Barcelona on a budget (Hostal Campi (Barcelona, Spain))

Member Name: sweet_decline

Product:	Hostal Campi (Barcelona, Spain)
Date:	25/05/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great location, spacious traditional rooms, good value for money

Disadvantages: Two flights of stairs, not suitable for families

The old adage that you get what you pay for is, sadly, often very true. But every now and again, something comes along that bucks the trend - Hostal Campi in Barcelona is one of these hidden gems. Set in the heart of Barcelona's gothic quarter, it offers charming and characterful accommodation - at a budget price.

----BOOKING----
After finding 1p flights through RyanAir to the famous Catalan city (well - not quite to Barcelona - this is RyanAir after all, but within an hour's coach journey) we set out to find somewhere to stay that matched our mediocre budget for the holiday.

As a seasoned backpacker, I'm used to 'interesting' hostels, but this trip was as part of a couple, so shared dorms were a definite no-no. We wanted somewhere that would capture the romance of this exciting city... and certainly our own bathroom.

We searched through the usual suspects - Expedia, Last Minute and Hotels.com - but to no avail. Then I looked through the Lonely Planet guide I had bought for the trip (always a trusty companion in my backpacking days), and saw Hostal Campi. Described as an excellent bottom-end deal, with light and airy rooms, in a great location, and with double rooms with private bathrooms - it was exactly what we were looking for.

We checked the hostal's excellent website for pictures of the room we wanted, and saw that they looked clean, simple and relatively modern - so we decided to book. First of all, we had to email the hostal with the dates we wanted to stay and the type of room we wanted. In addition to double with private baths, they also offer twins with private bathrooms, doubles/twins with shared bathrooms - 24 rooms in total.

We were quickly emailed back in impeccable English (useful seeing as our Spanish is a little on the rusty side, we had initially emailed in both English and Spanish - wonder what gave us away?!) to say that the room we requested would be available for our dates, and we were asked to confirm the booking by giving our credit card details, with the balance to be paid on arrival. We were quoted a rate of Euro29 per night - working out at around £200 for an eight-night stay in August. This was less than half what we were quoted by mainstream hotels.

----ARRIVAL----
Once we arrived at the Barcelona bus terminal after our coach journey, we decided to walk to the hostel rather than take a cab. This proved to be an unwise decision, dragging around a backpack/suitcase on a sweltering Spanish afternoon is not recommended.

Thankfully, though, we found the hostal easily in its fantastic location a few minutes' walk from Las Ramblas - the main street of 'old' Barcelona - but tucked away in a side street away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist trade.

On arrival we noted that the hostal is hidden away behind some locked gates. This was reassuring to know that the place was keep secure, and we had to ring the buzzer to be let in - this was the case throughout our stay. On admission through the gates, the first thing we noticed was the two flights of ornate tiled stairs... and no lift. This is not a place for those who struggle with stairs, but at least it kept us fit and burned off some of the wonderful food we stuffed ourselves with on our holiday.

At the top of two flights of stairs was the reception desk, where we were greeted in a very hospitable manner, and showed to our room once the paperwork was completed and payment made.

----THE ROOM----
Nothing could have prepared me for our room. I was expecting, on our budget, and in such a central location, for a tiny cubbyhole with barely enough room around the bed. What stretched out before me when the receptionist opened the door was a bright, sunny room larger than we have at home. The floor was beautifully tiled in a traditional manner, the large - and comfortable, as it turned out - bed was covered in a pale gold bedspread, there was a wardrobe, dressing table, two bedside tables, two armchairs and a side table with coffee-making facilities. I have seen far worse rooms for three times the price.

The bathroom let the room down slightly as it was rather on the small side. There was no bath, just a shower, but that suited us. The shower door was slightly damaged though, and Mr Sweet_Decline had to perform some impromptu DIY - but I'm sure the hostal staff would have fixed it if we had informed them. The water pressure was good (always a bugbear of mine on holiday) and the water was always warm no matter what time of day we used the bathroom. It was also spotlessly clean. Unusually for a bargain-basement choice, a selection of towels were provided (although we had brought our own just in case) and they were laundered daily.

We had our own balcony, with wrought iron railings, that looked out over the street below. It was fascinating to sit outside and watch the world go by on the street beneath us. The only gripe I would have was that the street cleaners did wake us up early on the first few mornings, but we soon learned to sleep through the noise - and they have to clean the streets sometime.

Our room was kept spotless throughout our stay by the excellent cleaning staff, and they were always happy to come back later on the odd day that we fancied a lie-in.

Also in the hostal there are computers with internet access, and a reading room with a book exchange for guests.

----LOCATION----
Hostal Campi is perfectly located, just a few minutes from the main tourist street of Barcelona, but on a quiet street itself so we weren't kept awake by any noisy partying. There is a Metro stop nearby (Barcelona's wonderful, air-conditioned, version of the Tube), and tourist buses run from Las Ramblas. These would have proved ideal if we had been on a shorter stay, but we decided to walk to nearly all of the sights and thoroughly immerse ourselves in this wonderful city. I'd be lying if I said we didn't go on some mammoth walks, and we often went to bed with aching legs, but we managed to see all the main attractions on foot, except Parc Guell, for which we took the Metro.

There is a plethora of restaurants near the hostal. We were warned that the ones on Las Ramblas tend to be overpriced tourist fare, so we enjoyed ourselves exploring the winding lanes of the gothic quarter and found some fantastic little eateries. The hostal staff couldn't have been more helpful in assisting us with places to go and how to get around. They also booked us a taxi on our leaving day - I wasn't facing the walk to the bus terminal with my bag that had got even heavier due to all the shopping I'd done.

We had to check out of our room by 11am on our day of departure, and there was a secure area where we could store our luggage while we grabbed some last minute gifts before leaving to catch our coach.

----CONCLUSION----
Overall, this was an amazing budget find. On holiday, we're usually out exploring so don't spend much time in our room, but this room was a delight to come back to. We really felt that we were staying in an authentic, traditional, 18th century Gothic building, which made our affection for the beautiful city that much stronger than if we had stayed in a nondescript chain hotel.

The reception is open 24 hours a day, so on the odd occasion that we were out late at night, there was always someone to greet us and give us our room key.

If we were to return to Barcelona, we would certainly consider staying here again. I would recommend it for young couples or friends looking to experience Barcelona on a budget. Although it was perfect for us, I wouldn't have taken children there, mainly due to the two flights of stairs - it was definitely more of an independent traveller vibe than a family one.

Summary: Boutique hostal in the heart of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter