"I recently spent a week in Barcelona with my 79-year-old mum and my two sisters to celebrate my 50th birthday, booking the trip as an Expedia package.
The Arrival & Room Mix-Up:
Prior to arrival, I messaged twice through Expedia to request twin beds. Despite this, we were told at check-in that our rooms were on completely different floors (the 15th and 25th) and both had king beds. Given the hotel knew I was traveling with my sisters and elderly mother, separate floors made no sense. Fortunately, Andrea at reception was fantastic; he did his absolute best and managed to get us all on the 15th floor, though we had to accept the king beds. It's also worth noting that our second room (1508) took quite a while to be ready.
The Room (Room 1509):
Room 1509 was simply spectacular! It was a recently furnished, incredibly spacious, and beautifully laid-out corner room. The views of the Sagrada Familia and the partial sea views were fantastic. With great blackout blinds, an incredible bathroom, and plenty of storage, I truly cannot fault the room at all. The hotel also kindly decorated the room with rose petals and balloons for my 50th, leaving a hand-signed card and a bottle of sparkling wine, a really beautiful touch.
Service & Amenities:
While we had a very comfortable stay, the service was a bit hit-and-miss for a 5* establishment. On multiple days and evenings, neither the daytime housekeeping team nor the evening turndown service had any Earl Grey tea. When I called reception to request some, we either received nothing at all or were sent green tea after a long wait. We only finally received Earl Grey on our very last day. Additionally, after we finished the complimentary sparkling wine, the empty bottle and ice bucket were left in our room for a day. We eventually placed the tray outside our door, but it sat there for another day before being cleared.
On a positive note, the service around the pools, in the restaurants, from the concierge, and at the front entrance where you are greeted was absolutely wonderful and exactly what you would expect from a luxury hotel.
The Pools & Construction:
There is currently major construction happening at the hotel. While you can see the scaffolding and cranes outside, we fortunately couldn't hear any noise or see it from our room. The adults-only pool is being "reimagined," which is definitely needed as it's very small, and the family pool was so busy you could only really stand in it to cool down rather than swim. Once the construction is finished, I'm sure the pool areas will be fabulous.
Overall:
A nice hotel with stunning rooms, but it just needs a tiny bit of fine-tuning on the 5* service details!"
