If it wasn’t for jet lag’s 3am alarm, we would have slumbered blissfully in this fabulous kid-friendly Barcelona hotel. With a very reasonable price considering its amazing location, I think it’s the best family room Barcelona has to offer – Petit Palace Boqueria Garden – click to check prices.
After prioritising a central location in the Barri Gotic, or Gothic Quarter, my only concern was nighttime noise. But I needn’t have worried. Despite being only a few steps away from La Rambla, Barcelona’s mighty pedestrian promenade, our room was super quiet.
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Best family room Barcelona has to offer
We’ve had some severely disrupted nights on past holidays when the kids have not shared a bed well. So my goal for all our Europe accommodation was to find family friendly accommodation that gave the kids separate beds. Since we were only staying for 3 nights in Barcelona, I didn’t want to pay more for separate bedrooms. Find all my Europe posts here.
My preference was for a hotel that serves breakfast. The convenience of a friendly English-speaking front desk and starting the day with a huge buffet breakfast simplified our stay immensely.
Location
The location is perfection. La Rambla gets madly busy as the day goes on, so being close to it but not on it worked well. We could soak up the old city atmosphere just by going for a wander – always my favourite way of experiencing a new city. The historic laneways quickly became familiar and we could easily get to most of our favourite spots without going near the crowds of La Rambla.
A block south was an amazing half Australian burger place and the beautiful square Plaça Reial (Plaza Real). A block north was the ridiculously impressive La Boqueria fresh food market. And even Miss 10 could do the 2 minute walk to our favourite churros shop guided only by the thought of their heavenly Nutella-filled delights.
In the old town you are surrounded by cathedrals and squares, city walls from Roman times and modern shops encased in traditional architecture. Sights like Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell are spread throughout the rest of the city, so you’ll need a bus or taxi to reach them.
Getting there
We took the Aerobus from the airport to Placa de Catalunya (only EUR 6 per person, adults and kids alike). It was then a 10 min walk down La Rambla. It’s less crowded walking down Avinguda del Portal de l’Angel, but that route requires negotiating some winding laneways, which is a bit daunting when you’ve only just arrived.
The Aerobus is frequent, friendly, modern and comfortable, but a taxi would save you walking with your suitcases (about EUR 30-40).
Being close to Placa de Catalunya was also convenient for catching the hop on hop off bus (HOHO). Two of the HOHO routes pass through here.
If you zoom out on the map you will see that most of Barcelona has been carefully planned into regimented square blocks. It is in the maze-like laneways of the Barri Gotic that you surround yourself with a town which evolved organically.
While the laneways are initially a little daunting to navigate, having a smart phone means you will never be lost. Download the Barcelona map on maps.me when you’re on wifi at home or at your hotel and you can use this to find yourself, and search for and get directions to your destination without internet access.
Petit Palace Boqueria Garden
We walked straight past the hotel initially (I must be blind!), so look out for the numbers. The address is Carrer de la Boqueria, 10.
This is Carrer de la Boqueria. The hotel is on the right just after the t-shirts that are hanging up. You can see that there is a small supermarket and gelato shop nearby. La Rambla is behind me as I took the photo.
Petit Palace Boqueria Garden is in a gorgeous old building made thoroughly modern inside.
Quadruple family room
The king size bed is super comfortable and the kids were pretty excited about the bunk beds. Bunk bed rooms have worked really well for us before, like at Disney World.
You might need to ask reception for a safety rail for the top bunk. Can’t hurt to request it beforehand, but this doesn’t guarantee it will be there.
The rooms are air-conditioned which I imagine is a godsend in summer, but we didn’t need either cooling or heating during our September stay.
Internet is free and super fast. At one point we were all watching videos or downloading large files with no trouble whatsoever.
And I think requesting a quiet room is always a good idea.
Everything was lovely and swish in the bathroom, including a heavenly rainfall-style shower.
You can even use the cool bathroom door to plan your sightseeing! From the top down you’ve got the Christopher Colombus statue, La Sagrada Familia, La Boqueria market and Parc Guell.
At these prices you can’t expect glorious vistas of church spires and sunsets, but you will feel like a local tucked up within the maze of narrow laneways of the old town.
Buffet breakfast
We love a buffet breakfast and this one is awesome.
Firstly, the lady looking after it is absolutely lovely. So friendly and welcoming. Not a huge amount of English, but it’s amazing how much a “Buenos dias” is appreciated. Rather than just a casual greeting like “Hola” that we used in most interactions, “Buenos dias” is received like you are genuinely hoping that they have a good day.
A little effort with a small amount of language makes such a huge difference to how you are treated. Especially in a hotel like this where there appeared to be a lot of Spanish guests.
The food is fresh with an excellent range for a small restaurant. Hot food like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, chorizo and toast, and cold food like ham, cheese, pastries, cereals, fruit, avocado and juices. Even a Nespresso coffee machine with a range of pods, including the same ones I use at home (Ristretto)!
We ate as much as we could and found we only needed a snack during the day. So much easier than having to find somewhere to eat when you’re out and about. Find out the best things to do in Barcelona with kids here.
Enclosed courtyard garden
You’d never know this elevated, lush hideaway existed from the tiny laneways surrounding the buildings.
Take your breakfast in the courtyard or enjoy an evening drink.
Or relax while the kids explore.
Hotel website – Petit Palace Boqueria Garden
Find the cheapest price here
Note that Barcelona is a popular destination for weekends away, so staying during the week will probably be cheaper.
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