A Place to Rest Your Head

Lobby at Hotel Condado

Matt and I have a special appreciation for small, boutique hotels. In our quest for the right hotel in Barcelona, I perused this site and found this hotel. Unfortunately, we were booking a bit late .... more like a few days before we left .... so I had to book Hotel Condado through Expedia. However, it was a very cool, posh hotel.

When we arrived a bit after 8 pm on Saturday evening, all was calm and quiet around Hotel Condado. We checked-in to the hotel and quickly left for a night out on the town with our friend James. Nothing really gets going in Barcelona until about 10 pm, so we hadn't missed much. That evening we had tapas out in a plaza in Barri Gottica, then dinner at another small restaurant, and afterwards, we roamed the city and even made it the beach. Since we were exhausted, we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. (When living without cars, taxis have the tendency to create happy moments).

Mind you- when we arrived and left from Hotel Condado, all was calm and quiet. However, when we returned, we discovered our hotel was on the party street. And did I mention it was 2 am? People were just starting to show up at the clubs. And the clubs were all around. One directly across the street from our hotel. One directly to the right of the hotel. Others lining the rest of the street. As the British say, people were "queueing" outside these very live clubs. I had heard if you left a club in Barcelona before 5 am, you were going home early ... and that is so true. I heard the hum of bass from all these clubs from our hotel room until about 6 am. The next morning Hotel Condado so graciously moved us to the back of the hotel and several floors up. I slept better the next two nights.

Overall, HC was a fantastic hotel. Very comfy. Great showers (which I so, so, so appreciate these days). Complimentary soft drinks and water. Free internet. Cool interiors. A pleasant staff. I was pleased.