What a good choice! The hotel is situated in a quiet side street just one minute's stroll from Placa de Catalunya where everything happens! It could not be in a better position to access everything on a city break. The entrance and lobby have fabulous architecture and the ambience is great. The reception staff were welcoming, friendly and efficient - such a good start to our break. A room request we had made could not be fulfilled when we checked in but next day they offered what we had asked for (a lot of hotels would have ignored it once you had checked into a room). Our room was light, bright, clean and spacious. It was also very quiet, at the back of the hotel with a large balcony for sitting, although the view was not good. There would be good views of the street from the front but I'm not sure of the size of balconies and whether you could sit out on them. Also it is likely to be noisy facing on to the street as life goes on well after midnight in Barcelona! On the downside, our room was in need of refurbishment but, judging from other reviews, some rooms may already have been improved. We never had breakfast in the hotel but used the restaurant Contempo for two of our evening meals. It does rather lack atmosphere but we dined early and it was very quiet with only a few other guests there. The food was very tasty and well presented. Would we recommend the hotel? Certainly. Would we choose to stay there in the future? Absolutely. Gracias Hotel Catalonia Plaza Catalunya!