with its magic and transparent view, Solvasa Barcelona represents an ideal place for rest and relaxation. The construction of its rooms, walls, lift and the floor is just like a colored art. It is the target of many international meetings and conferences.

We stayed here because we wanted a decent three or four star hotel from which we had easy acces to the downtown area of Barcelona. Before booking we first read some reviews and had a mixed feeling because some reviews mentioned smelly bathrooms and that it was too far from the downtown center, but I must say that afterall it turned out to be a good choice.

When you come from the airport you can take a direct bus that stops almost in front of the hotel (no more then a 2 minute walk). Going downtown you can use this same busstop (a 15 minute drive to the center). The only thing is that the busstop in the opposite direction where you have to get off when you come out of the city center at night is a bit far from the hotel when you're already tired (approx. a 10-15 minute stroll).

Nearby the hotel (take the bus, 2 or 3 stops or walking approx. 20 minutes) is a large indoor shopping center which also offers lots of different restaurants (open til late at night) and supermarkets if you don't want to go downtown.

The hotel itself in our opinion is great too. We checked in in the evening and were helped by friendly staff. The room for two persons was spacious enough for a pleasant stay (it's no suite, but it's certainly not small). There also was a minibar in the room and good airconditioning and you can also open the windows if you want. The room was cleaned and the minibar was refilled everyday if you wanted it to be.

Minor downfall: at the time of our stay there were some construction works going on at the open spot behind the hotel which made for some noise in the morning, but shutting the window worked fine.

We also originally requested a room on the ground floor as these rooms have a private terras, but upon arrival we got a room on the third floor. Still, although the hotel was pretty booked, the next morning without any trouble, we still got the opportunity to switch rooms if we wanted to (we didn't though, due to the construction works).

It's always difficult to make a choice for a hotel based on someone else's experience but I can honestly say that in my opinion this hotel is worth it's rating and a good place to stay if you don't want to pay loads right in the center, but still have a great decent place from where you can explore Barcelona.

The hotel is close to the airport, and a short taxi ride to the city center. Good service, reasonable rates, I would recommend it if you are going for a short trip on a budget.

we booked this hotel purely for it's advertised close proximity to the airport, easy walking distance from the train station and it's free airport shuttle service.

we took the train to bellvitge station as their website suggests it is only a 10 minute walk from there to the hotel. it took us approx 30 minutes to walk from the train station to the hotel. perhaps we took a longer route than usual as we had to cross the train track and try to get around/go under the motorway but the website should have provided better directions with shortcuts, if there are any, in order to make the trip in 10 minutes as they say it is.

upon arriving, they had no record of our booking which we did on-line through wotif.com the day before. luckily i had my laptop and the receptionist asked me to e-mail a copy of our confirmation receipt to her using the hotel's free wi-fi (which is one positive). once that was settled, we enquired about the airport shuttle service for the morning and were told about the 8am start (unfortunately we did not read the review that pre-warned about this). as our flight is at 6.30am we have no choice but to pay 20 euro (as the receptionist quoted) to take a taxi there in the morning (i am writing this review from our hotel room).

earlier, at 9pm, we went downstairs to the cafeteria to get something to eat as there was no room service menu in the room. we waited at least 30 minutes while the ONE barman acted as wait staff for the cafe, lounge area, bar, restaurant, room service and who knows what else.. maybe chef even! he was a friendly guy though, doing his best to serve about 20 patrons. between him and the receptionist, i seriously don't think there is any other staff working tonight in the whole property. the food we ordered was horrible (a cheese and chorizo bocadillo). there really wasn't much to choose from either, apart from the bocadillo or pizza or chips. the bread was stale and tasted and felt like cardboard and it also cost 5 euro.

overall, the facilities of the hotel are fine - the rooms seem clean and comfortable with most mod-cons although the wi-fi is extremely slow. the hotel itself looks quite modern and a bit fancy however the service is anything but. what type of 4 star hotel has only two employees working at a time? i really can't recommend this hotel to anyone for anything. we stayed at Tryp Hotel when we first arrived and that place was fantastic - free shuttle service EVERY 15 minutes to and from the airport although we did not eat there so can't comment on that. i would still stay at Tryp over Solvasa if you are looking for an airport hotel.

i am just glad we are checking out in a few hours.. hopefully we will not run into any more disappointments while staying here.