EuropeanPete

Had a very good 2-night stay here this week. I was pleasantly surprised - this is my new preferred Barcelona hotel. I booked a basic room and called ahead to secure a €200 a night guaranteed upgrade to a Prestige Suite.

Positives:
- As mentioned here before, the staff seems very turned on. Service levels felt true 5* luxury to me and were significantly better than I had experienced recently at the Mandarin Oriental, for example
- Strong concierge team, though no cross keys to be seen. They were able to secure a table at arguably the best restaurant in the city with one day's notice and were very well briefed on the different tour and ticket options in the city. Compare and contrast with the St Regis Rome who would have had me queuing outside the Vatican if I hadn't double checked their advice online
- I'm not too bothered about location in Barcelona as most hotels are in a reasonably small centre, but the hotel is literally in the middle of things

Areas to improve:
- The circular living room in the Prestige Suite had very "designer" furniture which was completely impractical. The curved red leather sofa was basically impossible to sit on, so we eventually gave up on using the Suite at all
- The bar was a typical 4* type conference bar. Service was once again friendly and great, but personally I'd recommend them investing in a better product which can stand on its own two feet

factory81

Hello,

109nts in 2014 in SPG, and 25 nights already in 2015 in SPG hotels.

I have been flip-flopping on the W vs. Le Meridian for some time now. I finally booked the Le Meridian at a rate of 16k points/night, due to it being peak season. Applied 3 SNA and was told I can get either a junior or prestige suite, based on availability.

Over the phone today I was told, as I was prying into just how difficult it is to secure a room facing up the coast in the W (vs. the sea or industrial port views). I was still tossing the idea of the W around

Anyways.

Le Meridian has an option to book the Junior Suite for only 18,750 points a night. No cash required. And I could still apply my SNA for a chance at the prestige suite.

I had some bad luck so far with SNA's, and I would really enjoy a nice upgrade at the Le Meridian. Would you guys book the junior suite for an additional 2750 SPG points per night? Or do you have a lot of confidence in junior suites or prestige suites being given out for 3 day stays in late September?

I was told if I book the junior suite, I could still apply my SNA's in hopes of getting the Prestige Suite.

I also look at the cash value of this, and it is 429 euro/night for a base room, and 559 euro/night for a junior suite. So for just 2750 points - I get over 100 euro in value. Which "feels good"...

But is it a good redemption? What would you guys do?

BTW, I could just book the prestige suite at 96k points for 3 nights as well, but that option seems steep.

stimpy

As a Platinum after many W stays, even when the hotel is completely full, I've never been placed on the industrial side of the hotel. I'm always facing along the beach. I would be surprised if they placed Platinum members on the industrial side.

But note that every room (except a few internal rooms) face the sea. You are either looking over the beach side or the industrial side, but you always have the sea.

NoVA guy

As has been stated many times in threads like this one, if you really want a certain room, then use the points and secure it and reduce the possibility of being disappointed.

I stayed at the Le Meridien last April for three nights leveraging free night awards and SNAs and was upgraded to a Junior Suite facing La Rambla above the SPG flag in front of the hotel. It was a very nice room. The suite consisted of two rooms, a separate living room and King sized bed. The bathroom was fantastic. I had read about the Prestige rooms with the outdoor balcony and shower, but it was not available to me. If it was available and it cost me only a couple thousand points per night more, I would have done it. Again, not knowing what the Junior Suite was like before I had the room, I would have secured the room I wanted rather than take the chance.

At the Westin Paris, I was told as a Platinum that I had a decent chance of one securing of their Junior Suites that faced the Eiffel Tower, but there are only two of them. I did not take the chance. I used the extra points, confirmed the room and the experience left an indelible memory for my daughter. Those points are now considered irrelevant b/c of the view from the room and it reduced my stress. That made the extra points priceless.

EuropeanPete

That sounds like you got the Prestige Suite. The suite with the outdoor balcony and shower is the Mediterranean Suite which is a level above the SNA category.

MSPeconomist

Yes. The Mediterranean Suite is like a junior suite (one large room with a sitting area, plus a large desk in the entry) plus a large outside terrace that functions like a living room in nice weather.

