Barcelona Hotels

[Gpilon]

We will be on a Grandeur cruise next July, sailing out of Barcelona and it appears Regent have the Hotel Sofia as their assigned hotel. Any experiences with this hotel? Thanks in advance.

[Golfwife1]

See GeorgiaPeach51's great review of her Splendor trip. Nov. 19 2022. Post #58. Adore Joanie -  charming, warm and witty. 

 

DH and I will be at the Sofia in around 16 days (not that I am counting!) and will be happy to report back re: our first Splendor cruise. Sofia is located near the Stadium, not central to tourist sights. We  booked there in addition to the one night Regent gave us pre-cruise so as not to juggle hotels and luggage. 

[jeb_bud]

We stayed there in 2019 before a Barcelona to Venice cruise. As others have said it’s away from the tourist areas but a as my wife just said it’s very nice. Taxis were not very expensive and it didn’t take long to get to Park Guell or La Sagrada Familia. 

[Gpilon]

48 minutes ago, Golfwife1 said:

See GeorgiaPeach51's great review of her Splendor trip. Nov. 19 2022. Post #58. Adore Joanie -  charming, warm and witty. 

 

DH and I will be at the Sofia in around 16 days (not that I am counting!) and will be happy to report back re: our first Splendor cruise. Sofia is located near the Stadium, not central to tourist sights. We  booked there in addition to the one night Regent gave us pre-cruise so as not to juggle hotels and luggage. 

Thanks, Golfwife1. We have been on Splendor twice, most recently a TA the end of March. Beautiful ship and terrific crew. I'm sure you will enjoy sailing on her very much. 

[Gpilon]

29 minutes ago, jeb_bud said:

We stayed there in 2019 before a Barcelona to Venice cruise. As others have said it’s away from the tourist areas but a as my wife just said it’s very nice. Taxis were not very expensive and it didn’t take long to get to Park Guell or La Sagrada Familia. 

Thanks for the reply. Last time in Barcelona, we stayed at El Palace which was in an excellent location.

[CardowMD]

Got bumped from the Hilton near waterfront to Sophia a few years ago. Upgraded to a Club room with access to concierge level. It was very nice. Walking distance to the department store LeCorte Inglais, which had a great food market in the basement. Quick taxi to cruise terminal. 

[cruiseej]

We were in Barcelona this spring but booked our own hotel for three nights pre-cruise. I'd note that we spent very minimal time at our hotel because we were out exploring the city day and night. If you're just looking to catch up on sleep after a long flight, then location really doesn't matter too much. But if you're planning to explore the city for a few days, the location of the Sophia will require more taxis than a hotel located closer to the center of the city. (We were very happy with our stay  at Le Meridien, on La Rambla with easy walking access to the Gothic Quarter and its attractions as well as Passeig de Gracia, the main shopping street and home of several Gaudi houses. We walked pretty much everywhere except Park Guell.)

 

I think Regent often selects hotels with enough capacity to house a lot of guests rather than hotels in the best locations to explore a city. We just got back from a Splendor cruise in Iceland, and both our pre- and post-cruise hotels were away from the main downtown, requiring taxis for exploring and dinners. In hindsight, we might have done better booking a hotel in a good location on our own, even if it cost a bit more. 

[welshfamily]

We have just had a credit for the Sofia. Whilst we know it’s a reasonable hotel it is situated in a poor spot for visiting the sights of Barcelona. We prefer to walk around particularly in the evening. We have gone with a H10 hotel on Cataluyna Plaza bang in the centre. Close to all types of transportation Metro, hop on hop offf, buses, taxis etc, We will be there 5 days before our cruise next year so we have splashed out for a spacious room with a private terrace as we like to rest up late afternoon / early evening before dinner. There  are plenty of good hotels in Barcelona. I would recommend some research to see what would suit you best. 

[briar14]

In June before a Mariner cruise we stayed at the Hotel Monument, centrally located, nice rooftop space, good restaurants, easy walks to many attractions. Service, especially the concierge service was excellent. We booked through AmEx, not Regent.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. We stay at the Hotel Arts on teh water and within walking distance to Las Ramblas.Keep us posted!

[Whinenowine]

No Sofia expertise here, sorry, but we were in Barcelona pre-cruise last month and booked the Hotel Majestic via AMEX.  It's right on Passeig de Gracia, about halfway between the two Gaudi houses (Batllo and Mila).  Central to almost everything and only a 10-15minute car ride to the terminal.  The hotel was very nice and the AMEX Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits were fantastic (upgrade, fantastic daily breakfast worth $100/day, and $100 hotel credit). 

