DIY holiday, stay in Barcelona hotel or not?

Wolfman_2

I have booked my 1st DIY holiday to La Pineda near Salou (4* all incl 9 nights in July 06 for £1,200 for family of 4, including flights - seems a good deal).

Only problem is the flight lands in Barcelona at 9pm on 17/7 and the holiday hotel is booked from 18/7.

Should I book hotel in Barcelona overnight and travel down to La Pineda next day, either by hire car or train?

Should I hire car (perhaps using tesco vouchers) and travel down same night and try to get in the holiday hotel a night early? But might not arrive until early hours.

The main reason I ask for help is because I am struggling to find a family room (my children are 10 and 6) at a half reasonable price in Barcelona on 17/7 and prices seem the same in July as travelling now therefore are unlikely to fall.

Can anyone advise me on any of the above or recommend a hotel with family room for overnight stay, preferably near airport or Barcelona Sants train station.

Many thanks

Steve

jonesMUFCforever

What are the chances of the flight being on time?
How long will it take for you to collect your luggage and go through Customs?
Will you want a meal at the airport before starting your journey?
It could be that it will be in the small hours before you are ready to start your journey to your destination. This might make if feasible or not to book a room in Barcelona on 17/7.
Have you looked on somewhere like https://www.laterooms.com to see what they can offer. I don't think you can book this far ahead with them but if you could get an idea of what is available from their site and contact hotels direct for a quote?

elisebutt65

What about an apartment just for the night - i know some owners do let per night. We ususally rent for odd time periods as we go by the cheapest flights.

Home Holidays

Late lets

Owners Direct

Are the sites we usually use

Dumyat

there is a hotel in the train station...barcelo sants hotel. havent stayed in it but it has good write ups on tripadviser. Dont know if they do family rooms...have just passed their offer signs going in and out of station. might be worth a look ...

Party_Animal

I've stayed in the Melia, near the station and 5* for £50 a night from last minute.com

madfrenchgirl

it all depens at what time is your flight arriving....

if you want you can have a look into a formula 1 hotel... there is one at Mollet de valles... take the train from barcelona sants to mollet st fost... the hotel is just 15 mintue walk from the station... it is very basic and you will have to take 2 rooms cos there are 4 of you... you have to pay 20 quid for one room for the night, or if you want to sneak in your kids, there will be no one at reception past 9pm so you can all cram in one room very easily...

barron_2

Hi ,
What airline are you flying with ?
What hotel are you staying at ?



Also you should / may be able to book the extra night at your holiday hotel.

Hope i'm not teaching you to suck eggs !!.

Wolfman_2

Thanks for all your help and advice. I'll plough through it tonight.

Barron - We're staying at Palas Pineda Hotel £950 via Wintersunshineholidays and flying from Coventry £235 return with Thomsonfly.
Not sure if you can add another day on to hotel cost. I will check tonight.I didn't book it at the time as it seemed a waste to book a day all inclusive and get there probably after midnight. However, on reflection it would probably have been cheaper than staying in Barcelona. Also having never hired a car before I am not sure up to what time you can collect them should your flight get in late.

PS Loads of good reports on the hotel before I booked it then 2 lousy ones on tripadvisor straight after booking. Has anyone stayed there?

elisebutt65

Check the nationality of these duff posters on trip advisors. You'll usually find that they're american as Europeans hotels don't come up to the same standards.

I booked a gorgeous hotel in Paris and there were loads of rubbish reviews from Americans but glowing ones from the UK. It was beautiful and nothing wrong apart from the lack of tv and coffemaking facilities, but who needs that in Paris? Besides it was a romatic trip so we made our own entertainment lol

Party_Animal

PS Loads of good reports on the hotel before I booked it then 2 lousy ones on tripadvisor straight after booking. Has anyone stayed there?[/QUOTE]

This is one of the problems with the internet and I'm one of the worst culprits. I plan all my hols online. Once of a time I used to book a hotel because I liked the look of it. Now I read the reviews and there's always someone who has a bad word for any hotel. I've stayed in hundreds of hotels and haven't had many bad ones. I don't tend to spend much time in them, well not awake anyway. So for me there are 3 main criteria;
1) Cleanliness
2) Location
3) Cost