can anyone recommend a good basic hotel in barcelona?

preferably fairly central and not very expensive!

Hermitage.

Barcelona Hilton.

This is what I'd do. Go to iBtraveling.com and compare all the prices for hotels in Barcelona...prefreably 3 stars. Then go to the link for priceline last. Once at that site, enter all your data, including 3 star, and bid on a hotel. You'll find something about 50-70% off the normal price. Start your bid at 70% off and then keep adding say $5 or so until a 3 star hotel accepts your bid. This way, you'll be getting a decent hotel in a fun city to hang out. Have fun and good luck!

Oh and restart your computer after you've made a purchase on your credit card, for safety's sake. Always do that no matter what you buy onlne.

Been there done that.

Please update your question to tell us what "not very expensive" means to you. Is that less than 100 Euros per night? Less than 50 Euros?

Consider "hostals" (Catalán for "hostels", and is "hostales" in Spanish). Hostals are family owned and operated budget hotels, usually very basic accommodations, usually very clean, often with an in-room bathroom and TV, always located on the upper floors of the building and only sometimes having an elevator up, only sometimes do they have air conditioning. Prices for these can be 30 Euros for a single with shared bathroom to 80 Euros for a nicer room with all facilities. Take a quick look at Hostal Marenostrum (web: http://www.hostalmarenostrum.com ) and see if it fits your needs. I spent a few nights there once and found it just fine, located right along the Ramblas near the Boqueria Market, quite comfortable room. Now I see no prices are listed on their website but I think a double room used to be about 45-55 Euros per night. Email them for prices.

Saludos, BarcelonaMan(.com)