Just got back from a 3 night stay.


IMO, if you have a limited amount of time in Barcelona (we were there for 3 days), I wouldn't choose the Hilton Barcelona (the one on Av. Diagonal, which is NOT the Hilton Diagonal Mar). In our experience, it was probably around a 30-40 minute ordeal to walk to the Maria Cristina Metro stop, wait for the train, and get it to go to Las Ramblas or other places.

EDIT: Others have added (I'm inclined to agree) that this location is less touristy/safer (as far as pickpockets go). This is true. Not as busy around this Hilton.

Location
Avenida Diagonal itself is nice, though there's not much. Granted there is a Starbucks 1/2 a block away, though if you take breakfast in the restaurant/lounge probably no need.

Breakfast
Standard breakfast offerings--fruit, egg products, potatoes, bacon/sausage, etc. No waffles/pancakes. You can order omelets or other egg products free of charge. They do have smoked salmon and the standard accompaniments if that's your fancy. Espresso machine is a plus. Cold offering at breakfast is actually quite good too--higher quality yogurts, fruit, toppings, etc. They also have stir-fried rice noodles (sub-par), probably catering to the large masses of SQ crew that is there every night.

The Stay
Didn't leave this hotel with a good taste in my mouth. Yes, it's a nice hotel (certainly nicer than most US Hiltons, but just on-par with European Hiltons), though it that doesn't make up for poor management. Our party of 3 took breakfast 2 out of the 3 days we were there, and the first day waitress made us pay 24.50euros for the third person. Second day they didn't make us pay for the 3rd person. If you have Elisabeth as your server (it's buffet, but they have servers to bring you coffee and such like all EU Hiltons), she's a GEM. Wonderful woman.

I had booked a standard rate King Room the first night, and then a King Skyview room on our corporate rate the last two nights. Inquired about upgrades and front desk told me that Skyview was already a "nice room" and that they were completely full. Hilton website shows availability for all room types. The pecking order is Standard --> Skyview --> Executive --> Suites (I believe), so I was thinking at least the last two nights we would be upgraded to Executive.

Front desk told me to preliminarily sign for a 40euro/night upsell to Exec all three nights, and then inquire on the following morning to have the charge removed for the last two nights if there was Exec availability.

Did just that, and another front desk agent confirmed no charge for executive level for the entire stay (awesome!)

Unfortunately, checking out, find we've been charged all 3 nights for executive level access. Argued with the front desk supervisor at the time, who wouldn't budge. Eventually since I had a flight to catch, he told me he would ask the front desk agent who had confirmed the no-charge executive level access and call me to settle the bill. Fine.

When I arrived at the airport, the supervisor called me to confirm that he was wrong and removed the executive level charges for the last two nights. No apology, just a very curt "we'll email you the bill."

Room
Our King Skyview room was great. Reasonably sized. Didn't feel small, as least by European standards. I did like the "mosaic" design of the sliding glass door that covers the minibar, and you can slide it over to cover the closet (though I don't believe you can cover both at once).

We were provided the standard 2 bottles of water, and everything else in the minibar is charged to your room, even if you move something around. All the items have a sensor, and there's a little tiny 6"squared space for "personal items." Not big enough for a standard size water bottle, I'm afraid.

Bathroom is a decent size, and the sink was made from one piece of glass--really like it. Vanity mirror lights up and so does the bathroom mirror.

Tub has a curved shower rod, though tub itself isn't curved (I see this a lot for some reason...). Normally we just tucked the shower curtain inside the tub itself.

No room service the second day either, and front desk told me I had probably put the DND sign up. Nope... We never do that. I told them no service needed, just needed some toiletries. They sent up someone to service the room who then told us we needed to leave the room for 20 minutes while she was cleaning it. Fine, we'll go to the lounge, but I just wanted toiletries, and not service. :/

Executive Lounge
Lounge does not have take-away paper cups for coffee to-go, unfortunately. I don't remember the exact HH times but they serve little sandwiches with bacalao (Spanish smoked cod), ham, and serrano ham. Little shooter cups with "salads" in them too (super tiny). Veggie pizza. If you want marginally better food at the lounge, go right when HH starts (or even before). They serve all sorts of soft drinks, water, beer, and red/white wine. No spirits. We took breakfast in the restaurant so can't comment to the lounge offerings.

TL;DR
Long story short, don't expect executive level access or any upgrade here if you're a Gold. I don't expect it, though I do expect the front desk team to communicate to each other. It was like pulling hair and teeth to get anything done at this property. A Madrid-native working here told me that the Catalonians are quite rude and stuck up, which is what I found.

If you're contemplating an UG from a standard room to Sky View, my recommendation would be not to--the view isn't really that spectacular anyways. If you're a Diamond, I wouldn't stay at this property for the lounge. Not worth writing home about.

Not the worst Hilton property I've stayed at, and I don't demand a lot! But the rudeness, lack of communication/service, and location of this property does not beg me to stay again. I'll be staying at an NH Hotel this weekend when I'm in Barcelona again, and in February I'll probably look at the SPG options, seeing there is a Le Meridien right on Las Ramblas smack in the center of Barcelona.

EDIT: Others have stated their experience with the staff doesn't reflect what I experienced during my stay. Not sure what was up, though I guess YMMV.