Review Sofitel Barcelona Skipper (ex Pullman)
 

The former AB Skipper hotel is now part of the Pullman hotels group.^^

This design hotel is located 2 minutes walk from the beach.

Wow! I was thinking of going to Barcelona and staying at the Hilton Diagonal Mar. Now I am torn. Looks to be a very nice property. Thanks for the heads up!

Review Pullman Barcelona Skipper
 

Introduction <em>Note : I have added a few pictures from a previous stay, to make a more complete review.</em>This new stay has indeed badly begun and I had to deal with a badly trained front desk staff (again) before management took the problem in charge and then it turned excellent. In one year of Accor stays, it is the 4th&nbsp;time that I have to speak to management to resolve&nbsp;issues, and I have to say it's becoming a bit tiresome...This stay has been another...interesting one in term of Platinum experience. FTers who have read my other hotel reviews in this forum know that when I say that, it means that I had problems ;-) .This hotel is well located, Av del littoral, in the Barcelonetta area,&nbsp;100m from the beach with plenty of choice for food and is walking distance from the&nbsp;historic town. The hotel is very modern and has 2 pools (one rooftop and one on the ground floor).This was my I think my 3rd or 4th stay in this hotel and always had very good experiences. Platinum treatment has alwys been good there. Check In So not a lot of hopes when arriving at the hotel quite late (23:00 pm) and fears confirmed when I saw&nbsp;the huge restaurant&nbsp;on the ground floor full of people ! Despite&nbsp;I did OLCI 2 days before, I was asked for my passport at check-in...(OLCI is really totally useless at Accor hotels in 95% of cases). Nothing was said about upgrade (and I didn't bother to ask). Drink voucher was given.It was a 2 night-stay. I had booked a classic room (the lowest category). Before arriving at the hotel, I checked as usual what were the availabilities and only classic&nbsp;rooms were shown available :-( Room <img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8284.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8281.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px">I was already enjoying a lot my new room when somebody knocked at the door. It was an employee bringing me a bottle of good sparkling wine with a nice note from the front desk.<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8276.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8279.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8278.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8277.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8274.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px">The bathroom was very large as you can see on the pictures.<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8272.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8271.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8270.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px">The way to the bedroom with a very comfy bed<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8269.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8268.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8267.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8266.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8265.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8264.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8263.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8262.JPG" style="height:800px; width:600px">My stuff was rapidly moved to the new beautiful room. The living room had a desk, a sofa, a modern armchair, nespresso machine, flat-screen TV and a small lavatory.&nbsp;The front desk manager has been very apologetic for&nbsp;the situation. She told me that the hotel capacity is currently reduced as they have 2 floors under renovation. She was truly sorry for the problems encountered and the handling of the problem. She confirmed that several higher category rooms were available and gave me the choice between a superior or deluxe room (I forgot which one it was) and a junior suite. I visited both before making my choice and, of course, took the suite :-))10&nbsp;min later, about&nbsp;to go out for the day, I asked to speak to a manager (it was another person at front desk) and I was told that there was no manager present until monday (we were saturday). Whaaat ?? No management present during 2 days in a big hotel like this one ??? She finally told me that the front desk manager would be present in the afternoon. So I left for the day and came back around 5 pm and asked to speak to this person.Not happy at all of this&nbsp;1st night with bad sleep (poor soundproofing in an hotel of this category is not acceptable IMO), after breakfast, I asked to change room. Of course, during breakfast, I checked the availabilities for the 2nd night and almost all room categories were available. And then began the too frequent circus : sorry Sir, only classic rooms are available (and they are all located facing the main road, so it wouldn't have changed anything to take another classic room).&nbsp;I want to precise that it was the same person who checked-me in the night before and he's not a new employee (I remember him from previous stays), so we cannot blame here inexperience. So I told him that there was availability on their website. Again : no, not possible, you may have ssen availability on 3rd party booking website. No, it's on Accor site. I made in front of him a dummy booking on the Accor app on my telephone and showed him all room categories available, but despite the proof in front of him, he was telling me that it was wrong. I was literally boiling inside...The room given was indeed the one I booked (classic room) and nothing wrong with it as they are really nice and large (30 m2). I was tired and went to bed rapidly. But unfortunately, I slept very badly because the room was facing the main road (Av del littoral) and this road has quite a heavy traffic and the soundproofing of the building is pretty poor.&nbsp;So there was constantly a significan level of noise and I&nbsp;didn't have earplugs&nbsp;with me. I never faced this situation during my previous stays because I always had rooms either facing the pool or the quieter perpendicular street going to the beach. Swimming pools <img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010906.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010905.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px">View from the rooftop pool:<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010910.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010909.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010908.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010907.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px">The rooftop one:<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/P1010786.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px">When the weather is warm enough, there is an outside seating area for the restaurant:<img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8282.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"> Dining <img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8304.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px"><img alt="" src="/forum/hotelreview/uploads/userreviewimages/225231/images/IMG_8303.JPG" style="height:600px; width:800px">The bar, where I&nbsp;used my drink voucher for a glass of Sangria:This restaurant serves also lunch and dinner.The breakfast buffet is superb. Lot of choice between hold and cold items, including of course all the usual Spanish selection of cold cuts and cheese. One of my favourite breakfats buffet in all hotels I have stayed in. Location Metro station at 100m : Ciutadella villa olimpica (line 4)10 Av del littoral, in the Barcelonetta area,&nbsp;100m from the beach. Overall A very good hotel, which usually gives&nbsp;very good Platinum treatments. This time, after my 1st night and how badly they handled the case, I was thinking I would never come back. But seeing how the front desk manager handled it, I consider it as an incident and will definitely come back as I really like this hotel. But it's really a pity that we have to call on management. As said in introduction, this is happening way too often.

