Casa O Nascer Do Sol, Carvalho

Advantages: A five-star stay…
Disadvantages: …with just three-star facilities

...influences thrown in for kicks. For example: chicken stuffed with vegetables, Andean cheese and bacon, served with lemongrass risotto and fruit chutneys; or, trout poupiette and roasted Andean potatoes with greens in a teriyaki and aguaymanto vinaigrette. We had both of these and very good they were too. Most of the ingredients are said to be organic, incidentally. The wine list is limited and almost entirely South American, but it's easy to find something drinkable to go with the meal. Service is friendly and helpful. Unfortunately I've lost my itemised bill, but I do remember that the prices seemed very reasonable by local standards. Room service is also available. * Chain affiliation * Having talked at the outset of preferring independent hotels to chains, I'm slightly embarrassed to discover that the Casa San Blas... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Centrally located, great staff, great apartments.
Disadvantages: None

..., with a bridge going over one side of the pool going from the patio area to bar, the baby pool was bigger than most baby pools i've seen in other places i've stayed, with little water jets dotted about (my daughter loved these lol). The sunbeds were locked up at night and unlocked next morning at 9am, which meant you didn't have to get up at silly o'clock to get one but i'd say try and be up there just before 9am if you want to bag a good spot, there was plenty of beds to go round until about lunchtime, then it got busy, well i say busy...not really, all the beds were usually gone by 11/12 pm but what annoyed me was the fact alot of people would grab beds in morning, put towels on then bugger off for hours when really people who actually wanted to do some sunbathing couldn't :/ but this happens in alot of places. There was also a seating area right... Read review

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Advantages: One of the best examples of Catalan Modernism
Disadvantages: Very expensive

...in~ Mid December is probably the quietest time of the year to do anything of a touristic nature in Barclona and the Casa Batllo is a particularly good example of that. It's not actually a very big building and can easily get jam-packed with tourists. If you try to get into this attraction in summer the lines are long and the wait's interminable. But we strode straight up to the ticket booth without any delay. However, it might have been better to take some time to get over the shock of €16 entry fee. 'For goodness sake' I muttered under my breath 'I want to visit the house, not buy it!' The Entrance fee includes a very good and comprehensive audio tour. At some times in the year I think it's possible to buy a cut-down ticket that only includes the main floor of the building and excludes the attic and the chimney. However we weren... Read review

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