which I heartily endorse, BTW!) ends up a good deal farther away--near the church of Sta. Maria del Mar, and that's closer to the Jaume I station on the L4 Yellow line, so you'd need to make a transfer to get back. http://www.runnerbeantours.com/old-city-free-walking-tour.php

 

Have fun!

[helencw]

desert cruiser,

 

The Barcelona Hotel Universal is right at the metro station called Paral-lel.

You can buy a t-10 transport card from the machines inside the station (good for 10 rides on the metro or bus, and you can share the card).

 

It's a short walk to the Ramblas, maybe 10 minutes, on the street called Nou de la Rambla. You will pass by Gaudi's Palau Guell.

 

If you really want to take the metro to or from Placa Reial, which is near the Ramblas and the old part of the city, the closest station is Liceu, on the Ramblas near the Boqueria market. It would be 2 stops on the L3 line.

 

Also at this Paral-lel station is the funicular for Montjuic. It takes you part way up the mountain. When you get off, you could pay to continue to the top with the Teleferic, a cable car which will take you the top. the views of Barcelona and the harbor are spectacular! There is a castle at the top.

[woldridge]

We have stayed at both Contential Hotels, but the Hotel Continental Palacete is our favorite. Here is a link to pictures I toolk during that stay:

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/556574083MellzX

 

One of the best things about staying here was the buffet. Regardless of time of day, there was a good variety of food and drinks available. This was in 2006, so things may have changed, but we were able to make meals out of what was available. In addition, water, soda, beer and other drinks were always available. At the time we stayed there, almost the whole hotel was booked by CC people.

 

The location was perfect. It was quiet, and was 2 blocks from Placa Catalunya where there is a train station as well as the main area for the hop-on-hop-off bus. The foot traffic was mainly business people going to or from the train. I never did not feel safe.

 

I know their prices have gone up a lot from when we stayed there, but if the price was right, I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

 

Barb

[Pearl64]

Thank you everyone for your kind responses. At least it looks doable. We thought the location was good. I think we can deal with pink and tiny. It looked relatively clean. If the food is not to our liking, we can find someplace else to eat. We won't starve. Perhaps we should limit ourselves anyways before we get to the ship and have all that food.

 

Pearl

[Shak]

There is a lot of posts on this hotel if you search this forum, and yes you will find conflicting opinions. I researched this hotel for upcoming cruise from Barcelona and we chose a different location. Here is a photo I found on a thread from last year. Pay close attention to the persons legs.

 

Shak

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1121538&highlight=hotel+continental

[Pearl64]

Dear Shak and almost neighbor to the west--

 

We are about one hour from North Canton! Have used the CAK airport several times. I did use the search button but I could only find info on the other Continental hotel. There are two of them. Ours is supposedly the better of the two and further up from the port. The photos are from the other Continental hotel. Woldridge posted pictures from the Palacete which is the one we have reservations.

I can still change the reservation but for now we will probably just monitor comments.

 

Thank you.

Pearl

[Shak]

Dear Shak and almost neighbor to the west--

 

We are about one hour from North Canton! Have used the CAK airport several times. I did use the search button but I could only find info on the other Continental hotel. There are two of them. Ours is supposedly the better of the two and further up from the port. The photos are from the other Continental hotel. Woldridge posted pictures from the Palacete which is the one we have reservations.

I can still change the reservation but for now we will probably just monitor comments.

 

Thank you.

Pearl

 

Peal I live about 3 miles from CAK.

 

Both hotels are owned by the same company and if you look at the pictures posted on Trip Advisor the pictures are not all that dissimilar between the two hotels.

 

Shak

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187497-d274118-Reviews-Continental_Palacete-Barcelona_Catalonia.html