Best ways to book a hotel last minute abroad (barcelona/recommendations GtFIH)

Buffman

Buffman

Buffman

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Hey all,

I'm going to Barcelona early October (Sunday 5th to Saturday) and wondering the best way to book hotels? I assume booking last minute will be my best bet? What websites should I use?

I'm thinking I'd like a central 4 or 5 star hotel for me and the Mrs (at around 300ish for the 5days). I'm up for walking 30 mins or so and a pool/wifi in the evening are preferred!

Any hotel recommendations/things to do in Barcelona are welcome!

P. S. I got a clarity card on the back of recommendations here, is it also goof rates for taking cash out of atm machines?
 
Thanks for the links, is it generally best to wait until the week before, couple days before or later? (I will prob book about 3 days beforehand preferably.).

Has anyone used lastminute.com secret hotel.
 
A lot of people assume booking last minute is best but IMHO this is often not the case. This only works if the hotel has unexpectedly anticipated occupancy levels which doesn't happen as often as you think, especially with dynamic pricing. It's as likely to go up as it does as hotels realise they have only a few rooms left and that people will be increasingly desperate as time runs out.

I book quite a lot of hotel stays each year and generally find that prices reach the low point about 4-6 weeks before travel.

Why do you want a 5 star hotel - do you particularly need a turn-down service, shoe shine, valet parking or a 24 hour concierge? The star rating is a rating of hotel amenities not hotel quality. You will find some 4 star hotels are better than some 5 star hotels, for example. I don't think a lot of people realise this, people seem to equate star rating with how good the hotel is. It does roughly correlate, but only because the requirements for 5 star are such that they are rarely if ever met by lower quality properties.
 
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Thanks fox, no I don't need all these amenities, and generally I use stars as a rough guide then check TripAdvisor afterwards. However being close to town or having a pool/wifi will be good.

I'll have a look at prices now and try compare. As time draws closer.
 
Barcelona is a fairly cheap European city for hotels, you can get a nice well located 4* for around £40 a night. I've stayed at the hotel emilia villa a number of times and it's fantastic.
 
Adam said:
Barcelona is a fairly cheap European city for hotels, you can get a nice well located 4* for around £40 a night. I've stayed at the hotel emilia villa a number of times and it's fantastic.
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Really? I checked hotel emilia and was about 160a night :o
 
Any other suggestions from folk? Not sure whether to stay inside the town or save some cash and stay further out in nicer hotels with pools etc (ie 20 mins tram in). How is the tram in barca?
 
Adam said:
Barcelona is a fairly cheap European city for hotels, you can get a nice well located 4* for around £40 a night. I've stayed at the hotel emilia villa a number of times and it's fantastic.
Click to expand...

Lol what? Really?! Been there loads, never managed this....Also, knowing what I have paid (I'm not in to Hostels...), I'm not sure I'd want to stay in a 40 quid a night 4*.
 
The Craig said:
Any other suggestions from folk? Not sure whether to stay inside the town or save some cash and stay further out in nicer hotels with pools etc (ie 20 mins tram in). How is the tram in barca?
Click to expand...

It's like any city, a balance of cost against location/amenities. Personally for up to a week I'd rather be central and pay a bit more for *both* location and amenities. Longer, may out of town is more reasonable.

Barca is a great walking City though - I'd go central every time.
 
Just keep a close eye on your personal belongings on La Ramblas, also, don't get coerced into one of the open bars on La ramblas, they're just as bad as the pickpockets, €28 for a litre of Estrella damm and a sangria i paid last September! (that was about £23 back then)
 
I've had some great deals from the Priceline name your own price bidding thing. Martin Lewis has a good article about it.
 
Wife and I stayed at a Youth Hostel type place right next to the beach just off the bottom of Las Rambles (sp?) last October no pool but it had free WiFi and it's own bathroom, £70 for 4 nights it was very good!
 
Whats the best way of taking out cash if I've got a halifax clarity card? (never used before). Normally I just bring a wad of cash :o

Went with a hotel off priceline.com (cheaper!) on a hotel I got off hotels.com thanks for the tips!
 
Go to a cash machine, enter your card and pin and withdraw moneys. Simple as that, like you would with a Debit card.
 
Ah cool thats what I thought (obviously I will phone up credit card company beforehand... ). Airports have cash machines without fees right ? :o (Stupid questions I know..)
 
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Adam said:
Barcelona is a fairly cheap European city for hotels...
Click to expand...

If you're happy to be outside of the city then it can be cheaper (still not £40 a night though) but like any city, if you want to be more central then you'll need to pay for it. Although the metro is pretty damn good (the carriages are air-con'd), so you don't necessarily need to be in the centre.

But on the whole, Barcelona isn't a particularly cheap city. On the few trips i've done i thought it was easily as expensive as London.

Am curious to know where you stayed for £40 a night? Cheapest i could get Hotel Emilia Villa was still 125euros/£90 a night and that was booking 6 months ahead and using their 20% discount.
 
visibleman said:
If you're happy to be outside of the city then it can be cheaper (still not £40 a night though) but like any city, if you want to be more central then you'll need to pay for it. Although the metro is pretty damn good (the carriages are air-con'd), so you don't necessarily need to be in the centre.

But on the whole, Barcelona isn't a particularly cheap city. On the few trips i've done i thought it was easily as expensive as London.

Am curious to know where you stayed for £40 a night? Cheapest i could get Hotel Emilia Villa was still 125euros/£90 a night and that was booking 6 months ahead and using their 20% discount.
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I think you (and others) have misquoted me. I said there are £40 hotels (I stand corrected, they seem to be between £50-55 using November as an example within 0.7 miles of the centre) and then went on to say I've stayed at Hotel Emilia Villa a number of occasions. Last time I stayed there I paid about £65 per room per night.

I try and go once a season for the champions league and I've always thought hotels and flights were reasonable.
 
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