This hotel should not be awarded four stars. Yes, the rooms are flawless (if you are so lucky to be assigned a medium sized one: there are very small rooms too). Yes, breakfast is affluent and yes, the complete hotel decoration is beautiful and stylish. Its location is perfect. Staff is generally friendly and adequate. But the service at the reception desk is the worst I've ever had to deal with (and I've seen a lot of hotels, especially in Spain). At arrival we had to wait six hours for our room. Every time we were sent away given the promise that our room would certainly be ready within the next hour. Every time we returned, our room was still not cleaned. When we finally complained, instead of getting an apology, we were treated like small children. I don't have to mention that there was no champagne for us, although some other guests (how do they select them?) did get their glass. Yes, we were suitably dressed, yes we know how to behave. When leaving it was not possible to keep our room any longer (although no other guests were arriving). And finally they charged us 10 euro for calling a taxi. Leaving such a beautiful city, the reception desk of this hotel left us feeling quite uneasy.

We stayed is some wonderful hotels during our three weeks in Europe, unfortunately this wasn't one of them. The Positives: Good location. Ecclectic Decor. The Negatives: 1. The worst beds I've ever slept on in my life. I've stayed in probably 50 hotels, including a dozen across Europe where standards can vary. My whole body aches just thinking about how uncomfortable the bed was. We had two rooms with four twin beds, all four beds were equally awful. Hard, lumpy, mediocre linens, and a bedspread (no comforter) that I personally found abrasive - yes abrasive as in scratching me! 2. The staff was lukewarm at best. When the internet wouldn't work they blamed it on the fact that I used an Apple... when in fact the problem was clearly network related and theirs. They also didn't have our room ready when promised, etc. 3. Rooms in general are spartan with weak air conditioning... very modern, so much as to be "cold" and charmless. Both of our rooms had major noise issues and paper thin walls. We could hear everythign going in adjacent rooms and even adjacent buildings (loud music, hammering, etc from the nearby apartments). The Positives: 1. Good location - very near central sights, subway, etc. Overall I consider this the worst choice we made out of five hotels stayed in this past trip.

Excellent location right at Las Ramblas and close to the metro station, helpfull and friendly staff, welcome champaign and cake in the evenining, free internet in the lobby. Stayed only one night, but we will return. Excellent breakfast!

Even though a few reviewers have commented on the "mixed reviews" here for this hotel, it just ain't true. 86% have ranked the H10 Universitat at least four out of five. Having now just stayed there, I totally agree. From the point of check-in in the very nice lobby, the well-staffed front desk with enthusiastic and multilingual staff, the quick glance into a chic but not overdone hotel restaurant, and, of course, the glass of champagne that comes with your room key, this hotel feels like a first-class property. The room was immaculate and completely modern and stylish, with all glass paneling separating the bedroom from the bathroom (don't worry, its frosted). While my single room was unsurprisingly quite small, the bathroom was American-sized with an unexpected large shower. My room was on the second floor facing the interior courtyard, but other than the constant drip of a water drain two floors down I wasn't bothered. The in-room free wireless Internet access was easily set up, reliable, and fast. Like many European hotels, the room's electrical power requires the room key to be slid into a slot, which makes it impossible to charge phones and iPods while you're out -- so you have to plan your overnight charging accordingly. The location of the H10 Universitat can't be beat, at the tip of La Rambla where several of Barcelona's coolest and most historic districts intersect. For LGBT travelers, it offers a great middle ground between the old city and the "gayxample" district.

Wasn't sure what to expect based on the mixed reviews - so we emailed the hotel and requested a large, modern room near the top of hotel (good for views & noise) and this is exactly what we got - ask for room 702 - its great! Although we did ask for a Double and got a twin, but as the room was so nice, we just pushed the beds together and actually caught up on some sleep too! Great location is an understatement - just off Playa de Catalunya and the Ramblas and just a few minutes walk from everything including the Airport Bus stop (just aim for top left corner of square!). Really easy to get around and the architecture is beautiful - better than expected. We did the tourist bus on the first day (red route is best) so it gave us our bearings and highlighted the tourist bits. Then the following days we just caught the Metro everywhere as its so easy and cheap and you can go whereever you wish. Park Guell and sagrada familia are defintely worth a visit and do the guided tour in the Sagrada, as you find out alot more than just walking around it. Also did the inside of La Pedras/Casa Mila, which if your a Gaudi fan, is worth it. The walk up to Park Guell is worth it, as you have great views and great scenery too. Have fun and would definitely recommend this hotel.