Finally, my new ATM card arrived in the mail today.

I swear, nothing feels more like freedom than inserting that little piece of plastic into a machine anywhere in the world and having it spit out crisp bills in the local currency. Especially when you know what it’s like to live without it.

Two weeks ago, I was robbed blind while naively nibbling strawberries in a sunny Barcelona park. Not only did I lose all my credit cards and driver’s license, the thug made off with 250 freshly withdrawn euros and a decent digital camera with 400 yet-to-be-downloaded vacation photos.

Thinking back to the moment when it must have happened, I realize – just like everyone in Barcelona tells you – that the thieves were professionals. They distracted me with a technique that was pretty much like taking candy from a baby.

My purse was literally right beside me (I know, I know – I should have had it looped through my arm, or at least secured in my lap). I recall the whiff of an illegal substance on the air, followed by a
commotion in a nearby fountain made by a mangy German shepherd being led through the foul water by its equally mangy owner. Followed by the wide-eyed foreigner thinking, “Gross, who would let their dog swim in that fountain?”

Then that same foreigner thinking, “Dios mio – where’s my purse?”

When I called home with my sob story, my dad reminded me that, with all my travels, it was inevitable that it would eventually happen.

Still, it’s a big hit to take when you’re supposed to be having fun, and I couldn’t help but sulk around for a while, marinating on how quickly travel highs can turn into travel lows.

Then back into travel highs.

My Spanish friend, Sonia, had just the remedy – a party that started at 9PM and wouldn’t wind down until nine hours later, in typical Barcelona fashion.

Amazing how Rioja and tapas took the edge right off. Barcelona, needless to say, was forgiven.

- by Terry Ward

Last month when we hit up Barcelona we stayed in two hotels. The first was the crazy/sexy/cool Omm Hotel which we told you about last week. The second hotel was the less sexy and less cool Gallery Hotel. But we aren't trying to be dismissive here.

The Gallery was actually a wonderful, full-service hotel just across the street from the Omm with a helpful staff, spacious rooms, an abundance of toiletries and a pretty courtyard view--at least from the room we were in.

It's just that the Gallery is not design-forward like the Omm. Staying here is not an experience in itself but it's a perfectly good

This week we're taking a look at what's going on in Barcelona. We actually spent some time there a few weeks ago so we'll be dropping our own hotel reviews as well as news on the Barcelona Hotel Scene in general. Any questions? Send it our way.

Yesterday we gave you a video tour of the utterly cool Omm Hotel in Barcelona. Now today we tell you what it's like to spend the night.

If you're the type of person that likes to stay in trendy hotels in trendy neighborhoods--think Mercer Hotel in New York--then this hotel is an absolute must for you. You can even get over the location in the city's stuffy Eixample district.

When we were visited Barcelona just a few weeks ago, we spent our first night at the Omm Hotel, just off Passeig de Gracia in the Eixample district.

While the Eixample is a bit posh and some hotels there could be seen as stuffy, the Omm made us felt as if we were in Soho. Actually, our first reaction was this is the Mercer Hotel in Spain. But larger, with even better food than the Mercer Kitchen (the Moo restaurant is a multiple award-winner) and with a rooftop pool. Yes. A rooftop pool.

For now, you can check out the video tour we did of Room 207. Tomorrow,

This week we're taking a look at what's going on in Barcelona. We actually spent some time there a few weeks ago so we'll be dropping our own hotel reviews as well as news on the Barcelona Hotel Scene in general. Any questions? Send it our way.

ME Hotels which has a few popular properties in Cabo, Mexico and Madrid has opened their fourth hotel, this time in Barcelona.

The ME Barcelona hotel hosted a grand-opening party on October 9th which featured a performance by Fall Out Boy whose guitarist Pete Wentz opened an outpost of his Angels & Kings bar on the hotel's sixth floor.

The hotel is located on Diagonal Alley in the city's modern 22@

You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.

In theory, the Hotel Pelayo in Barcelona is rather lovely:

After spending two weeks recapping the Lisbon Hotel Scene for us, Monica Guy is back with some history lessons. She's chronicling some of Spain's historic hotels this week. Enjoy.

Spain's renowned for its chain hotels and beachside biggies, but the best places to stay are the smaller, lesser-known hotels heaving with history and atmosphere. Here's our number one Hotel with History in Spain: the Hotel Torre Martí, a short drive from Barcelona.

We have high standards here at HotelChatter, as you know, but this place is seriously fabulous. It's a huge, deep red villa surrounded by fountained gardens and curtains of trees, the kind of place you can imagine wealthy ancient Romans retreating to in

In honor of Woody Allen's latest film "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", our bro Jaunted has the lowdown on the Penélope Cruz-Scarlett Johansson make out (apparently not that hot. Wait--who are we kidding?), as well as where to eat, visit and sleep.

And while he sagely recommends Hotel Casa Fuster, we're going to throw the Casanova Hotel in the mix, and not just because the name is so apropos for Javier Bardem's character.

We've written about the Casanova before, but it just so happens that the hotel is offering a set exchange rate of 1.3 for U.S. travelers through September 15. Room rates at the hotel start at $197.

Apparently the hotel lobby bar is

One of our favorite bespectacled directors (Woody Allen) is back to the big screen this week with "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," a sensual romantic comedy about two girls on holiday in Spain for the summer who fall for the same guy (Javier Bardem).

The girls (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) also don't realize that their love interest's ex-wife (Penelope Cruz) who, oh yeah, tried to stab him, isn't completely out of the picture yet. She arrives and decides maybe she knows what's best for him after all. And yes, there is one particularly racy scene involving Scarlett, Penelope and Javier, but we hear it's been talked up quite a bit more than it deserves.

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" was not only shot in, but is a literal tribute to, Barcelona. Keep reading to check out some ideal stops there.

This weekend, The New York Times asked, "Does Barcelona really need another understated hipster hotel?"

We don't think any place needs another hipster hotel, but since you asked about Barcelona--the epicenter of all things hip in Spain--we're gonna go ahead and say no.

But the Times answers its own question with an "apparently, yes," even though the reporter is very wishy-washy about Hotel Murmuri. She writes that despite the hotel possessing all the "requisite elements for urban hotel chic," such as a black-clad staff and an in-house Asian restaurant, "the accommodations are lovely enough that the clichés don't irritate."

And how cliché they are.