I got a good deal on this hotel from "hotwire.com" and we stayed there for 4 nights in June 06. Note that it is the only Hotwire 4 star in Barcelona West with a health club and no pool. This would probably be a fine place to stay the night before flying out of the Barcelona Airport. But getting to the La Ramble (Central Business district) is akward and takes 30 or 40 mins utilizing the tram and subway system. Subways are often very crowed and you might have to stand for most of the way. Additionally, there are no resturants or shops in the vicinity of the hotel which is situated in an industrial area of Sant Just. The rooms are large by European standards, and the room and bathroom was fairly clean. and modern. The carpet was however very dirty and stained, and this distracted from the room. The air worked great, and the bed was large and comfortable. The hotel staff spoke little English and it was difficult to communicate. I tried for 4 days to have a faulty shower valve fixed, and it was still bad when we checked out. If you have your own laptop, high speed internet access is free. There is a charge for using the hotel's computers. If this hotel were closer to La Ramba, I probably would have been quite happy, but in our case, the money saved didn't make up for the poor location.

We had a brilliant 4 days in Barcelona and stayed at the Hesperia. The room was immaculately clean and quiet and a lovely massive bed! Breakfast was excellent, although the hot food was cold but lots of fresh fruit, pastries, cereals, yoghurts etc. Although the hotel is away from the centre the tram is just over the road. You can buy a ticket from the tram stop. We bought a T10 ticket for 6 euros which gives you 10 journeys. We used just the one T10 ticket for the whole 4 days. If you take the T1 tram to the last stop this is one journey. You can also get off 2 stops before the terminus (i've forgotten the name!) and take the metro into the centre and, providing you do this in 75 minutes, still counts as one journey. The metro is just the same as the London Underground. When you get on the tram you put your ticket into the machine just inside the door and it validates it. There is also a display above the door which shows where you are on the line. If you take the tram to the end stop, head to Starbucks which is just to the right as you get off the tram, and the stop for the 'Bus Touristique' is just outside. I would advise getting a 2 day ticket which costs 22 euros but it takes you everywhere you need to go to see the sights of Barcelona. We returned to the hotel on the tram at about 10.30pm but I don't know what time they stop. Overall a lovely hotel and once you know what to do it is no hassle travelling into the centre. Lets your brekki settle on the way in and gives your feet a rest on the way back! I would definitely stay here again.

We stayed 5 nights. The hotel was clean & we enjoyed using the gym (by ourselves). It is isolated and out of town. We rode the tram and the metro (very convienent) and just planned our days away from the hotel. On our last night, when we were "toured out" we went back to the hotel early & there is basically nothing to do at the hotel or in the area. We had to ride the tram to the mall for dinner.
The robbery in the previous review is alarming. I was traveling with my daughter and we walked everywhere. There isn't alot of anything going on in the hotel area - so i can see why they were a target.

Why the bad review when the hotel is clean, gym is nice and staff is courteous and helpful?

Because we had the pleasure of being robbed in the hotel lobby on Saturday, March 18th, 2pm while we were checking in. Police report was filed at the airport. Ofcourse, one can't blame the hotel because three individuals who are not affiliated to the hotel, distracted a member of my party while another person stole his bag, ran out, and sped away in a getaway car. However, what the hotel and the Hisperia chain is guilty of is failure to install security cameras or hire a guard. There are no cameras anywhere in the hotel. Nor is there a security guard ever present. We have stayed in other hotels in Barcelona and there has always been security. What is more upsetting is the fact the General Manager of the hotel admitted to us that the same thing happened at the Novetel across the street. Therefore, management is aware of the problem but chooses to do nothing. Please be cautious on where you book and find out if hotel has security. It could make a difference.