Really the perfect hotel. First of all some rooms are small so if you are planning on spending time in the room then reconsider. However it is SPOTLESS clean and very hip and new. The breakfast was the best I have had in ANY hotel(I have stayed at thousands) because it was clean, fresh AND tasty, the choices of food were mind altering. Coffee is fresh and available all day and the staff where accommodating in every way. Details make a fine hotel and Brick has a full understanding of this. Again really just the perfect hotel.

I wanted a hotel near the Barcelona Sants rail station as I was going to depart on a fairly early Bilbao train. It's an easy 15 minute walk to the station but you need some extra time (maybe 10 minutes?) for security as Spain seems to have luggage x-raying for long rail journeys. I think there are three separate groups of platforms so you also need time to locate the correct platform.

It's very easy to get to the hotel using the reasonably-priced Aerobus from the airport. Just get off at Placa d'Espanya and walk 2 minutes back down the road where the bus came from past Hotel Gran Via and you're there. If you reach the Waffle cafe you have just passed it! I arrived fairly late and was grateful for the easy journey.

Brick is a small hotel on a busy main road, well located for the Placa d'Espanya Metro station. It looks fairly new and has a modern, sensible design. I think there are 7 accommodation floors with 5 rooms on each floor. My room was compact with no particular view making it fine for three days. I see other reviews mentioning a "triangle room" that sounds like it's only ideal for one person. The hotel's website calls these minirooms at 10 square metres. The rooms have a room safe but no minibar and no hot drinks. The hotel has free coffee available from noon in the breakfast area - I didn't try that. Wi-Fi worked well. There's a single lift serving all the floors.

I didn't try the breakfast - there's loads of cafes nearby. The 365 one opposite is convenient but nothing special. I'd recommend a stroll down the nearby Carrer de la Creu Corbeta road for more choice. If you want a supermarket there's a small Dia a few minutes walk down the road the hotel is on and about 15 minutes walk further is a larger Mercadona which is probably not worth the walk.

The road noise isn't a problem, it's like Manhattan, just a low, constant, background hum. There's a few odd people who hang around the Placa d'Espanya but I think this is far enough away from the main tourist areas to be lower risk for pickpocketing. This seems to be a real problem in Barcelona, a friend mentioned his colleague had his smartphone stolen and I met some fellow tourists on a bicycle tour who lost a bracelet after an encounter with a local.

Friendly, helpful staff and a bit more personable than the larger hotels. They have a free folding map which is good as a backup and useful if you want to avoid flashing your smartphone about in a touristy area.

Barcelona is a bit more expensive than I thought and this includes hotels. I'd consider the Brick Hotel again if I was on a short trip and wanted to use the rail station but given the abundance of hotels in Barcelona would probably explore all the options for a longer trip.

Hotel Brick has a great location and within walking distance of many sights. It was very modern and clean! The room had everything we needed. The staff was excellent and very helpful with restaurant recommendations. Shout to Louis who even helped secure a large taxi for us!