My husband and I stayed here on our final leg of our Spanish honeymoon. While the reviews cautioned that this was in a more dangerous neighborhood, we found it to be lively and delightful. It was nice not staying directly on Las Ramblas, as the commotion there could get to be a bit much. We were a quick walk from Las Ramblas (less than ten minutes) and to a few metro stations as well.

They did offer a continental breakfast, but at 12 euros or so, we never made that our breakfast place.

There is a cute cafe next door for an affordable breakfast and a cafe con leche. We dined there each morning for about 5 euros per person. There are also many other little restaurants nearby that were quite good within a 5 minute walk. We appreciated that so we could avoid the tourist traps on Las Ramblas serving overpriced mediocre food.

Prices were fair for the space. I think we paid approximately 125 USD each night for our room, which was pretty reasonable. The hotel was modern and clean. The rooms were comfortable and spacious for European hotel standards with newer bathrooms. Wifi was free. My only gripe was that for each time you wanted to log on, you had to be in the lobby and get a password. While I appreciated not having to incur an additional fee for this service, the passwords often didn't work, leading us to not have internet access. There is a desktop computer in the lobby for guest use, which is convenient.

All in all, I'd stay here again. I can see why some might find the location a bit seedy, but I appreciated the fact that we glimpsed many vibrant cultures that make up the truly European city of Barcelona. Be cautious, and take a taxi if you don't feel comfortable. That being said, we didn't use taxis, aside from to get to the airport the morning we left. The hotel was kind enough to call us one that morning.

Excellent location in the Raval del Ramblas, about 8 mins. comfortable walk to Las Ramblas - and don't worry about "hospital road" as it appeared to us quite safe, very busy with all sorts of shops and cafes open until v.late and people about their business. Latest we walked down was around midnight and not a hint of trouble - certainly no drug dealing or hookers.
Hotel was comfortable with helpful English speaking staff and a good breakfast buffet. Lots of toiletries and extras in bathroom, wine glasses and tumblers in room and mini fridge (which we emptied a bit so we could squeeze in bottle of wine).
We discovered that if you walk straight down the square Raval del Ramblas, more of a rectangle really), away from hospital road end, you can get to the Marina much quicker than going to Las Ramblas and then walking down to the water.
Raval del Ramblas is v.nice square, full of palm trees with green parakeets flitting about, lots of benches (one evening a little animated film was being shown to a small audience). The Restaurant Kapodokya serves v.good and excellent value sis kebab, doner, etc. etc. Tastes really fresh. Don't bother with La Fragua, rubbish tapas and meals. In fact sad to say we didn't find any decent tapas anywhere, not to say they don't exist.
The "St.Joseph" Market just up the road in Las Ramblas is wonderful and stays open in the evening. We found little "bar" serving fino sherry at 2 euros (and plate of Serrano ham for 4 E)
Would also recommend visit to Palau Guell, one of Gaudi's buildings, which is v.close by and not at all crowded (unlike Sagrada Familia, where we gave up on idea of queuing). The Palau Guell is abs.stunning inside.
Its. v.short walk, other side of Las Ramblas, to the gothic quarter, where there are lots of shops and restaurants. We had really good 3-course lunch with wine and bread for 12.5E, opposite an art gallery but unfort. can't remember restaurant's name.
Boat trip around harbour and coastline, 1.5 hrs, worth doing although sadly no commentary.

We got in the hotel around 4pm, and a lot of business is closed from 4-8pm in Barcelona. Since there's graffiti everywhere in Barcelona, the street seemed a little scary during that time. Plus before booking the hotel, I read some reviews about the Hospital street next to the hotel, we were a little bit worried about the safety. Well, as it turned out, it was as safe as any streets in Barcelona, at least when we were there, there was no sign of danger at all. The streets came to life at night and when we got back to the hotel, the street was hustling bustling and all our worries were totally gone. :)

The room was very nice and modern and clean. The staff was so helpful with everything. They speak great English. We took their recommendations to some of the restaurants and they turned out to be great. We rented bikes while visiting, they were very nice to accommodate parking our bikes in the hotel overnight.

Overall, great experience with the hotel. Definitely recommended!!!

The hotel location was great, near enough to La Rambla without getting the noise, close enough to the Marina and plenty of cafes and bars on the doorstep. The hotel itself is very clean, the rooms were great and the staff were helpful. I went for a short break with the girls and we visited La Sagrada Familiar, Guell Parc, Casa Batllo, Fountains of Mont Juic and rode both routes of the city tour busses so that we saw the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona Football Stadium, the beach and all the other famous attractions. There really is so much to see in Barcelona! I would definitely return to Barcelona as we didn't get enough time there to see everything and I wouldn't hesitate in booking the Abba Rambla as my accommodation.