This moderate to luxury-priced three-star hotel offered comfort and impeccable service, and was an oasis of peace and quiet with the clamor of Les Ramblas just footsteps away. If the Hotel Montecarlo wasn’t the best hotel experience I’ve ever had, it easily ranks among the top three.

The hotel has a stately, elegant facade and lobby. Our double room had as comfortable a bed as I’ve ever slept on. Dual remote controls allowed either of us to raise or lower head and foot positions for sleeping, reading, or television viewing.

A television with three English-speaking channels (BBC World, MSNBC World, and CNN), mini-bar, and a small sitting area with a loveseat, desk and chair rounded out the creature comforts. The closet had a safe to store passports and other valuables. The bath featured attractive salmon-colored marble tile, a wood veneer ceiling, full size tub with shower, and bidet. Matching bathrobes and slippers added an accent of luxury.

The hotel offers breakfast for 13 euros per person. Parking is available in their under ground garage for 18 euros per night. There’s also a rooftop "solarium" with chaise lounges and a view of Les Ramblas below. Free Internet access is available at a computer just off the reception area adjacent to the lounge. While the computer was occasionally in use by other guests, we never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to get online.

The hotel has an arrangement with Vanguard Rent A Car (info@vanguard.com) where Vanguard will deliver your rental car to the hotel and pick it up when you’re ready to return it.

More impressive than the amenities, however, was the service. Everyone we met was pleasant, friendly, and quick to smile. While we were able to handle most matters in Castilian, every one of their staff was able to switch to English easily and spoke it exceptionally well. They phoned a winery in the Priorat region that’s open for tours by appointment only and made the necessary arrangements for us. And after I shoe-horned our rental car front first into a garage space not much larger than a broom closet and left the car keys at the front desk for the night, the next morning we returned to find that they had turned the car around and backed it into its miniscule stall, making for much easier egress. Bottom line: we have nothing but praise for the Hotel Montecarlo’s staff.

One note: our room was on the top (5th) floor at the back of the hotel, away from the street. It was exceptionally quiet. It’s possible that guests occupying rooms on lower floors or those facing Les Ramblas might not have it as quiet as we did.

Additional information: District: Old Town
Metro: Catalunya (L1, L3)
Web site: http://montecarlobcn.com/
Email: hotel@montecarlobcn.com
Fax: 34-933 187 323