The second post around my recent trip to Barcelona and I'm chatting about where we stayed, and hopefully offering some inspiration if you're looking for a city break sometime soon!
I'm not one for splurging on a super expensive hotel when it's a city break and I want to spend most of my time out exploring. Saying that, the W hotel is on my wishlist for next time...even just for one night! Just check it out and I'm sure you'll agree with me...Anyway, we stayed in Ayre Hotel Rosellón, a 4 star hotel, which is right beside the Sagrada Familia. Leading up to our visit, we had a couple of hotels pre-booked with free cancellation but in the end the view from the roof terrace won us over and we booked this one. The plunge pool was an added extra and nice for cooling off in the 30 degree heat.
The hotel itself was very clean and comfy. There was a bar/restaurant downstairs serving breakfast and meals, but we only used the bar for a few drinks to take up to the terrace and opted to grab breakfast on the go instead. We had a great view out of our room, looking across to the Sagrada. I don't think I actually took any photos of the bathroom but it was fairly standard; white with a shower, big mirror and plenty of space for me to lay out various lotions and potions - mainly suncream, shower gel and the minimal makeup I'd put on every day (basically mascara and some concealer) Towels were refreshed every day and we even received extra complimentary toiletries which was nice!
Being in the center meant we could easy get around, with most journeys taking a maximum of 15 minutes via the metro. Typically when I go somewhere, I like to spend more time walking around and exploring all the little streets you'd miss by using public transport, but the metro passes proved such good value - even if we just hopped on to one place then walked around the area nearby. We still walked miles and miles.
Visiting Barcelona in August is always gonna be a little more expensive given the wall to wall sunshine - it is peak season for tourists to visit the city! Saying that, there's always a deal out there and if you're willing to go outside of peak season or at least the summer holidays for schools (where I'm sure it's still just as amazing) then you can always save a few pennies to spend on some Sangria, or a nice meal!
