As far as hotels go I like the Nunez Navarro group hotels (B hotel near the convention center and 1898 near ramblas). As far as other chains, if you like starwood both the W at the marina (with an awesome sky lounge) and the le meridien (complete with Hermes toiletry) on ramblas are great.

I prefer to be closer to the center city as I like the food/party scene there more than the beach (though I certainly recommend both if its your first time).

As far as food options ... obviously there are tons of great places in El Borne ... Cal Pep is a staple ... touristy but worth the wait/hype ... dont leave barca without visiting.

Spend some quality lunch time (pre siesta) at the boqueria ... foodie destination number 1

Tragaluz is my favorite "fancy" place in Barca ... pork is otherworldly .... good wine selection ... next door to a cool night-time spot too!

Avoid Paella ... its not a Catalan dish ... there is a place in the marina area that does great paella from different regions ... i dont remember the name but in general i would avoid mainland food when all the Catalan goodness is there for the eating!

Hop on the nerdy tourist double deckers .... do a tour of the whole city to get a grip on size ... i think you can "digest" the major sights in a few days at a fairly leisurely pace.

I hope some of this gibberish was helpful ...

 

have not been to Barcelona, but spent 2 weeks on costa del sol, so beautiful and being the vacation spot for the wealthy the yachts and cars were insane! the 3 hour ferry ride to Morocco was awesome too!

 

Bravo. Thank you very much. Let the research continue.....

 

Marbella is an awesome town. No humidity in the summer. Awesome drive through the mountains in if you are driving down from Madrid or Sevilla (assuming you wouldnt actually stay in Toledo or Rhonda, too small).

You can drive to Tariffa ... shortest point between Europe and Africa and take a ferry there too. its like 30 minutes or less. Tarifa is also cool to check out.

 

cant make my mind if i want to stay in the center city or beach .. guys your thoguhts?

does the beach side make sense in this kind of weather?

 

and why are all the hotels cost 300+ something per night?

 

I'll be there for most of June, going to go the Airbnb route. Cheaper than most hotels in the area, close to the beach, and you have a variety of super stylish pads to choose from.

 

It looks like there are going to be a lot of us there in June. I'm leaving on the 18th-20th, staying in Barcelona for a few days (with some day trips) going on a cruise on the 23rd for 12 days and then another day in Barcelona, followed by a few days in France/other parts of Spain.

 

My trip was post-poned until Spring '12.....but hope to add Germany, Belgium, and Portugal into the mix then. So perhaps good things will come to those who wait. For now, ill continue to look at places so when the time comes ill be ready.

As of now - i really like the idea of a few nights in town (Casa Fuster) and a few nights down on the beach (Arts Hotel) for a total of 4-6 nights depending upon time.

For those of you that are going - Enjoy and be sure to update this thread when you return!