Hotel Praktik Rambla, Barcelona

...Rambla - a very stylish hotel in the centre of Barcelona===

_Please DO NOT CONFUSE with Hotel Praktik on Calle Diputacio (also in Barcelona centre) which is a combination of hostel/hotel with less comfort than this place (although both are located close to each other and belong to the same_ _group of hotels/owner)_

'''Location'''
The central location of the hotel is great for shopping trips, sightseeing, dining, ...
...city. The hotel is located on Rambla de Catalunya, which is the famous promenade in Barcelona with souvenir shops, bars and restaurants, and leads to the port and the pier. It is also next to Pasage de Gracia (Paseig de Gracia in Catalan), which is famous for ‘posh’ shops located there and tourist attractions such as Casa Battlo and La Pedrera – buildings constructed by a modernist architect from Barcelona, Antonio Gaudi.
Less than 5 minutes ... more

Hotel Praktik Rambla - a very stylish hotel in the centre of Barcelona

Please DO NOT CONFUSE with Hotel Praktik on Calle Diputacio (also in Barcelona centre) which is a combination of hostel/hotel with less comfort than this place (although both are located close to each other and belong to the same group of hotels/owner)

Location
The central location of the hotel is great for shopping trips, sightseeing, dining, nightlife and very close to transport links outside of the city. The hotel is located on Rambla de Catalunya, which is the famous promenade in Barcelona with souvenir shops, bars and restaurants, and leads to the port and the pier. It is also next to Pasage de Gracia (Paseig de Gracia in Catalan), which is famous for ‘posh’ shops located there and tourist attractions such as Casa Battlo and La Pedrera – buildings constructed by a modernist architect from Barcelona, Antonio Gaudi.
Less than 5 minutes from the hotel is Placa Catalunya – one of the main train and metro stations, from where you can literally get anywhere inside and outside of Barcelona. Try to go to the beautiful beaches outside of the city in Mataro, Castelldefels or Sitges.

Hotel building
The building itself is historic and has its own unique character. Previously housing a hostel called Hostal Palacios, it was renovated and opened up just at the end of June 2009. So everything there is like new. The hotel has 21 rooms.
In the entrance to the reception you will be welcomed and have a rest on two white, modern-style leather armchairs. There is a lift to go upstairs.
At the back on the first floor (there is only reception on the ground floor) there is a library area with books and newspapers updated daily, there is also a very comfortable lounge with tables and white leather sofas which leads to an outside terrace. The terrace has a few stone tables surrounded by willow sofas; there are also some sun loungers for your use.

Rooms
The rooms are very spacious and wonderfully designed, with high ceilings and windows, comfortable beds, a safe, flat screen TV, big wardrobe and some stools. Air conditioning. There are lots of mirrors. Once again the modernist design of the rooms is fantastic - ideal to match the atmosphere in Barcelona.

Staff
The reception staff are courteous and helpful. They speak very good English, I also hear them speak Italian to some other guests.
Cleanlines of the hotel is perfect - congratulations to the cleaning staff, they make a real effort. After breakfast (bought in a shop on the night before), we left dirty plates and cups in the room to find them washed and nicely put away when we came back to the hotel.

Price
Accommodation in Barcelona is very expensive, especially in the centre; however this hotel was a pretty good deal. I paid only 684 euros for a double room (two people sharing) for an 8-night stay in a popular July season, which I consider a bargain, based on the advantages of the hotel.

Minuses

• Eating/drinking facilities - The hotel has no restaurant or breakfast facilities in the building, but just next door there is a restaurant where you can eat (they are working in partnership with the hotel), so this is not a big problem.
  It would be nice to have a kettle with some tea/coffee facilities and a small minibar in the room.
• Bathroom - there was no soap in the bathroom (there was shower gel and shampoo, tough). Also, there is no space to put your toiletries in the shower (at the bottom, but this is quite uncomfortable) or no hanger for the towel near the shower.
  If you are staying with friends you might feel that you lack privacy as the bathroom is separated from the room with a glass see-through door. The toilet space and shower space are separated with a brick was so you are not completely in sight. Although you need to watch yourself and have the bath towel ready next to the shower in order not to be seen naked… not mentioning that it is useful to turn on the TV with some music as all the noises from the bathroom can be easily heard without it…
• Noise – it is generally quite quiet in the whole building, however as the final renovations are still in progress you might hear a drill from time to time (fortunately, this is not very loud, heard only SOMETIMES and during the day so it is not a big deal). I personally didn’t even mind this.
  Also if your TV is on loud, it can be heard in the corridor. I am not sure if the next room neighbours could hear it. I never heard anyone next door.
• TV - the flat screen TV was quite temperamental as sometimes there was no signal at all (we wanted to listen to some music in the evening).

Booking a room
When I was making the reservation for the hotel room, that Hotel had not yet had a website, so I cannot comment on the booking process from my experience. I booked my room through Booking.com, which was a very easy process. Since then, Hotel Praktik Rambla set up their website and it is available in English and Spanish (castellano), so don't worry if you don't know the language. You can now make the reservation by going to their website (address at the end of my review) and selecting Online Booking (Reserva Online) on the right hand of the page.

Recommendation
That would be it. Even though my list of minuses is quite large, these are not really big things and didn’t bother me at all (maybe apart from the lack of fridge and TV signal, but I am sure they are already working on improving this). I honestly don’t think you can get better comfort and style in a central location in Barcelona for this price. I will definitely recommend this hotel to anyone and will stay again when back in the city.

Thanks for reading my review; I hope you find it helpful!

If you need any more information or just to see more pictures of the hotel, which are much better than mine, visit:
http://www.hotelpraktikrambla.com/en/hotel-in-barcelona 

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