Yurbban Passage Hotel and Spa

"Underwhelming, albeit with high expectations, is probably the fairest way to summarise our stay at Yurbban Passage Hotel in Barcelona. Expectations were high because of the many excellent reviews, so perhaps that coloured our experience. It’s a decent hotel in a great location, but we’re a little mystified by the exceptional reviews. The staff were pleasant and helpful, and the rooms were clean, although small and lacking much in the way of local character. The rooftop bar is no more. The council has suspended the licence, apparently possibly following noise complaints from neighbours, so there’s currently no bar or music allowed. A few guests were still making use of the roof, but understandably it lacked any atmosphere. There were chairs around the pool but no loungers, so it didn’t really feel like somewhere you’d want to spend much time. It would, however, be a nice place to dip your head into the cold water on a hot Barcelona day. Happy hour has moved from the roof terrace, presumably because of the same complaints, and is now held in the breakfast/lobby area. It’s generous of the hotel to offer a happy hour, and there are card games and other things laid out for guests to use. Beyond bowls of nuts and Haribo, though, we didn’t see any Spanish tapas. They might be better off simply advertising it as a free drink rather than promising something they aren’t delivering — or which, frankly, could have been bought from Lidl next door. The biggest disappointment was the spa. It’s tiny, but you get 30 minutes every day during your stay, and the booking system is straightforward, presumably to keep numbers manageable. But, and I say this as someone who loves a good spa, we went once and didn’t bother again for the rest of the week. The welcome from the man on spa reception was about as warm as the pool — tepid, at best, and probably closer to chilly. Overall, there’s certainly some style, but it felt lacking in substance. To be fair, if you’re visiting Barcelona for a weekend, it’s cheaper than some of the more expensive hotels and the location is excellent. But for a longer stay, I think you can do better."

"We stayed in the family suite at Yurbban Passage Hotel and Spa in Barcelona, and it was exactly what we needed. Family suites with a truly separate sleeping space for kids plus a king bed are surprisingly hard to find in Barcelona, and this one delivered. The separate room, closed off by sliding doors that worked really well, was a must for us with two children, and it made all the difference. The bed was comfortable. The hotel is modern, clean, and simply but tastefully decorated. Housekeeping was spotless, and the bathroom was spacious with both a separate shower and a bathtub. There’s a bit of street noise given the city location, but nothing too bad. One thing to know going in: this is a small boutique hotel, so there’s no real lobby area, and it was actually a bit hard to find the entrance. The door doesn’t stay open on its own, and there are no bellboys or staff to help with luggage, which was a struggle since we were traveling with a lot of bags. Reception was okay, but check-in was a letdown. I had emailed well in advance to request an early check-in. We arrived early, and they said they’d call us when the room was ready, so we waited around with two small kids for hours and never got a call. Only after check-in time had already passed did we go ask at reception, and magically the room was ready right at the official check-in time, not a minute earlier. Disappointing, given I’d asked ahead. They did hold our bags in the meantime. On the plus side, the room was ready with the crib we requested, plus a little stuffy for the baby, which was a lovely touch. Water is provided free of charge in refillable glass bottles that the hotel reuses, and we always had plenty, so that was never an issue. The gym on the lower level was solid and never busy. The rooftop pool is quite small, so not really one for swimming, but it’s pretty with lovely city views, and great for photos. You could order food and drinks up there too. We ate at the main restaurant a few times. Breakfast was solid, with lots of options and good quality ingredients at the buffet, and lunch had good options too. Service was pretty good. Location-wise, I’d give it four out of five. It’s not right on Passeig de Gràcia, the main street where a lot of the fancy five star hotels are, but it’s only a short walk away, nothing major. There’s also a really good, big Mercadona supermarket within a five minute walk, which was super handy. The area isn’t the fanciest, but it’s close to everything and honestly not bad at all. A tip on getting around: we took taxis a few times and found it’s best to call ahead rather than try to flag one down. In this area, the taxis passing by were either scarce or already occupied, but reception called one for us and it arrived in about five minutes. We took taxis to places like Park Güell and out to restaurants, but we walked to a lot of areas too. From the hotel we walked to Plaça de Catalunya, then all the way up to Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, and another day we walked down to Port Vell and back. It was a bit of a walk but doable, even with two small children and one in a stroller. We were warned, even by the hotel, to be mindful of petty crime and pickpocketing, but we took the usual precautions and had no issues at all."

"Thank you for the excellent service! The hôtel is so nice and smells so good! We will come back for sure. Best hôtel in Barcelone!"