I'm thinking about spending a week in Barcelona. What area do you recommend staying in that is easy to walk to restaurants and the beach? Do you recommend a hotel or airbnb?

Definitely la ramble area or the gothic district.

We stay a week at the hotel colonial Barcelona http://www.hotelcolonialbarcelona.com/EN/home.html
We really liked it. It was close to the beach on one side and close to restaurants and attractions on the other, so like in the middle. Everything major to see around that area is within walking distance, but not to say it’s all short walks (ie within 5 min). We ended up buying the hotel buffet breakfast package with our stay, I didn’t find it that much more expansive and we think it was worth it because it saved us a lot of time every morning when we have plans to go for different activities. I also looked into airbnb before I booked the hotel and found that it’s not much cheaper because we really care about the location and good locations are more expansive obviously. Also one other thing is there are a lot of old building for rent in Barcelona but they don’t have elevators, so when I read the reviews most of the locations I wanted needed to climb four levels of stairs in a very tiny staircase.

Bacelona was a lot bigger than I expected. We stayed near the Sagrada Familia and it was a surprisingly long walk to the beach. I second La Rambla as a great place to stay - ideally near the Mercado de La Boqueria.

Gothic or La Rambla.

Pay for the hop-on hop-off. You get a bit of the history, and it gets you around to other parts of the city to explore!

La Rambla. Metro is easy for getting to major landmarks. Local bus for getting to the beach...or enjoyable walk.

Depends if you want to be a tourist or live in a local area. We did air bnb out of the major tourist area but 2 blocks from hop on hop off bus stops so transit was very easy. We were paying half what our friends paid for meals and drinks in the tourist zone. Sagrada Familia a must see

We rented an airbnb just west of Las Ramblas near the Boqueria Market. Tons of history and restaurants in the area but I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding good food wherever you stay. Maybe check out Barceloneta if being very close to the beach is important. We had a 3 day transit pass which was a great value, included the metro to and from the airport and all over the city, buses, and the montjuic funicular.

La Rambla. Metro is easy for getting to major landmarks. Local bus for getting to the beach...or enjoyable walk.