Yurbban Trafalgar Hotel

Opened in 2014, the Yurbban Trafalgar Hotel has a seriously stylish and trendy look. Its lobby is sleek and stylish with soft lighting, nice hardwood floors, and whimsical design accents like world maps against aqua blue walls. One sitting area exudes a museum-exhibit quality, with gray upholstered sofas and focused lighting to highlight photos, vases, and other contemporary artistic pieces. Vintage books and an old globe are displayed on a shelf. It’s a dark and soothing space that’s long and narrow. The restaurant and bar is equally trendy and hip, with dark ceilings and clusters of suspended orbs emitting soft light on a long wall bench topped with gold, silver, and green throw pillows. The aqua blue walls showcase art with bursts of color. Beautiful hardwood floors lead past a black marble bar to a bright courtyard framed by lush tropical plants. Clusters of marble tables and bright yellow chairs provide ample seating. The hotel's distinctive decor attracts couples and single travelers who enjoy an artsy ambience.  

The Yurbban Trafalgar is centrally located in the quiet El Born neighborhood, a brief walk to many attractions in the Gothic Quarter. It’s near public transportation links, including a two-minute walk from the Urquinaona subway station and a seven-minute walk to the aerobus artery at Plaça Catalunya. Numerous restaurants, shops, and nightclubs are within a one- to five-minute walk from the hotel's front doors. Walks to the Palau de la Música Catalona, Cathedral Barcelona de la Seu, and Picasso Museum are five, eight, and nine minutes, respectively. The shops at Passeig de Gracia are about an 11-minute walk, as are Plaça de Sant Jaume and Paca Sant Felip Neri. The La Boqueria Market is a 13-minute walk away, and the Liceu Opera House is 15 minutes on foot or a seven-minute drive. It takes about 30 minutes by public transit to reach Parc Güell, and approximately 35 minutes by public transit or 20 minutes driving to the Barcelona Airport. 

Rooms at the Yurvvab Trafalgar sport a modern and minimalist look, which also applies to the stark lighting that makes rooms a bit dark. But the streamlined decor is stylish, as is the color scheme, made up of solid gray painted walls, brown hardwood floors, and blue and beige drapes. Padded headboards and matching bed skirts are a darker shade of solid gray, but the pumpkin orange bedspreads add a needed splash of brightness. Simple black metal tables serve as nightstands, and each room has a 40-inch, flat-screen, smart TV hanging on the wall. And past guests praise the free Wi-Fi for its strong reception.  

The highlight of this hotel’s rooms are the sleek but smallish bathrooms that feature roomy, walk-in showers with clear-glass doors and rainfall showerheads. White-tile walls and white-ceramic vanities give a basic backdrop. Floors are the same hardwood as the bedrooms. All rooms in this hotel are exceptionally clean and generally quiet. 

The entry-level or Tiny Rooms are small, indeed, with the king beds placed up against the walls and no seating other than little cubes. The narrow hallways include small closets with electronic safes. The Double Rooms (still with king beds) offer enough extra room to add small desks and simple gray wooden chairs, as well as armoires. Doubles also have coffeemakers and mini-fridges. Both Tiny and Double Room categories offer the option of a private terrace furnished with a small table and two chairs, but some terraces offer rather drab or limited views. The Interior Plus and Junior Suite categories are larger still, with sleeper sofas and Nespresso machines in addition to the coffeemakers and mini-fridges. 

Features at the Yurbban Trafalgar are convenient and stylish, but some come with additional costs. The hotel restaurant and bar serves lunch and dinner with a focus on sandwiches, salads, soups, and small plates. It has a small courtyard area for outdoor dining among lush tropical plants. Guests rave about the daily hot breakfast buffet with made-to-order egg dishes, but it’s not included in room rates. However, a free wine-and-cheese hour is hosted by the hotel nightly, and a few jars of free sweet snacks are presented at the front desk. 

The rooftop bar and pool area offers spectacular views of the city. The roomy terrace has lots of comfortable seating, but the pool is small and not heated. A meeting room is available, and there's a business center with Internet access. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel. The small fitness center has a few LifeFitness cardio and weight-training machines and some extras like a punching bag. A small gift shop sells clothing, fragrances, and other items. Free loaner Finna bicycles are available, and parking is in the same building of the hotel, but it’s limited and pricey. Concierge services are available, including valet dry cleaning and laundry, and the hotel offers free laundry facilities as well.