HotelChatter

Actually, that's not true. Love is a fickle thing. It wants big, comfy beds and feather pillows for midnight playfights, and showers big enough for two. It wants balconies and cute views, a cosy, loved-up atmosphere (no factory hotels) and understanding staff. Like the butler who attended to Matt Chesterton on his wedding night - that kind of service deserves an award. And it doesn't want to walk too far from dinner back to bed.

The 2-star 44-room El Jardí has got pretty much all that and more. So it's not the Arts or the Hotel Cram, but it's sweet and clean and the beds and balconies and breakfasts just about match up. The staff are great, although we didn't try Matt's trick on them.

It's actually two separate houses, one tall and thin, one short and fat, like Jack Spratt and his wife. They were linked formerly by an intertwining staircase and now, thankfully, by a lift. Jack Spratt's still one storey taller than his wife.

Get a room overlooking the square of Sant Josep Oriol, a typical Barcelona squarelet surrounded by cafés and little shops and filled, at weekends, with artists and musicians trying to charm a living out of passers-by. You're only a few steps from the Gothic Quarter with its maze of little streets and smoky restaurants.

The area's quiet at night, unlike the nearby La Rambla which - unless your hotel has sound-proofed windows - will have you stuffing those feather pillows in your ears to drown the all-night drunken shouting.

But love likes a little bit of history and glamour. El Jardí used to be a mecca for bullfighters, those young studs and stars of early Spanish history. At that time, rooms were 20 pesetas a night, and we guess the loving that went on in them was of a less romantic kind. But guys, unless you've got a bullfighter's body, don't try squeezing into one of their suits....

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· Barcelona Hotel Guide [HotelChatter]