Review Pullman Barcelona Skipper
 

Thank you Goldorak! Merry Christmas!

You were "boiling"? How is this possible? Goldorak never boils! :p

Thank you Gilbertaue. Happy holidays too :)

Correct :D

I have edited the review to include the list of all plat benefits granted at this hotel + some info about wifi and late check-out.

Thanks for sharing! It's a big mystery for me why some has this kind of attitude and are unable to please (loyal) customers and do their work properly. Pretty typical in BCN I would say (have locals in family so don't get me wrong. ;) )

Thanks for another excellent review Goldorak ^

Pullman Barcelona
 

I'm trying to book a room at the Pullman Barcelona this August and the only rates I can find are non refundable. I've never seen this before. Anyone know why they aren't offering any refundable rates?

Sounds weird indeed. By chance, do you use a phone or tablet Accor app to do this booking or the desktop site ? If App, they display by default only the cheapest (non-refundable) rate for each room and you have a button "show all rates" to access all rates.

I've just got back from a week at the Pullman Skipper. I was a bit disappointed.

It took an age to check in. Both our passports needed were required, and every detail was entered into their system. I'm not sure if this is a Spanish requirement, or just something this hotel does.

No upgrade, so we got a standard room.

The noise was pretty bad. There are a few nightclubs close by, so you get lots of people shouting and singing until 5am when some of them close. The balcony doors don't seem to offer any soundproofing.

The air conditioning seems to be centrally controlled. So, although it was set to 19 degrees, it never got less than about 21, which is too warm for me to sleep comfortably. It's also annoying that the cleaners turn the fan speed to minimum each day, so it's sweltering when you get back after a day in the heat.

The restaurant prices were way over the top. A potato/tuna salad was EUR15, and was presented with no tuna! So, some leaves and a couple of potatoes. After complaining, we got a plate of tuna.

And EUR8 for a pint of San Migual :eek:

I unexpectedly received a bottle of Cava on my birthday. That was a nice touch.

Nice hotel. Not sure what happening in Barcelona on 6-Aug. The cheapest rate I can get is EUR 365 and this is Le Club AH loyalty platinum rate.

And seems most of the hotel in town only show this rate.

