Cheap hotel for Barcelona but quite a distance out from the main town. (Abba Gardens Hotel (Barcelona, Spain))

Member Name: Jeffandk8

Product:	Abba Gardens Hotel (Barcelona, Spain)
Date:	18/04/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good rooms and excellent transit links at certain times of the day.

Disadvantages: It is a bit far out and the food is expensive and not the nicest.

It's taken DooYoo a while to get this hotel up on their site having recommended it a while back but we stayed here back in the summer of 2006.
My wife and I decided to get away on a short city break somewhere in Europe.
We decided on Barcelona, as my wife has a basic grasp of Spanish and I had learnt how to ask for beer! Having been to book the holiday at a travel agents, very few made any useful suggestions as to where to stay, so we plumped for one of the cheapest room only hotels.

Abba Gardens came as a bit of a shock for the price as the hotel is a 4* and most of the more expensive (£100+ more) were mainly 2*.
We flew to Barcelona with EasyJet and went straight to the hotel. The taxi drivers in Barcelona will try to rip you off on fares so agree a price before you get in a cab and don't let them take your bags and put them in their boot 1st. Our driver was cheeky and bumped our price by £5 but the total was about £20 in total. Not cheap but not too bad as the airport is quite far from the hotel.

The hotel itself is situated quite a way from the main city centre of Barcelona in an area called Esplugues de Llobregat but the transit services to the main areas are fantastic and very cheap (we paid about Euro30 for a 4 day unlimited pass for any travel for both of us.

The hotel is in typical orange like many buildings in the area and seems quite nice. The staff, who were all very polite have a basic grasp of Eglish but a few speak it very well and they will always get someone who can speak it if they are not around.

The food was not cheap and nor was it the greatest quality. We only ate at the hotel twice during our stay (1st night and 1 morning for breakfast). We had a burger on the first night which was ok and not that expensive really but the breakfast was very expensive and mainly meat, cereal and fruit so not worth the price. The food in Barcelona is much cheaper and nicer, especially if you can find the little pizza place we found hidden away (Euro2 for a beer and pizza!!!)

The rooms are nice and large with English channels on the TV and a decent sized fridge (we took out all the non-perishables and put our own drinks and food in). The bed was very large and nice and comfy. The bath and shower were great and the water heat and pressure was good all of the time. The rooms all have aircon which we needed on some occasions, but the balcony was nice to have, looking out onto the pool.

The pool was ok, not the largest or deepest and there was no lifeguard on duty. In the afternoon and evening you get a few bugs around and as the hotel is on the outskirts, there are lots of wild birds who swoop down to drink the water (fun but a bit odd).

The nearest metro station is about 15 minutes walk through a lovely park but down a steep hill (too steep for prams and if you struggle with walking). While the walk was no problem going down, coming back was harsh especially late at night or in the heat of the midday sun.

There is a free shuttle service to the station but it only runs in the morning or afternoon with a 2-3 gap between. Having said that they pick you up from the station if you give them a call. We also found that the taxi fare from the station to the hotel up the hill was about Euro3 so not very expensive at all, and definately worth it if you get back a bit late.

Overall the hotel was ok. It was cheap not because of the quality but because of the location and the price of it's food. Worth looking at if you are driving yourself or you don't mind either a bit of a walk or you don't mind getting a taxi every once in a while.

Summary: An ok hotel for the price but a bit far from the main town and not great food.