Kabul

A Barcelona institution in the best possible sense, the recently renovated Kabul has been housing backpackers since the pre-Olympic days, before the sailors and prostitutes patrolling the nearby Rambla were replaced by Geordie stag parties. It's an unbeatable location, right on the arcaded Plaça Reial in the centre of the Barri Gòtic, but is really aimed at hard-core party people – the cheap beer and all-night comings and goings of the clubbers make it less fun for anyone here for a quiet weekend of sightseeing, especially in the larger rooms (mixed dorms sleep up to 20 people).
• Plaça Reial 17, +34 93 318 5190, kabul.es, shared dorm rooms from €20pp, including breakfast

Gothic Point

Festooned with paper lanterns and ablaze with acid colours and murals, this is perhaps the Equity Point group's most fun hostel, with a great location in the Born, just off Via Laietana and next to Jaume I metro. Guests tend to spend most of their time reading, chilling out or playing table tennis on the large roof terrace but there's also a lively communal area (which is emptied at about 11pm). Dorms sleep 6-14 and space is at a premium but most rooms have wooden partitions or curtains around the beds (specify when booking).
• Carrer Vigatans 5, +34 93 268 7808, gothicopint.com, doubles from €70, shared dorm rooms from €17pp

Casa Gràcia

With a minimal chic aesthetic that would be the envy of many a smart hotel, the Casa Gràcia sprang on to the scene in 2010 as the city's first boutique hostel. Vaulted ceilings, corinthian columns, picture windows and snowy white rooms enlivened with the occasional burst of vibrant wallpaper make for a very different environment from the bare-bones mildewed hostels of yesteryear, though the animated social vibe has proven timeless. The large dining room, lounge area and patio see one-off events such as concerts, football matches projected on to a huge screen and exhibitions of local artists. • Passeig de Gràcia 116, +34 93 187 4497, casagraciabcn.com, doubles from €54.40, shared dorm rooms from €15.40pp

Barcelona Urbany

A brave new world of professional graffiti, iPod chargers and "hostel social networking" on a giant touchscreen, whereby you can leave messages for your friends or other guests (I think they used to call this "a noticeboard"). There is access to an impressively large gym and indoor pool, along with a never less than bustling terrace with a view across to Jean Nouvel's neon-lit Torre Agbar. This is a huge operation, with 400 beds, but rooms are reasonably private, sleeping two, four, six or eight people in mixed or female dorms, and breakfast is included. Despite local attempts to paint the area as Barcelona's Shoreditch, Poblenou can be a bit sleepy after dark, which may account for the hostel's party atmosphere.
• Avinguda Meridiana 97, +34 93 245 8414, barcelonaurbany.com, doubles from €25pp, shared dorm rooms from €12pp

Garden House Hostel

Located in the quiet barrio of Horta, where the air is that bit fresher, the Garden House is the bucolic budget option. Set in a rambling turn-of-the-century townhouse, it lives up to its name with a shady, gravelled garden, but the high point is the roof terrace, which has loungers, hammocks and a sweeping view over the city and surrounding hills. Dorms and double rooms and the shared, well-equipped kitchen are pristine, and painted in cheery nursery colours. It's a bit of a way from the centre but there are two metro stations, on different lines, within walking distance.
• Carrer d'Hedilla 58, +34 93 427 2479, feetuphostels.com, doubles from €26.68pp, shared dorm rooms from €15.56pp

Centric Point

The Passeig de Gràcia, an impossibly chic shopping boulevard flanked with Modernista buildings – some designed by Gaudí – and dotted with ornate wrought-iron lampposts, is the unlikely setting for this popular youth hostel. Set on a chamfered street corner, the hostel is spread over six floors a grand mansion and consequently never feels cramped. There is a rooftop terrace where you can get cheap drinks, and internet and breakfast are included. The dorms are not especially exciting, but decent and clean. The double rooms are considerably more stylish, but here you're paying for location.
• Passeig de Gràcia 33, +34 93 231 2045, centricpointhostel.com, doubles from €100, shared dorm rooms from €20pp, including breakfast

Mare de Déu de Montserrat

High up above Gràcia and next to Gaudí's fantastical Park Güell, the Mare de Déu de Montserrat is a converted Modernista mansion, built for a wealthy banking family in 1906. The building, surrounded by gardens and approached through a grand gateway, was damaged by artillery in the Spanish civil war but still contains a riot of Moorish-influenced tiling, carved cedar doors, polychromatic wooden panels, and fine columns and arches reminiscent of the Alhambra. The dorms (with six, eight or 12 beds) are as plain as the rest of the building is dazzling, but are comfortable enough, and a fixed-price lunch is served downstairs (breakfast is included).
• Passeig de la Mare de Déu del Coll 41-51, +34 93 210 5151, xanascat.cat, shared dorm rooms from €16.75pp

Barcelona Central Garden

The "swimming pool" mentioned on the website is actually a Jacuzzi, but, hey, it's got a Jacuzzi! This hostel in Eixample has also got immaculately clean dorms, comfortable beds with decent mattresses and reading lights, and what the owners term "maniacal attention to the soundtrack" (witness the LP covers adorning the walls). It's not for party people, and the terrace is a peaceful place to read, becoming a little more lively on Friday when there are "pizza and sangria" nights. With pale yellow walls, stripy duvet covers and framed prints, this feels more like a sociable pensión, and prices are accordingly a little higher but still good value. A youth hostel for grown-ups.
• Carrer Roger de Llúria 41, +34 93 500 6999, onehostel.com, doubles from €64, shared dorm rooms from €12pp

Itaca

It's got the obligatory acid-green walls and neon-bright murals but the Itaca is a cut above most hostels in its price range, not least for its cosy size and central position close to the cathedral. Thirty-four beds are spread across four dorms and four doubles, and there's an apartment for up to six people in an adjacent building. Service is more personal than in most hostels and those who stay here tend to be accordingly more respectful – about noise, cleanliness and the excellent honour-system book exchange (guide books can simply there to be borrowed).
• Carrer Ripoll 21, +34 93 301 9751, itacahostel.com, doubles from €60, shared dorm rooms from €12

Mambo Tango Youth Hostel

A little taste of Latin America in the otherwise sleepy neighbourhood of Poble Sec. A lo-fi party atmosphere dominates but drunkenness is frowned upon and late-night noise rarely tolerated, creating the perfect conditions for most level-headed backpackers. It's an attractive space, too, with exposed stone walls and vibrant multicoloured tiles in the communal areas (dorms are your basic metal bunks and lockers). There's free Wi-Fi, a TV room with DVD library, and breakfast is included. Best of all, it's right next door to Barcelona's best tapas bar, Quimet i Quimet.
• Carrer de Poeta Cabanyes 23, +34 93 442 5164, hostelmambotango.com, doubles from €36pp, shared dorm rooms from €27

• Sally Davies is a Barcelona-based writer and expert on the city