Howdy all. Barcelona has been a city which people have been flocking to for a number of years now. Finding a good place that won’t break the bank can be tricky, but we found a pretty decent place for a really good price. Arc La Rambla is a modern, three-star hotel which is brilliantly situated in the tourist area of La Rambla. It’s five minutes’ walk to the Mercado de la Borqueira and in the opposite direction a little less to the marina area. There is a metro stop – Drassanes – less than 150 metres away as well and there are multiple bus lines that go past the hotel.

Price? Well, I paid around $460 for five nights, plus a little over 27,000 Qantas Points as I booked through the Qantas site and so was able to chop a bit off the bill. I think the going price was around $120-$130AUD. That’s around $85USD I guess, but today the price is around $100AUD but I presume that is due to Covid-19’s effect on tourism I presume. That would be around $68USD.

For this price this hotel really represented value for money. The building has been renovated into a modern structure, and the rooms definitely are modern and I was surprised by just how spacious ours was.

Coming in from the street (La Rambla) there was some kind of restaurant next door, and a few other facilities on the ground floor that I didn’t investigate. The reception area was small, but the receptionists were friendly and helpful with information about Barcelona and how to get about it. They also recommended places to eat – warning, eating out in Barcelona is NOT a cheap enterprise! And the quality rarely met the expectations set by the prices!

From the reception we took a small lift up to the fifth floor. There was a little outdoor area we had access on the same floor, but it was chilly and it didn’t seem to be maintained – probably because of the time of the year.

The room was very nicely appointed. It certainly wasn’t the flashiest or most perfectly decorated with historic pictures etc, but it was clean and comfortable. There was a small fridge and a television and for some reason we had a twin room which might have meant it’s a slightly bigger room than average.

The window opened out into a square space designed to allow rooms to breathe, which wasn’t very pretty but it supplied fresh air. The bathroom was another really nice one with both a bath and a shower. Baths after a day of walking the city are always a winner for me.

We had no issues, no issues with noise from other rooms – although I could hear the TV in the bathroom one night I remember. But not in the main bedroom. Beds were comfortable, the room was made up every day, and while nothing about it might be considered ‘outstanding’ but it was a consistent, high quality – for a three star hotel. For me it was a great balance of comfort, cleanliness, friendliness and price.

Andy’s Ratings:

Value for Money: 4/5

Cleanliness: 4/5

Noise: 3/5

Service: 3.5/5

Location: 4/5

Total: 18.5/25 (74/100)

Thanks for stopping by – May the Journey Never End!