[CurlerRob]

We've stayed several times at the Hotel Serras - in the Gothic Quarter, on the waterfront, 10 minute taxi to terminal, 1/2 klick to the foot of La Rambla. We have walked from La Sagrada Familia to the hotel (with a stop for lunch at the Mercado de La Boqueria) as part of an excellent day's outing. 🍺🥌

[hamasgirl]

We stayed on the Hotel Sofia post cruise last year through Regent.  Hotel was fine.  While it is outside of the tourist areas, the Hop on Hop Off bus stop is right across the corner from the Hotel.  And once on that line (I think it was the Red line) you had the option of shifting to another color line (maybe green?) at one of the stops to see a different part of the city...including the Cathedral.  We were only in town for a single full day before we boarded the next day so we spent a good part of the day hopping on and hopping off that bus and saw lots of different areas of Barcelona.

[Pcardad]

https://www.sonder.com/destinations/barcelona/do-placa-reial/c31547?sleeps=1

Heart of Gothic Quarter - near bars and shopping and plenty to do late night if you are up for it.

[Gpilon]

It looks like we will be at Intercontinental for our pre-cruise hotel. Suspect they use a few different hotels..??

 

[the_dylaness]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:52 PM, briar14 said:

In June before a Mariner cruise we stayed at the Hotel Monument, centrally located, nice rooftop space, good restaurants, easy walks to many attractions. Service, especially the concierge service was excellent. We booked through AmEx, not Regent.

 

We stayed at the Monument last month before our Azamara cruise and I agree with all your observations, particularly concierge!

[Golfwife1]

We stayed two nights at the Sofia Barcelona prior to boarding Splendor last Sunday. Yep, we are on board now. Sofia is a Modern hotel. We upgraded to a junior suite and I loved the space and the huge bath with freestanding tub. The glass WC enclosure - never got used to that feature. 🙄 Love the hotel but it is a cab ride (or other method) to everything,  We did not mind. In fact, if we had been staying longer, I would have learned the Metro and purchased a pass to get around. We are meeting up with peeps tonight for drinkgts who stayed at the Intercontinental. I will find out their impressesions of that hotel.

[zak477]

We have stayed at the Arts Hotel Barcelona at the Marina 3 times and enjoy it very much. The homes are modern, clean and housekeeping are outstanding. Everything at the hotel including pricing are great. 

[Gpilon]

It appears we will now be put up at the Intercontinental for our July 2024 cruise, even though the hotel offered on the website indicates the Sofia. We have decided to take the hotel credit and will spend 2 nights before the cruise at the Majestic Hotel….Virtuoso offers excellent rates with included buffet breakfast and a hotel credit. We will book Blacklane for airport to hotel then hotel to cruise terminal.

[bebop bonnie]

6 hours ago, Gpilon said:

It appears we will now be put up at the Intercontinental for our July 2024 cruise, even though the hotel offered on the website indicates the Sofia. We have decided to take the hotel credit and will spend 2 nights before the cruise at the Majestic Hotel….Virtuoso offers excellent rates with included buffet breakfast and a hotel credit. We will book Blacklane for airport to hotel then hotel to cruise terminal.

Sounds like a good plan!  I really liked the Majestic…junior suite was excellent and service and location couldn’t be better!

[Gpilon]

22 minutes ago, bebop bonnie said:

Sounds like a good plan!  I really liked the Majestic…junior suite was excellent and service and location couldn’t be better!

That is what we will be reserving. We have found Regent supplied “free hotels” to be….OK. Last time on Splendor in Miami the “included and free” breakfast was quite honestly, not good. Cold buffet and warm OJ does not make for a luxurious vacation. We have booked the Jr. Suite and understand the breakfast buffet is sensational. Blacklane is a sensational service which we have used in Europe often. Our suite has a noon time access…..be at the pool bar at 12:05. 

[wineoclock]

We also always stay at the Hotel des Artes - fabulous hotel. 

[bebop bonnie]

Gpilon, Plates of Tapas and Pitchers of Sangria on the Majestic rooftop is  perfection!!  Enjoy every moment.  And thanks for the Blacklane tip!!

[tnr]

20 hours ago, Gpilon said:

It appears we will now be put up at the Intercontinental for our July 2024 cruise, even though the hotel offered on the website indicates the Sofia. We have decided to take the hotel credit and will spend 2 nights before the cruise at the Majestic Hotel….Virtuoso offers excellent rates with included buffet breakfast and a hotel credit. We will book Blacklane for airport to hotel then hotel to cruise terminal.

Gpilon, how did you find out about the Intercontinental?  Our account shows the Hotel Sophia for our August cruise.  We are staying a few days extra and have also booked them with Hotel Sophia and don’t want to have to change hotels for the night.

[Gpilon]

4 minutes ago, tnr said:

Gpilon, how did you find out about the Intercontinental?  Our account shows the Hotel Sophia for our August cruise.  We are staying a few days extra and have also booked them with Hotel Sophia and don’t want to have to change hotels for the night.

It displays in "My Account" then in "Show my Itinerary", although the actual cruise show the Sofia. Perhaps our level of suite dictates the hotel? Regardless, we will take the credit and book the Majestic.