Eurostars Grand Marina

Pro: The greeting upon arrival at the hotel was excellent. The staff were extremely friendly, and the room itself was very clean and comfortable, if small. The location is good. Access to the centre of town is via a very pleasant walk up Las Ramblas. It is also an equally pleasant walk along the promenade which is just next to the hotel.

Kontra: All the rooms have kettles. Upon plugging in said kettle I received quite an alarming electric shock followed by a loud bang, sparks and smoke coming from the plug socket and a consequent power cut in the room. Whilst I accept these things happen as electrical appliances get older and need replacing, what alarmed me was the total lack of concern on behalf of the staff when I notified them that of what had happened, and of the fact that I had actually been electrocuted in their hotel room. In fact their only response was to send up a handyman to replace the kettle and reset the fuse. I mentioned what had happened twice at the reception desk and quite frankly other than showing some slight surprise they couldn't seem to care less. Another disappointing factor was the view. Many of the reviews, and indeed the website boast a fantastic panoramic view of the Barcelona skyline, whilst in reality the view, even from the 8th floor, consists of a massive pylon (which sits directly in front of the hotel) and an average vantage point of the Barcelona skyline at best.

Pro: Nice, well furnished rooms. Good bathroom.

Kontra: Choose this hotel partly because it was announced to have a roof top pool. Now it turned out the pool is about 5x3 m and less than a meter deep. Disappointed about this!