MSPeconomist

I've heard that some of the regular nonRamblas rooms at LM are small and not very inviting. It's a great location, but if you're concerned about the room, using points (versus paying a high rate for even a regular room) to book a junior suite would make sense. Personally, I wouldn't spend the SNAs on just an upgrade from the junior suite to the next category if you can instead use SNAs elsewhere to move from a standard room to a real suite.

factory81

I won't be traveling enough with SPG leisurely in 2015 to even use my SNA's. That is, if my SNA's even work.

I honestly would rather use them then lose them. But for an additional 8k points for the entire stay to have the junior suite is very appealing.

Seat 1F

I am currently at the Le Meridien Barcelona. I agree with the other comments that the staff are quite good at this property. There is a definite intent to offer 5-star service even though, in the execution, they don't pull it off.

Nice hotel however.....and in a prime location. I was given a complimentary upgrade to a suite without asking. Nice!

As my platinum amenity, I chose the free breakfast and was given a breakfast voucher good for the entire stay. Overall, the buffet including omelet station was very nice with plenty of hot and cold choices. I had three issues during breakfast. Hopefully the F&B Manager takes note of this:

1. The breakfast voucher for the platinum amenity seems to be a confusing concept for the staff in the restaurant. I had two completely different sets of staff at breakfast yesterday and today, and in both cases, they were baffled. It required them to relook at the voucher at my table several times and actually today they had to call the front desk to sort it out. Really? Why so complicated? This needs to be sorted out.

2. The staff seem perplexed when one wants milk/cream with coffee in the morning. The coffee comes quickly. The milk? Not so much. Both mornings (again, with different wait staff), my request for coffee with milk or café con leche was met with a blank stare. Waiter/waitress scurry's off in search of milk. Its like a wild goose chase. 10 minutes later the milk appears to put in the coffee. And it's not just me, they guy sitting next to me asked for milk for his tea. After receiving the blank stare from the waiter, the guest's milk appeared 10 minutes later. If it wasn't so funny, it would be sad. Honestly, it is like a Laurel and Hardy episode. I wonder how many times each morning the treasure hunt for milk occurs? Why so complicated? This needs to be sorted out.

3. As I mentioned above, the breakfast buffet is very nice. Tasty and varied food options. Very good indeed. Unfortunately, they have very strange serving utensils for about half the serving dishes. All I can describe them as are thin wooden tweezers with flat ends. They don't open very wide and they don't grasp the food well at all. Folks struggle all morning trying to use these to get bread, pastries, cheese slices, and cold cuts. One guy was trying to get a pastry and completely destroyed the pastry on the serving dish. In the end, he left it on the serving plate and walked away......frustrated and embarrassed. Why is this serving utensil used when it doesn't work half the time and only serves to frustrate and embarrass customers?

The good news is that all three of these issues are low hanging fruit with easy fixes. It just needs someone to stay on it to get it done.

I like the hotel and have enjoyed the service. I would not hesitate to return, but please please please fix your issues with the execution of the morning breakfast service.

spainlover

If you want a guaranteed suite, factory81, I would book it to be sure. That said, I've usually been upgraded at the Le Meridien, both as SPG Platinum and as Gold, though more consistently as Platinum. In several cases, I was given a large two-room suite, at least twice on the corner with great views.

MSPeconomist

It's an improvement if they now at least deliver the coffee itself quickly at breakfast. My experience is that I had to ask many times and once get it myself in frustration.

awu25

If I remember correctly from last year, the host had a list of names and room numbers for free breakfast and I had a voucher. There was no confusion at all. Not sure what has changed since then and now.

dw

The main issue, IMHO, is that one of the "SPG" floors is floor 2, which is where one is likely to end up as a Gold. While the regular rooms are actually decently sized for Europe, if you're on a low floor not facing the Ramblas or the cross street, your view will be of a wall.

Seat 1F

You remember perfectly well and it continues the same today. Upon checking out today, I found out that when I was presented with the breakfast voucher, the front desk is supposed to make a notation on the computer that I was to receive free breakfast (in addition to showing the voucher at the restaurant). Seems the front desk did not do this. In any case, I was not charged for the two breakfasts that I did have. I did not make it to b'fast this morning due to an early flight, so I have no way of knowing if I would have had the same troubles today.

Anyway, its all good. I will gladly return to the LeMeridien in Barcelona.

Seat 1F

I totally understand. I felt the same way with my own particular frustrations. The funny thing is that the staff is incredibly pleasant and wanting to please. All the smiles and helpfulness are there. The missing link is in execution.