Barcelo Raval

Barcelo Raval represents good value for Barcelona hotels, particularly as the smallest of the rooms are a reasonably spacious 25sqm.

Located on the Rambla del Raval, Barcelo is close to a number of good restaurants, and sights, and easy walking distance to the Gothic Quarter, or lively Sant Antoni in the other direction.

I’ll be honest: I find it difficult to get my head around Rambla del Raval. The tree-lined Rambla is only around 300m long, but you have some pretty average tourist restaurants at one end, Barcelo Raval and some moble phone shops and the like in the middle, and at the east end are a number of really quite good restaurants and bars. 

Weird.

Anyway. Barcelo Raval is a modern high-rise, that brings with it the benefits of a modern high rise, such as functional lifts, views from the rooms, and even a rooftop bar offering vistas across the city in almost all directions.

What you don’t get are the charms of an older building, so swings and roundabouts I guess. It’s still a good choice for El Raval, and the rates are competitive.

Book it here.

What’s Nearby

Metro Liceu – 550m

Rambla del Raval – 10m

Filmoteca de Catalunya – 200m

La Boqueria Market – 350

La Rambla – 350

Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) – 600m

Palau Güell – 600m

Maritime Museum – 650m

Sant Antoni Market – 650m

Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) – 700m

Plaça Reial – 750m

Columbus monument (Mirador de Colom) – 850m

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Casa Camper

room interior, Casa Camper Hotel Barcelona

Camper may be famous for its shoes, but you’re not necessarily staying in a shoebox here (yuk, yuk). 

Housed in a couple of old buildings on the fabulous Carrer d’Elisabets, Casa Camper is in a prime El Raval address. There are numerous cafés, boutiques, and galleries within a couple of blocks.

rooftop 'rain machine' at Casa Camper Barcelona

With only 40 rooms, Casa Camper reserves most of its space for guests – you need to be buzzed into the lobby – and provides a 24-hour buffet with sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, coffee and the like in the lobby area and at the pleasant rooftop terrace. Plus there’s an honesty bar and a ‘rain machine’ under which you can cool off on a hot day. There’s no pool though.

Casa Camper bed

Rooms are…interesting.

The ‘Garden’ rooms (pictured) are actually two rooms. The main bedroom area has a bathroom that faces into an internal courtyard, which provides some natural light. (The courtyard isn’t accessible, so you’re unlikely to get a nasty surprise when you’re bathing). And across the hallway is another small room with a sofa, flat screen TV and hammock, and a tiny balcony overlooking the street.

It is an unusual arrangement, though may work well if your travel companion is a compulsive late-night TV junkie, I guess.

‘City’ rooms are in the other building – access is via lifts with doors on both sides – and are more regular all-in-one affairs.

Book it here

What’s Nearby

Metro Catalunya – 350m

Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) – 200m

Contemporary Culture Center of Barcelona (CCCB) – 250m

La Rambla – 250m

Plaza Catalunya – 400m

La Boqueria Market – 500m

Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi – 600m

Barcelona Cathedral – 750m

Palau Güell – 850m

Palau de la Música Catalana – 850m

Sant Antoni Market – 950m

Barcelona History Museum Plaça del Rei – 950m

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Yurbban Passage Hotel & Spa

Lobby at the Yurbban Passage Hotel, Barcelona

Okay, it’s a bit of a cheat as an El Born hotel, as the Yurbban Passage fronts onto a street that is technically in the Eixample. The passage part refers to a public passage running under the hotel that takes you into El Born though, and that’s why we’re here.

This is actually an advantage – you have the convenience of the wider Eixample streets for your arrival, while the charms of both districts are at your doorstep.

Guest room at the Yurbban Passage Hotel & Spa

Rooms are fairly compact (21sqm) until you get to the suites (42sqm), and some face the interior – by which I mean they look out at the narrow passage – so for space and light you’re looking at Junior Suites and outward-facing rooms respectively.

There’s a cute little swimming pool on the rooftop, and a pretty funky-looking restaurant too (though I haven’t eaten there…)

Book it here.

What’s Nearby

Metro Urquinaona – 270m

Palau de la Música Catalana – 190m

Santa Caterina Market – 400m

Plaça de Catalunya – 550m

Barcelona Cathedral – 650m

History Museum Plaça del Rei – 650m

Picasso Museum – 750m

Parc de la Ciutadella – 850m

Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar – 850m

El Born Cultural Centre – 950m

Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi – 950m

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