I am looking at this property for a five night stay as I am at a convention next September (combining it with a personal visit - hence the mega advance planning). I usually book the Hilton but cannot believe the Doubletree is over Euro600/night and this place is under Euro170, which sounds excellent value for a non-restricted rate. However, it does look like a bit of a trek to the convention centre. I like the sound of the location and I don't really want to be stuck in a conference hotel in a suburb whilst in a city like Barcelona. I am a little put off by the distance to the Fira though. Any experiences on the metro?

The metro station is very close.

Two new stays at Pullman Barcelona Skipper
 

Introduction I stayed again twice recently at this hotel, each time only for 1 night. Overall good but perfectible. For both stays, the hotel was 100% full which I know is not a very comfortable situation for the staff, but that's life and it's good for them to be full in term of business. This was summertime and a 100% occupancy in a city like Barcelona comes unfortunately often with loud and poorly educated guests (of the style "I put my towel on a sunbath seat at the pool to book it, and I come back 2 hrs later". It was the case here for both stays, but it remained at a manageable level.Rates were very high. I have to say that Barcelona becomes very expensive for hotels, far from the cheap image of Spain. The beach close to the hotel: 1st stay I was contacted about 10 days before the stay by a trainee to confirm that I was indeed coming and to know what time I was expecting to show up. I was landing in BCN at 11:30 am, so I answered asking for an early check-in around 12:30. I received the very annoying typical blabla response (check-in is normally at 3pm, early check-in is only granted if available, etc etc). True that, as a platinum member, I surely don't know that. I was re-contacted a few days before the stay by the guest experience manager (a Spanish guy speaking/writing perfectly French) welcoming me nicely in advance as a Platinum member, asking me the same question about the requested check-in time and if I had a favorite drink. Rather nice, I would say. I received a better response this time saying that they will of course do their maximum to grant me the early check-in. I arrived around 1pm and, of course, the room was not ready. The agent at front desk was trying to contact housekeeping for 10 min to know more about the ready time but without success...After 15 min of waiting at check-in, I proposed them to go at the rooftop pool to have lunch while they can sort this out. I came back at 2:30 at the front desk and it was still not ready...I was becoming very very annoyed by this situation. All the staff looked sincerely concerned (including the guest experience manager I mentioned above whom I met in person). They offered me a glass of champagne while I was waiting in the lobby lounge. Then just before 3pm, they came to me with 2 proposals. I had booked a classic room and they had scheduled for me a junior suite (double upgrade) but it was this room which was not ready and would still not be ready before another 30min. So they gave me the choice between this or a superior room with terrace (single upgrade) which was ready. I took the latter, first because it was ready, second because the junior suite was on the main avenue (Av del littoral) and I know from previous stays that those rooms are very noisy. So finally I got my room at the regular check-in time (3pm)...Then it took them another 30 min to bring me the luggage to my room (after some reminder calls). It was obvious that they all were extremely busy but that was certainly not enjoyable check-in and arrival experiences, and I lost a lot of time because of this. Maybe they should have extra ressources during those very busy summer periods. Room was nice with a balcony facing the ground floor pool.Hard to find a seat at the pool. I managed to find one at the rooftop pool in the evening.Drink voucher allows champagne. Turndown service was provided, along with chocolates. Check-out was without particular problem. I informed promptly the hotel that I was coming back some days after at the same time (same flight) and that I was expecting a better check-in experience (for the 2nd stay it was even more important as I would be arriving from the US, so it means tired from the overnight flight). 2nd stay Arrived at the said time. I booked this time a superior room with terrace. Room was ready and they in fact gave me the same room as the one I had for the 1st stay. I didn't ask/argue as my priority was to have a room right now and it was only for one night. Hotel was full again. A lot of loud guests...The rest of the stay was uneventful. Overall Overall, outside the mediocre arrival experience for the 1st stay and the lack of upgrade for the 2nd stay, both stays were good. All the staff members were very nice with me and most of them speak French fluently, which is always appreciated by the numerous French people staying in this hotel. The hotel is still nice and in good conditions. However rates were atrociously high (around €250-300 for the cheapest, booked several months in advance), but as I said previously, BCN is becoming super expensive and this is summer time...