Points Scrounger

Just returned from a stay there - a rather odd place.

Two rooms, "upgraded" to the HHonors Floor, which was the first floor; zero is the lobby, above it is A where the breakfast room is located, then the numbering begins. We were put facing the street, which was noisy as I could hear the cabbies and other folks chatting outside much of the night. Hall was ALL black: doors, walls, ceilings; rooms were wood floors with white walls, NO pictures on them at all, just the (black!) plasma TV. Furniture was ... wait for it ... black and white!

Breakfast was quite good. A bit of a kerfuffle the first day as the desk refused to issue vouchers, saying the staff will "consult the list (of elites)." They were confused, but subsequent days the manager, Maria, recognized us immediately as valued guests.

Location was excellent for our needs. We didn't use the Metro at all, but cabs to get around town, giving "Passeig de Gracia y Mallorca" as the address headed back. I'd stay there again, but not on that floor or facing front.

hautecouTours

Just spent a night (11/1-2) at the Alexandra Doubletree pre-cruise and was given full breakfast buffet for two (as Gold) AND 3x points for the promotion. Very impressed with the property and the location off the Passeig de Gracia.

tramm7

I stayed there for 6 nights in late November as Gold and all went well. Full breakfast, nice location, very helpful staff. Points haven't posted yet so I will see if triple promotion applies.

Points Scrounger

I got the 2x/3x bonus points on my stay last month; however, nothing posted after two weeks, so I had to have Hilton add it.

kyushuman

Update-- I decided to stay at the Doubletree and regretted it, though it was nice to walk to and from my friends' hotel:
Booked the lowest category, received (barely) an upgrade but was on the lowest floor, facing the street. My room had an issue with black flies, I killed several every day and finally asked to be moved. Was moved to a much better room facing the back. I think there was availability every day for these better rooms, but maybe Diamonds only get one category, which of course is often standard- but the flies!
There was a nice big door that would open onto a balcony overlooking the street, IF it wasn't bolted shut (could not open even a centimeter). Oh and the room was VERY hot-- It was Feb 12-16, the heat was on, and even with my room setting at the lowest and fan both off and on "high", it was so hot that I slept without even a top sheet and was still warm.
Breakfast was decent IF they had enough food out; there were bacon, two kinds of eggs, and two kinds of sausages (at least, there were spaces in the warmers for them)-- in the 4 mornings I was there, at least 3 of the days there was a) no bacon, and it was never replaced even after asking for it and being told yes-- 20+ minutes later it never came-- or b) no eggs of any kind--and only scrambled appeared after a good 20 minutes c) only one of the two kinds of sausages, the small yummy local ones were never replaced.
While quality of the food was good, there was very little choice; it was identical every day; and most days they were running out of various things and it felt like, "well, it's 45 minutes till the end of breakfast, we don't need more." Even a Hampton Inn wouldn't have these issues of running out of food every day.
Dirty dishes piled up most mornings, several tables dirty.
On one (1) of the four mornings, staff weren't too busy so they offered coffee to the guests.
Moving to the new (no black flies) room, it was called "pool view" and required discussion/consultation among front desk staff, as an upgrade was happening from my fly-full room. Finally did happen and it was very nice.
Can't recommend this place, not now anyway.
Staff all friendly though!

fabulousflygirl

Thanks for posting your experience. I've been trying to make up my mind between the 3 properties for an award stay in September.

TTL

Go for Hilton Diagonal Mar or Diagonal definitely! Last November I booked two rooms from Diagonal Mar for 30.000 points per night each. Cabs are very reasonably priced in BCN and public transport as well (the hours they run).

Points Scrounger

I was given two rooms that were the same as the one you originally were assigned. If I had been traveling solo, I would have asked to be reassigned to a less noisy situation. My problem with breakfast was not that the quantity and quality were lacking, but that the front desk refused to give vouchers, saying just tell them your room number, which didn't work well the first day, as the staff were definitely expecting vouchers.

fabulousflygirl

I'm considering both Hiltons but the Diagonal Mar property has been showing up as unavailable for both paid and award stays for my dates. I can get the other Hilton for 40K/night. Hopefully DM will show some availability later on.

wantan

Any updates to this property ? I've booked June for 3 nights as it's cheaper than the 2 Hiltons. Hilton Diagonal Mar was a preposterous EUR225 for basic room Hilton Barcelona was EUR30 more than the DT.

Just wondering how much of a difference it is with Hilton Barcelona ? I realise there is no lounge, but in terms of Diamond recognition (noted posts before me had poor ratings), room standard and location compared to Hilton Barcelona.

Not my 1st time in the city hence will probably take up more of the culture than tourist sites.

Seat 1F

I've stayed at this property twice this year.....the most recent stay being 4 nights last week. It has a Boutique hotel kind of vibe. I thought it a rather strange place overall. They are in the process of re-vamping their restaurant/bar offerings. Since my earlier visit in February, there is now a bar/café in the lobby level. The prior restaurant on floor A is closed for remodeling. The morning breakfast buffet is currently in a temporary location on Floor P. I thought the buffet was fine. No food shortages or running out and not being replaced as others have mentioned.

I arrived at the hotel last week for check-in at 8:30am. I was quickly given a room on a high floor so I did not have any noise issue that others have experienced. Staff very friendly.

I think this property has been cobbled together from a variety of (at least two) separate buildings. It's rather small yet has several different elevators that go to different floors of the hotel. Seems a bit of a mishmash. Overall it was OK. The location/area is excellent.

sannmann

I stayed here back in January. Was not impressed. The room was small and the hallway outside the room very loud. Wi-fi very inconsistent.

Thedragon

I stayed here last year.
It is small, what stood out was the great breakfast setting and service and the good quality sleeps we had. The location was good too. It definitely felt safe and secure which is important after a day walking around Barcelona.

But it is small, tiny pool, terrible gym and so on. So I wouldn't stay there if you are planning to spend a lot of time in the room / hotel.

wantan

+1

Simple room and facilities (not luxurious) but all clean. Good quality linen and A/C.

Stay for the location, as it's in a very nice area of Barcelona. A nice mix of touristy and local things to eat and do.

Stayed as Diamond, no upgrade but breakfast and premium internet were handled without hassle.

arlflyer

Thanks for the update and positive feedback. Need to book a couple nights in Barcelona for December but have been putting it off (for months!) because all of the hhonors properties seem equally mediocre with various drawbacks and tradeoffs. Guess I'll just have to pick, or split the stay between a couple.