HELLO: My wife and I will be in Barcelona on the 27 of Aug. Is it necessary to reserve a fonda or CH or Hostal before or can we find something near the Ramblas when we arrrive just by walking down the street? Thank you.

Your chances are pretty good for just showing-up and finding something eventually, assuming there's not some big Expo, concert, or other event going on at that time. You may have to buzz a number of ringers before finding one, however. Hopefully they can tell you if they have an available double before climbing the one, two, or three flights of stairs with your luggage. Many of these places don't have elevators.

It would be smart to take a look at the websites for and have a list of the names of half-dozen possible places along/near Las Ramblas, just to get an idea of how they look and the prices they're asking.

Enjoy Barcelona! I know you will.

Saludos, BarcelonaMan

Hola,

I am looking at Barcelona in November 2009 for my family of three (12 yr old child and spouse). I am looking at Eixample near Sagrada for a piso (we do not want to do hotel). Any opinions?

Thank you,
Vespa

i have stayed in this one with the family once, you can search for others there is good site info for aprt in Eixample Barcelona, the best area, do shopping at boulevar Rosa...shopping center
http://www.bulevardrosa.com/#

I never thanked you for your reply. I am having some problems navigating this site and remembering where "things" are. Vespa

Hello, I would think that booking a room thru the internet would be more expensive than just showing up at a hostal and asking if they have a vacancy as they have to pay the intermediary, right? Can someone confirm this? Thank you. Samuel

Maybe i´m wrong here .. but I think it´s cheaper online . Many times here in Europe I´ve called a hotel direct and been quoted upto 50 % above the internet price .
The hostales are cheap anyway , and i´ve loved staying in them in the past ... but bear in mind that they can get booked solid ! Especially Barcelona .
Steve