Hotel Balmoral

I had a superb stay at Hotel Balmoral. The staff were very attentive and willing to help. I was able to check in early, and have a shower at the spa after checking out (I had a late flight). The breakfast was tasty, and good coffee. This hotel is well located, within walking distance of most local attractions, and close to many restaurants, bars and shops. Thank you to the team at Hotel Balmoral for helping me to have a wonderful time in Barcelona!

The location of the hotel is good, and the staff are very cheerful and friendly—some of the best I’ve encountered. While the hotel is a bit older, our room was spacious and comfortable. However, I would not recommend booking with breakfast. The food quality was poor; it was often served cold and not fresh. Some items remained the same for three days without change, and some fruits were not clean. After informing the staff, the breakfast improved the next day. Unfortunately, the following day, the quality declined again. I’m surprised that a four-star hotel would have such poor breakfast options.

The hotel itself is very nice looking. However, the air conditioner didn't work. The first night, I had to Google the number to call reception because it isn't listed anywhere. When I was finally able to call from my phone (internacional), they told me there was a law in Spain that forbade hotels from setting the thermostat below 20° Celsius (68°Fahrenheit). Normally, 68 is good, but it felt like 77 or 78 in the room. I don't know that the law the gentleman mentioned exists because I had stayed in other hotels in other cities, and I was able to lower the ac to 18. The next day after our walking tour we were hot and tired. I wanted to get back to the hotel to take a shower and rest for a while. When we got to the hotel, there had been a problem and there weren't any lights in the hallways and the ac didn't work. They promised they would fix it by the night, and it did get cool for a while, but as the night progressed, it got hotter. It was like a sauna in the room by 3:30 a.m., and I was not able to sleep anymore. Another problem with the hotel is that I could hear the toilet being flushed in the next room, I could hear the people coughing, and every time they walked upstairs, I heard it. We stayed on the second floor, and I could hear and feel a rumbling like an underground train going by. I wouldn't have cared about all the noise if I had decent ac, but I wasn't able to rest at all the 2 nights I spent in this hotel.