Hotel Raval House

Honestly, I was a little concerned by the rating but we needed a good central place to stay for two nights until our cruise. Bottom line though is this hotel is way under rated and should be in the 4 circle or above category. I can say this after staying at a 4.8 rated hotel in Barcelona as well. Details: We (a married couple no kids) got in late the first night. Easy check in. Extremely helpful staff. We opted for the cheapest standard queen room since this was a short stay. Those rooms are interesting: long and narrow but like a ships cabin they were very efficiently designed so we had space for all our luggage and were very comfortable. If I was staying more than 2 days I would opt for the deluxe large room but for short stays this was fine. The room was comfortable, well decorated, not much view.. but we were there to explore and sleep (again if you are making this your vacation hotel spend the extra on the larger room with a view). The room was spotless clean and the shower worked very well with good heat and water pressure. Slept well. It is in a BUSY part of Raval but we loved that. Lots of shops all around us and people and real flavor. And just a couple blocks from the marketplace and very short walk to the Ramblas. The location was excellent for exploring the area. It was also locked at the front by keycard. Getting in late not a problem and we felt safe at the hotel and honestly pretty safe walking back from the Ramblas late at night. The Breakfast was one of the best things there. It was better than our stay at the much higher rated Andante. There was a chef cooking fresh items and enough buffet counters full of food to satisfy even the pickiest eater. Honestly we ate so much at breakfast we rarely had lunch. The pool area and rooftop were nice. The views were amazing and it was nice to sit up there. It was a well kept little area but on point with what the rest of the hotels in the area offered. Bottom line: Again surprised by the ratings. On our return from the cruise we stayed 4 nights in Barcelona and had already pre-trip booked the much higher rated Andante. There really wasnt a lot of difference in the stays! Except that we paid $100 extra a night for the Andante! I dont really understand why the negative reviews other than these folks couldnt have stayed in other hotels in the city to compare. Comparatively Raval House is on par with any highly rated hotel in Barcelona. We are avid travels and my husband IS picky and a little bougie about where he stays and he had nothing but good things to say about Raval House. We will definitely be staying there again.