So, after spending 7 nights there, here are my thoughts on the property that were relayed to management:
First order of business is fixing the shower drain once and for all. Our very first shower ended up flooding the room. After it was "fixed" and cleaned up, for the remaining 6 nights, we just had to watch carefully HOW we're showering, ie turning off water for a while, letting it go down, and then resuming. Another option, of course, was showering in the tub with a hand-held shower.
The lighting system is confusing, there are many buttons and I'm someone who never has problems with gadgets. Lights turn themselves off automatically and randomly, at most inappropriate of times.
TV often displayed "no signal" on quite a few channels. Someone mentioned the absurd amount of arab channels and that indeed stood out like a sore thumb and coincidentally, those never displayed "no signal"
The "garden view" they speak of .... ahem, here it is, judge for yourselves. And this is the "prettier" side of the view. To the right is a school yard and a concrete wall:
The room itself was good and furnished with B&B Italia furniture, just like the lobby:
MOMENTS & BLANC are the real gems of the hotel. We celebrated NYE at Moments and had few dinners at Blanc. Food is outstanding in both, but I'm talking more about the freshness & quality of ingredients than presentation/creativity. The only thing that we didn't like is that Moments had 0 festive atmosphere on NYE. No decorations, no signs of a celebration, while Blanc (directly underneath) was a study in contrast.
During our first dinner at Blanc it became apparent that someone in the management either doesn't have a good grasp of English or just dropped the ball (hate to use the corporate speak, but that describes it perfectly). Music plays rather loudly at Blanc during dinner. One of the songs was a rap song so obscene, I was waiting for this old british couple next to us to drop dead on the spot, but I guess the hearing aids failed lol. For at least 2 minutes, there's a rap monologue with EVERY possible curse word in existence, about an unfaithful female (male rapper). I'm a fan of rap, I'm a fan of gangster rap and a fan of filthiest, most disgusting jokes and am a daily Howard Stern listener. But that song, blasting in a restaurant was beyond inappropriate and although I say above that the first order of business is the shower drain, cleaning up the playlist was the first thing I brought up to management. I could hardly keep a straight face when I watched the GM's face change as he read a sample of the lyrics (which I wrote down under "other/notes" on the room stay questionnaire sheet).
Breakfast is included with FHR, but only when you have it downstairs, in Blanc. This is ridiculous, as every hotel that I've stayed with to date that has this FHR amenity, allows to have it in room and then just calculates and adds the difference, if extra was ordered.
Both of us visited the Spa. I had a procedure that is on par and maybe even rivals the J Sisters in NYC. Only the ladies will get the reference and how big of a compliment that is. Sorry, dudes
Mr. BLV had a swedish massage, which was "very underwhelming" + they "pushed to sell their products".
Staff is very pleasant. The Concierge Team stood out especially. They came through in a big way, by tracking down a few items that are only sold in europe and are currently taking care of shipping it back to NY. Reception, however, picks up the phone 5/10.
Overall, the hotel is beautiful, of course, but lacks personality and/or a good vibe. If we had to come back to Barcelona, we'd probably stay here again, only because MO still seems to be the best property in that city.
Here are a few more shots of the hotel:
