May Ramblas Hotel

"Under no circumstances should you book this hotel. The staff particularly the red haired lady on reception are unhelpful at best. The room was ok but the whole hotel smelled of fish all the time. We were staying on the 5th floor and one evening going for dinner the lift got stuck and we were trapped in there for an hour, reception came to us once and said the engineer had been called and we would be updated. Nothing at all happened until the engineer arrived. My wife was panicking and very upset and the receptionist couldn’t have cared less. She said she couldn’t leave reception but every time we went through she was on her phone or hiding out the back. The location is good but that’s it. Avoid"

"Avoid at All Costs – The Worst Hotel Experience of My Life I stayed at Hotel May Ramblas from 5–11 August 2025 and this was, without question, the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had. I rarely leave reviews this harsh, but travellers deserve to be warned. The problems started immediately. Our first night was spent in an unbearably hot room with no air conditioning. We barely slept due to the heat. The following day we were moved to two nicer rooms, but we were never told these were temporary. On the second morning, with no prior warning, one of my friends was stopped as he left and told he had to move rooms immediately. Another was woken up by staff knocking at the door and ordered to leave right then. I had to rush back from outside in fear that my belongings would be thrown out. This completely ruined our morning plans and caused unnecessary stress. We were moved into a cramped three-person room with a broken sofa bed that sloped and sagged so badly it was worse than sleeping in a hammock. There was no fridge, and the air conditioning was weak at best. When we tried to address these issues, the staff were unresponsive, dismissive, and at times outright rude. I sent a detailed email of complaint on 7 August — they never replied. I then personally asked for the official complaint form, which they tried to claim did not exist, and only gave me one after I insisted repeatedly. Even then, they stalled, avoided giving answers, and kept telling us “the manager is not available” for three days straight. The low point came at check-out on 11 August. I asked more than ten times to speak to a manager and was ignored. The receptionist refused to contact anyone senior, refused to give me her name, and laughed and smiled at me in a mocking, almost sadistic way while I explained how terrible our stay had been. I have travelled extensively, and I have never encountered such unprofessional, degrading customer service in my life. Summary: • First night: no AC, couldn’t sleep. • Sudden forced room change with no notice, waking a guest up. • Broken sofa bed, no fridge, poor AC. • Rude and dismissive staff, zero accountability. • Manager “never available” for entire stay. • Mocked and laughed at when raising serious complaints. I have filed an official complaint with the Agència Catalana del Consum (Claim No. 2025/O/05067) and will be pursuing a refund. If you value your money, comfort, or basic respect as a guest — do not stay here. There are many hotels in Barcelona, and this is not one of them you should trust."

"The air conditioner in my room was not cooling as effectively as the one in my friend's room at the same hotel. I reported this to the front desk staff, who made an inadequate attempt to resolve the issue by merely turning the air conditioner off and then on again. They provided unsatisfactory explanations, suggesting that the unit needed more time to cool despite it already being operational for several hours. I requested a room change, but was informed that no rooms were available, without any apparent effort to verify availability or address our concerns. Upon asking to speak with a manager, the staff member laughed and offered only an email address, claiming the manager was not present, and then failed to return with the email. Consequently, the room remained uncomfortably warm, necessitating the use of an open window and a personal handheld fan throughout the night to maintain some level of comfort. The customer service was subpar. The central location is the only thing the hotel has going for itself."