My husband and I stayed at the Itaca hostel in Barcelona in January. The place was very warm and smelled of vanilla. The decor was colorful with painted murals on the walls. The people working there were very nice and helpful. There is a nice lounge area open until 11pm every night. The downstairs has several seats that people gravitate to when the lounge closes.

It is a quiet hostel overall so great if you want a nice sleep. Everything was very clean. Breakfast was nothing special--toast, cereal, juice and was I think 2 euros. We stayed in a dorm as well as a private room.

The room was in a separate apartment that you share with two other rooms. It was very nice but if the other guests like staying up later than you do you can hear everything they do in the living room and kitchen. It wasn't too bad but they had a tendency to laugh really loud. It wasn't enough to disrupt our sleep though. The room was very nice and the bed was super comfortable and the comforter was very warm and relaxing. The living room has a small balconey which was cute. Be warned that there is a hefty deposit for the key to this apartment that you get back after checking out. They didn't tell us that until we checked in to the private room. Breakfast is brought by the staff and is included in the price. You basically get all the bread and cereal you can eat.

The beds in the dorm aren't as nice but are perfectly comfortable--no squeaking problems. Everybody gets their own locker with a key instead of a lock and is free.

Overall, I loved our time there and would definitely recommend it and go back myself.

Itaca has to be one of the best hostels I have ever stayed at. It has a great feel, with a lot of character. The rooms are smaller, which is nice. The staff is friendly and helpful. There is a breakfast available. The kitchen, dining, and hangout room/area was really nice. I loved that the walls were painted in bright, creative murals throughout the hostel. I loved the location, in the Gotic district, close to anything that you want to do, with the option of walking everywhere or you can jump on the metro. A wonderful place to stay, at a great price. The other travelers at the hostel were chill. This isn't so much of a party hostel, which I liked.

This place is quality! The staff are so genuinely friendly and helpful!! We stayed in the newly opened double rooms. There are three double rooms in an apartment, with shared bathroom, kitchen and living area (all of which are an immense space). Every morning breakfast was laid out, the appliances in the kitchen are all brand new, fantastic cooking facilities.

The location was fantastic, next to the Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter, and the price for what we had was amazing. Our double bedroom had a walk in wardrobe, heater, table and the bedroom was spacious. Whenever we are back in Barcelona, we will stay here. Thank you so much for such an accommodating welcome and fantastic stay in such a great place!!!

We stayed in the family room at one of the apartments (itaca red) that itaca offered with our two kids in January 2012. We enjoyed our stay very much. The apartment is centrally located (supermarket, subway station, and sights within a very short walking distance) and very modern (very well equipped kitchen, spacious rooms, new/ recently renovated rooms). Breakfast is included (baguettes, cereal, muffins…) and there is free tea and coffee all day long. The apartment has three guest rooms altogether that share the facilities and we found this a nice private setting while still leaving room if you wish to get to know your “housemates”. The hosts gave us very valuable advice on good and inexpensive restaurants and suggested an awesome hike in the Montserrat National Park (none of these were mentioned in our travel guides or by the tourist offices… so we felt we got some great inside advice). All in all we think this is a great place to stay in Barcelona.