Our Stay At The Aparthotel Silver Barcelona

Ten years ago, when we first visited during our honeymoon, the Barcelona hotel options were of two varieties – luxury and basic. There weren’t many Barcelona hotels in the middle for the average traveler, and we had to scramble to find a cool yet affordable hotel that fit our vibe.

Fast forward to today, and Barcelona is a city swimming with hotels of every ilk. In fact, it’s hard to walk down a street without seeing at least one boutique hotel. While this development is awesome for travelers, it presents a new challenge – how to choose the best hotel in Barcelona.

We accepted this challenge during our recent whirlwind trip to Catalonia’s largest city. Our main goal was to stay in a location convenient to transportation since we would be running around eating as much Barcelona cuisine as possible.

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We also wanted to stay in a comfortable hotel with style, service and security. Luckily, we found the Aparthotel Silver Barcelona which met all of our travel needs.

We felt right at home at the Aparthotel Silver Barcelona as soon as we opened the door to the smiling faces at the front desk, a feeling that didn’t end during our three-night stay. We were happy to stay at this comfortable and convenient hotel in one of the best parts of Barcelona.

Located in the historically rich yet currently hip Gracia neighborhood, the Aparthotel Silver Barcelona is an apartment-style hotel that offers all of the amenities that experienced travelers require. Just one block from the Fontana metro station, the aparthotel is convenient to public transportation, a major plus for conserving both time and money.

The hotel also has fast Wi-Fi, an absolute must for digital nomads and normal travelers alike, as well as extras like an on-site parking lot and a piano in the lobby.

We stayed in a Comfort room with a double bed. At 20 square meters, the room was an ideal size for us with plenty of room for our luggage. Though simple in decor, the room featured large windows with a view of the aparthotel’s private garden and a large 32″ TV.

As an apartment-style hotel, the room also had a functioning kitchen with a kettle, microwave and small refrigerator. Other amenities included a DVD player, hairdryer, safe deposit box large enough for laptops and a foot massager.

Yes, our room had a foot massager that we could set at different heat levels, a real treat after a day of walking many miles in the wonderful city of Barcelona.

As much as we liked the foot massager, we liked the comfortable bed and effective shower even more. At the end of the day, these are the most important features in an urban hotel room.

Though we chose to eat our buffet breakfast inside due to the chilly weather, we were tempted to dine in the adjoining garden to take advantage of the urba oasis at the Barcelona hotel. Breakfast offerings were fairly typical for a European hotel – coffee, juice, cold cuts, fruit, vegetables, cheese, pastries and cereal.

However, we appreciated the extra touches including a selection of jams as well as fixings to make our new favorite Catalan treat – Pan Con Tomate. Overall, the breakfast provided a pleasant, energizing start to our busy Barcelona days.

Gracia is a highly desirable neighborhood for travelers to Barcelona. The neighborhood has a local feeling with its architecture dating back to the 19th century before Gracia was swallowed up by Barcelona. But Gracia’s history is just part of the neighborhood’s story.

A slew of trendy shops now dot the streets next to older, family-run businesses, and restaurants abound with jovial diners spilling on to the streets at prime dinner time hours. In addition to the many local shops and restaurants, the Gracia neighborhood has two must-see attractions – Gaudi’s amazing Park Güell and the Mercat de l’Abaceria Central.

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An introductory visit to Barcelona would be incomplete without a trip to Park Güell in Gracia’s La Salut.

Designed by Antoni Gaudi in the early 20th century, Park Güell is arguably Barcelona’s best park, if not one of the best parks in the world. You’ll know what we mean as you enter the park and see Gaudi’s colorful mosaic work.

Then you’ll really know what we mean when you reach the park’s apex and gaze at the city with breathtaking views of the Sagrada Familia and the bay.

Park Güell is a 30-minute walk from the aparthotel.

Serving the community for over 100 years, the Mercat de l’Abaceria Central is one of Barcelona’s 39 food markets and sells almost everything travelers need for the room – cheese, olives and jamon, the edible necessities of Barcelona life.

In addition to great food, this market also provides a fun photo opportunity for travelers, especially for travelers like us who are into food photography. Mercat de l’Abaceria is a 10-minute walk from the aparthotel.

Pro Tip
For the ultimate Gracia afternoon, buy all of the fixings for a picnic lunch (bread, meat, cheese, olives, etc.) at the Mercat de l’Abaceria Central and then enjoy them at the Park Güell.

For us, the best part of staying at the Silver Aparthotel Barcelona was the convenience factor.

Though the location is a walkable distance from the city’s main tourist sites, the aparthotel is just one block from the Fontana metro station. As much as we like to walk when we travel, we often found ourselves paying 2.15 € to hop on to the subway so that we could spend more time enjoying the sites and eating all the wonderful Barcelona food.

A taxi to the airport would typically cost under 40 € from the Silver Aparthotel, but there are other more cost-effective options. We saved money by walking 100 meters to the Fontana metro station and taking the subway to the airport train.

Though we had considered the Aerobus option, we were concerned about the timing of our super early morning flight to Helsinki. FYI, the airport train cost 4.10 € and the airport bus cost 6 € at the time of our visit.

Aparthotel Silver Barcelona is located at Carrer de Bretón de los Herreros, 26, 08012 Barcelona, Spain.

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