HotelHusa Oriente

[charluk, 19.12.2006] Room

When I stayed in this hotel my room was for 3 people and it contained 3 single beds. Although there were a few of us in the room it never felt cramped or as if there wasn't enough space. The three beds were spaced out across the main room area so all three of us had our own space, and the bathroom was big enough for two or three people to use the mirror over the sink at the same time, and the shower was over the bath which was fairly big and comfortable. In the bathroom there was also a toilet and a bidet all spaced apart comfortably. In the main room (there was only a main room which included the beds and the bathroom) there was another large mirror and a desk with a TV on it, and also a window door which led to a small balcony. There was a fairly high barrier around the balcony so there was little risk of falling, but since the room I was staying in was on the fourth floor if someone had fallen over the edge they would have little chance of survival. If you wish to stay here with children I would recommend keeping this door locked or requesting a 1st floor room.
All in all, I was impressed with the room I was staying in, though two of my friends were in a two bed room and they said that their room was small and fairly cramped.

Location

As this hotel is situated roughly half way down Las Ramblas, which is the most well known street in the whole of Barcelona, there were many things to do close to the hotel. As well as having its own bar and restaurant, there were many restaurants and bars very close by. I was only at this hotel for a couple of days and didn't spend too much time on Las Ramblas however, so I didn't get to visit many of the bars and restaurants on offer in the area. However if you wander up and down Las Ramblas you will find many local restaurants serving tapas and paella as well as local catalan cuisine, as well as chain restaurants such as KFC and McDonalds. Off some of the side streets are found many bars where you can get all manner of drinks, but I would suggest that you get recommendations of good places before just wandering in somewhere.
At the top of las ramblas is Plaza Catalunya, off of which are many other streets which lead to other parts of the city. If you come into the plaza from las ramblas and carry on on your left until and follow the pavement along the street you will soon get to many well known spanish shops such as Zara and Mango, as well as Pull and Bear which we don't have in Britain. Sephora can also be found nearby, as well as many other clothes and shoe shops. If you come out of las ramblas into the plaza and turn to your right you will find the Hard Rock Cafe, and if you carry on around you will soon get to El Corte Ingles, which is one of a chain of the biggest department stores in spain. Here you will find everything you could ever want to buy: from clothes to electricals to entertainment. At the bottom of Las Ramblas is the harbour, where another fairly big shopping centre can be found over the bridge, which contains Zara, Mango, H&M and many other stores.
I was impressed with the excellent location of the hotel, as it was close to some of the best parts of Barcelona, as well as being minutes away froma metro station.

Food

I only ever visited the breakfast area of the hotel, located on the first floor, and it was the only part of the hotel that I wasn't particularly impressed with. They served breakfast bread things such as croissants and pain au chocolat, as well as english breakfast food such as scrambled eggs and bacon, and melon, mango and fruit salad. Strangely they also served a selection of spanish meats and cheeses, and tortilla, which was fairly nice but not what I crave in the mornings. The food was of an acceptable standard, and not bad since it was included, but was definitely nothing to write home about. I mainly ate the fruit which was good, but the rest wasn't amazing.

Overall I loved this hotel, and if I come back to Barcelona I would like to stay in this hotel again. I recommend it to anyone, especially if they like to be in the life of the city.