Hotel Montecarlo: Entrance
If walls could talk, the ones at Hotel Montecarlo may have interesting tales to tell.

The four-star hotel at the top of La Rambla, a couple of blocks from Plaça Catalunya, had at one point in it's history been home to a 19th Century palace, and headquarters for two newspapers, "Las Noticias" and "El Correo Catalán." It was converted into a hotel in 1945.

The façade - something right out of the traditional Barcelona design book with curved balconies and superb detail in its stonework - along with elegant interior featuring white marble staircases and floors, and columned arches plays up its opulent past. While its single and standard rooms have a more functionary, sterile feel, the Montecarlo's superior and deluxe rooms impart the upscale style you'd be looking for in a hotel of this category. The amenities found in all rooms are not too shabby either. There are ensuite jacuzzis, bathrobes, slippers, scales, hair dyers, high-speed broadband and Wi-fi Internet connections, and, the hotel's biggest selling point, electronically adjustable beds. The beds, and their quality, were of such importance, in fact, that hotel has created a separate page on its Web site to brag about them.

Hotel Husa Oriente: Entrance
If you want to stay where the action is, then the Hotel Husa Oriente is the way to go.

Housed in a completely renovated 17th Century convent and located smack in the middle of Barcelona's main promenade, La Rambla, the three-star hotel brings together old-world elegance with modern flair. In the common areas, you'll find thick drapes, a marble staircase, chandeliers and other similar touches that tell stories of a bygone era. The rooms have a different kind of style, with natural light and sophisticated minimalism being the central themes.

Hotel Constanza: Entrance
So, you want to chill out and curl up on a comfy bed after a day at the beach or hours of jumping on and off the Bus Turístic? Hotel Constanza, located a few blocks from Plaça Catalunya off Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, may have what you're looking for. Its spacious lobby area is an ideal place to catch your breath, and elegant touches of sangria red accents and dark wood tones create a soothing, relaxing vibe in its rooms.

Hotel Constanza opened in 2004 with 14 rooms on two floors of a charming modernist building in L'Eixample Dreta. Following the trend-setters in the Barcelona hotel scene who are frequently converting old turn-of-the-20th-Century edifices into choice accommodations, the hotel went through a significant renovation and expansion in early 2008. It updated the look of its common areas, added a restaurant and expanded to 44 rooms on five floors. The rooms are equipped with full bathrooms, air conditioning and heating, telephone, TV., mini-bar, Internet connection, and even optional background music.

Hostal Goya: Common area
Fresh, bright, comfortable, homey. Any of those words would be a good way to describe Hostal Goya.

A recent face-lift gives the boutique-style pension a more elegant feel than what you would expect from its official one-star rating. Many of the 19 rooms, decorated with subdued earth tones and offset with dark accents and modern floral patterns, come with ensuite bathrooms, and some have small balconies. Twelve rooms, based on the bed configurations, cater to individuals, couples and two single people traveling together. The seven principal rooms are bigger and have more of a suite set-up.

H10 Itaca: Lounge
Hotel Itaca, which is part of the H10 chain, has a cozy feel to it, made even warmer with wood touches and calming soft gray and red motifs. Its jacuzzi, sauna, fitness room and ample terrace help make it an easy place to wind down after a long day of sight-seeing.

About a half-kilometer from the main Sants train station, the four-star hotel has 95 rooms; free Wi-fi; a lobby bar; a restaurant; a coffee and snack corner; TV with satellite coverage and international channels, and laundry service.

Barceló Sants: Exterior
Although the Barceló Sants has the functionary look and feel of a business-class hotel, its trump card is its location. Situated directly above the central Sants train station, the four-star, 377-room hotel is the ideal place for visitors who need quick access to the city's metro lines, airport shuttles or regional and international train and bus connections.

Rooms come with the standard internet connection, hairdryer, a digital-music telephone, satellite TV, mini-bar, and air conditioning. And, despite the hum of nearby construction work on the high-speed train that will eventually link Madrid, Barcelona and France, the rooms are quiet, and the small adjacent park, L'Espanya Industrial, provides a place to soak up some sun or find a bit of solace before dashing off.

B-Hotel: Entrance
Combining high-tech innovation with a minimalist style and a good use of natural light, the 84-room B-Hotel, which opened in spring 2005, plays to the modern-day, avant-garde vibe becoming more common on the Barcelona hotel scene. Designed by Alfredo Arribas, a well-established Barcelona architect whose long list of local and international projects includes the Moll d'Espanya shopping center in downtown's Port Vell and the childhood learning center at the city's Museum of Science, the B features a rooftop pool and terrace; a solarium; a lounge; soundproof, climate-control rooms; satellite and LCD-screen TV, and broadband and wireless internet access.