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Prime Spot on La Rambla at Hotel 1898

Where: La Rambla 109, Barcelona, Spain, 08002

If you're staying in Barcelona, you've gotta be close to that frenetic pedestrian mall that is La Rambla. So from a location point of view, the year-old Hotel 1898 fits the bill. Before you ask, the name comes from the year that Spain lost the Philippines to America during the Spanish-American war. Oops. Hopefully the link is mostly just due to the building, which is the old headquarters of Philippines Tobacco, and not some kind of vengeful thinking.

The NY Times checked it out recently and seemed pretty impressed. Big plus points, apart from the location, include a good atmosphere and well-evoked style of 1800s Spain, soundproof rooms (especially important on La Rambla), a decadent rooftop lap pool and a second pool in the basement for bad weather.

On the down side, room service won't feed you after 11pm, and that's a big surprise for Spain, where many people would still just be starting their evening. Many aspects of the hotel are (necessarily, perhaps) small--the gym, the bathrooms, the windows, and so on. But the summary goes like this: "a quiet slice of empire-era luxury in a prime location", so it doesn't sound bad at all.

[Photo: parsey]

Related Stories:
· Barcelona: Hotel 1898 [NY Times]