L'Escala Vacations from $1,152

Here were the three problems with this property: 1. Check-In was terrible: we arrived shortly before 5pm in the afternoon. Yet, there was no one in the downstairs lobby. This is when we realized this wasn’t a dedicated aparthotel building and thus a series of units within a building. Further, the reason no staff was present in the downstairs lobby (or in the actual check-in area once you go thru the doors on the second floor) was because of Barcelona’s city festival that they never told us about. We were lucky that a) my wife found the phone number to contact and b) were out there with some daylight remaining. 2. Room not as advertised: to be exact, the room we received had only two photos in the over 30 that are posted in the listing, and those photos were buried in the last ones (which more than likely you wouldn’t scroll through). Also, the room was much darker lighting than expected. All photos show a bright white but that was far from the truth. 3. Washer/dryer super loud combined with poor room layout meant that the loud noise was very difficult to suppress for our sleepy baby. The division between the bedroom and the living room was a blind and no division to speak of between kitchen and bedroom. Felt more like a big studio than the 2 bedroom option we picked. Was the room useful? Sure - kitchennete plus next to metro was cool, but poor check-in and not accurate room listing means I’m skipping this place forever. I don’t recommend.

The location of the hotel is ideal. Close to Sagrada Familia and easy walking up and down Pg. de Gracia, a main road that connects to La Rambla. The staff were very helpful and attentive to any requests. The rooms were a little on the small side but acceptable considering it is an older building. The room fridge had included refreshments which was a nice touch. The downside to the stay was the noise. We were in a first floor suite over the restaurant. You could hear the music from the restaurant late into the evening. The hallway had almost no sound insulation. Every door that closed sounded like your door opening and closing. You could participate in other travelers conversations if they were talking while walking past your room. When the toilets flushed in adjacent rooms, you heard it clearly. Maybe this is expected in an older hotel but at this price point, I expected not to hear every coming and going of other travelers on my floor. Finally, we booked a Jr. Suite Patio. The room description indicates "in most cases, offer two access points to a balcony overlooking a quiet interior courtyard in the typical style of Barcelona’s Eixample district." Our room had two large windows that opened to a glass floor looking down into the restaurant below. I was expecting a balcony to be something you could step onto within the courtyard. This was not the case.