Absolute Centro means all about beiing central in the Gay-area, which is not the citycenter.
Fair price for a pension if you don't mind the very bad beds. The matrasses are very old and very unconfortable.

When you browse through the Absolut Centro website, the rooms look very airy and quite charming with the little street facing balcony. But the photos advertised must be very old as the room that are on offer are the very opposite to airy and charming. We booked a room with a bathroom which was 15 euros more. When we arrived they put us in a very dark room with a very small window, very disappointed we asked to change rooms, the next day they moved us to a another room which faced the back with no balcony. Nothing like what was advertised. The room was very plain and depressing. In the bathroom, the shower would get full of water as there was drainage problems and the toilet had a little machine that would pump and make a horrible loud noise each time you flushed. The room never got serviced for the whole time we were there. The manager who was not very friendly threatened to confiscate the remote for the air-con if we left it on during the day.
I dont usually write reviews about places where I've stayed but I left this pension thinking how much better our Barcelona would have been if we stayed somewhere else. Absolut Centro has got to be the worst pension in the beautiful L'Eixample area. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL.

I stayed at Hotel Absolut Centro for three nights in early August 2008. I knew nothing of what to expect other than what I had read, very generally, in some guides. On my first time in a new city, I like to be near the city center and near major roads and near restaurants. Well, the HAC fulfilled all of these. It is located on the second floor and a lift is available for your luggage. The building is shared with other private residences, I believe. There is a sauna across the street and a bear bar next door. Numerous restaurants ranging from chains to Catalan specialty places are within walking distance. Bus and train transport is available nearby. Taxis are everywhere. And walking along Casanova, out the front door of HAC, down to Gran Via, is a couple of blocks, and then you're right in the middle of everything.

The room was functional and basic but very very clean. A/C was great (while I was in Barcelona it was quite hot out during that week); the bathroom was near-new but be warned about the slippery shower tiles! I recommend wearing rubber flip flops or spreading a towel on the bottom of the bath basin. Service was excellent, particularly from Jordi. He checked me in late at night after a delayed flight from Amsterdam and all was in order. Internet is very swift and is free. They do not allow you to bring guests back to your room with you -- something contained in very small print on the sign on the back of the room door.

I recommend this hotel for single men, single women, young and older, but probably not the best place for families. The surrounding neighborhood felt very safe, even late at night.

I stayed in this hostel for two days this spring. There are two hostels (several blocks apart from one another). There's nothing really "centro" about this place, it's in the Gayxample, but there's nowhere really to go around if you want a bar or café. Gaudí and Sagrada Familia are walkable (30 minutes), as is the center of town and Las Ramblas (30 minutes). The room was very small, but to be expected for what I paid (35€/night in April) .

The worse part of the trip was the weather - outside dropped to 5C, and the inside of the rooms did not have heat. Only a small blanket was supplied, so indoors was impossible to sleep. Really this place should be avoided during anytime except the summer, since it's *very* cold inside. In general, things were in good repair (bathrooms looked new, entryway was clean), but the room wasn't well maintained.

As a plus, the Internet was free and fast.