Tuesday, March 19
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Hotel Reding Barcelona Review: Our pre-cruise stay

Sailing from the Port of Barcelona for my Disney Magic cruise, we found myself in need of a place to sleep pre-cruise in the city for just one night.

A pre-cruise stay at the Hotel Reding Barcelona, Spain. OnePennyTourist.com

I wasn’t looking for anything fancy, just a reasonably priced and clean hotel with free wi-fi and close to the action for some whirlwind touristy stuff. Oh, and preferably easy to reach from the airport. Enter stage left, the 3 Star rated Hotel Reding Barcelona.

As we are normally loaded with luggage I would ordinarily arrange a transfer from the airport to hotel. Fortunately the Hotel Reding is only a couple of minutes walk around the corner from the Aerobus bus stop at Universitat. Whilst the journey might have taken a teensy bit longer, it’s only 3 stops and was a pretty decent ride. Score 1, saved some euro!

This boutique hotel is also an easy 5-10 minutes walk away from La Rambla – close enough to be convenient, but not so close to keep me awake till the wee hours due to noise. La Rambla is a long pedestrian street with bars, restaurants, street performers etc (if you’ve been to London it reminded me of Covent Garden, but in a straight line). A total tourist trap but no one cares because it’s just a great, buzzing place to hang out. Score 2!

 

So what did I think of Hotel Reding Barcelona?

We were presented with a small and unassuming front entrance but this is something that works in it’s favour. Like any big city, Barcelona has a problem with petty tourist crime, at Hotel Reding Barcelona no one can just wander in off the street un-noticed past the 24 hour front desk that guards it. A very friendly front desk I might add too.

After checking-in and tackling the cosy lift (if you’re wondering why I say tackle it’s because I managed to dramatically trip over my own suitcase while wheeling it inside – very embarrassing with an audience!) we easily found our Double room.

Hotel Reding Barcelona, Spain. Our Double room. OnePennyTourist.com
Hotel Reding Double room

Clean, smart, fairly minimalist but quite snazzily so, with a little picture on the wall rather than hanging on it, and a rather odd wooden post in one corner by the wardrobe – the building doesn’t look that old so maybe that’s a deliberate design feature.

Hotel Reding Barcelona, Spain. Wall Picture. OnePennyTourist.com
Hotel Reding Picture

Of course, the real test of a hotel is often in it’s bathroom – I don’t need fancy, I just want clean! I’m happy to say this one passed my test. Mmmm, sparkly.

Hotel Reding Barcelona, Spain. The Bathroom of our Double room. OnePennyTourist.com
Hotel Reding Bathroom

All in all, I thought it was a great room. I’ve certainly stayed in higher star rated hotels where they have extra facilities that push up the rating only to find that the rooms themselves have been a bit ‘meh’. I slept like a baby in it.

Downside? The building next door was under construction so not much of a view from the window. Our visit was a while ago though, so hopefully completed now.

Hotel Reding Barcelona in Spain - Review

Assuming you’re not looking for a high end, bells and whistles hotel in the city then Hotel Reding Barcelona is a good solid base from which to explore the attractions from. Being only a short taxi ride from the Port of Barcelona it also makes for very handy pre-cruise hotel.

I had a little sneak peek of Barcelona and liked what I saw. I suspect I won’t manage it this year but I definitely plan to go back again so I can explore properly. When I do, I’m confident the Hotel Reding Barcelona will end up on my shortlist when looking for somewhere to stay.

 

 

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