Valencia Travel Forum

Going for a long weekend in Valencia, in September. Have a group of friends booked into the Beatriz Rey Don Jaime Hotel which is in the Avenida Baleares.

However, will we be too far from the centre, nightlife, restaurants, etc?

If so, can anyone recommend another hotel nearer to the "action"! Along the same price...we're currently paying 95 Euros each.

Thanks

Yep - looks OK to me. We stayed not far from there in the Holiday Inn and it was near the Science Park with those fabulous new buildings (Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias) and the park that runs through th ecity along the course of the old river bed.
You can easily walk to the centre along the path through this park - it is a small centre ith a cathedral and market square etc. There are lots of small restaurants in the narrow streets around there and a few in the region of the hotels too. (Not many had English menus when we were there)
The taxis didn't seem very expensive although we took the bus from the airport to the bus station and then a taxi from there to the hotel (from memory it was about 6 Euros to the Holiday Inn from the bus station). The bus stop is right outside the airport on the higher level - takes about 20 minutes and goes a winding route along back streets!
I reckon about a 15 - 20 minute walk from the hotel to the centre.
Not sure about night-life / "action" though - however there were a lot of "bright young things" in the cafes and bars in the centre when we were there in October 2005.

I think location is not bad, but it doesnt totally convince me. i think it depends on what you consider the center of the city, but i'd say it's a bit longer than 15 min walk to the old town and the quarter El Carmen. though i think you can get to Gran Via Marques del Turia from there in 20 min. that's an avenue in the city center (meaning busiest part of the city), though it's not the old town yet. there're a lot of restaurants there and a partying/clubbing area called Canovas.
Some friends from norway stayed at hostel Venecia a couple of weeks ago (http://www.hotelvenecia.com/). it's not a hotel but a hostel but i think rooms are better than many of the 3* and 4* hotels ive seen in some countries (the hall isnt too impressive though)...and location is PERFECT, right in the townhall square.
however, september shouldnt be a too hot month so walking a bit wont be so painful. and if you like walking (which is good to see around) then i dont know whether i'd change hotel, maybe i wouldnt. Besides, you have a posstive review above :)

It seemed to me from my recent stay that most of the party activity was closer to the playa, where you will need to metro or taxi if you are staying near the old town. There seemed to be a number of clubs right around Neptuno. I didn't really spend time in them and the security people got huffy when I tried to take some photos. I was not impressed by the plates of food at the line of restaurants lining the playa. But I admit I am a bit of a foodie. If you want to be close to the nightlife, I would stay by the beach and then take the metro into the old town to check out the Cathedral, the Ceramics Museum, etc. Hi Jezz.... Karl

hey Karl :)
that is very true in the summer time, then everything seems to move to the beach and a lot of pubs and clubs in the city center close and open their 'summer terrace version' at the beach. however i dont think the beach will be that busy in september. maybe the 1st half of the month, but not the second. as it gets colder the beach becomes a boring place, really, since there's nothing else to see there than the sea. well, thats not 100% true nowadays (that part of the city has changed a lot after the building of the F1 circuit and the America's cup) but still...
i think it all depends on what you want to see and do. i supposed im a bit too biased to the old town because i love El Carmen

I'm sorry to hear you didnt like the restaurants by the beach, Karl :( I hope you liked a bit better some of the other places you were checking

I had two excellent meals at two different restaurants on Felix Pizcueta, a street a few doors East of the bullring and train station. El Timerol and Asador de Aranda. (Both on my new Valencia page). Karl

Thanks guys - Karl, Jezzabel.

Will probably stay where we are.

Will take a look at both your Valencia pages to get the experts' views!!

Jezzabel - do you know much about the Casino Monte Picayo?

not really, ive never been there. if you're insterested in visiting it i could ask. i have a friend who lives very close to it (in Puzol).

I am just building my Valencia page, so I don't have much on there. You are welcome to e mail me and I can give you my thoughts as a first time visitor. I was surprised that there were very few Yanks, but quite a few Brits and Frenchies. Jezzabel was an absolute angel in helping me get my traveling arms around Valencia. Best regards, Karl

it was a pleasure :)
same here, dont have a page but if you have any question regarding valencia feel free to send an email
cheers

Hotel Rey Don Jaime is a good 4 star hotel and pretty close to the city center. The price that you have mentioned of 95 Euros per person is probably a bit too expensive for September. There are many other good hotels in the surroundings such as Holiday Inn express (3 star) which costs around 90 euros per roon with breakfast. As for the fun and activity that you could be looking for, all these hotels are just around 3 kilometers from the city center which is Plaza del ayuntamiento and easily accesible by public transport. Nightlife areas would be the barrio del Carmen area as has been mentioned before apart from port America pubs, Juan llorens or Avenida de Aragon pubs.
Have fun.

How did it go? Did you enjoy it?