itsaboutthejourney

Just making sure you know you were in Spain and it's not the USA? LOL. Different approach to coffee in Europe than here in the USA. Try asking for ice or nonfat milk. My mom had the same complaints as you. I just appreciate the Illy cappuccinos, mineral water, REAL chocolate in the croissants and unique items on the buffet...things rarely found in a US Sheraton.

I think this is what I like about Le Meridien. It's a US owned company, but they try to keep some local traditions instead of say Marriott just transporting the same cookie-cutter USA standards all over the world.

factory81

Bored and reading about the Le Meridian brand today. Created in '72, originally owned by Air France and eventually Lehman Brothers throughout its history, before finally ending up in the hands of SPG. Once over 110 properties, now only 96. Original location is the Paris Etolle(sp?) location, and the brand was euro-centric in focus. Although if you saw AF fly there, there was a good chance there was a Le Meridian.

I guess what I am saying is I expect a bit of this funky euro vibe when I stay there. Now after looking at the hotel brand, it seems like the brand is a slightly less extreme W/Aloft, with an attempt to be more upscale than a Aloft.

Never having stayed at a Le Meridian, I am anxious.

gojko88

I'd say Le Méridien tends to be classier than either W or Aloft.

MSPeconomist

Yes and generally LM tends to get a more mature and sophisticated clientele. The brand emphasizes art and coffee. I think of it as somewhat between Westin and W (relaxing more than a party place in general) but a bit more upscale even though it might not be more expensive than these brands.

If once there was a LM at every AF destination, what/where was their Tokyo property?

UA-NYC

Agreed - I've seen it referred to as "W for grown-ups", and I agree.

The Philly and Tampa properties are amazing IMO.

Seat 1F

Yes I'm aware I was in Spain. Having milk/cream in one's coffee in the morning is not a uniquely American thing. Many people across Latin America and Europe do the same thing. I do like the quirky vibe of the Le Meriedien brand. I loved the breakfast buffet with some of its offerings being unique to Spain. Great!!! Having the restaurant struggle when a guest asks for milk with coffee (or in tea as was the request of the gentleman next to me) is simply bizarre. Afterall, I was not looking for soy, skim, one percent, or any subvariation. Just normal ole milk. I'm sure they get this same request 20-30 times a day during the breakfast service. It baffles me that they have not figured this out by now.

NoVA guy

I had a similar experience at the Le Meridien Atlanta. Two separate days at this hotel and I either had to request cream/milk as it did not come out with my tea or they brought skim milk (for those who ordered coffee). Across the world, cream or milk is the acceptable dairy for tea or coffee, not skim, or soy. That is a special request. To me it is stranger when no dairy is offered

Sphinx

That would be Le Meridien Pacific. I believe that it is now the Keikyu EX Inn Shinagawa Ekimae.

MSPeconomist

The one by Shinigawa station? I stayed there ages ago, when it still was a LM and had a French bakery in the basement. People claimed that it had some of the largest regular hotel rooms in the city.

IIRC there was a second LM in Tokyo a bit later, on the island with the Big Sight conference center, but located closer to the office buildings near the Friendship Bridge, essentially at the first monorail stop on the island.

khabah

Le Méridien did in fact have two properties in Tokyo once, but they have both left years ago and now operate under different, unrelated identities.

Le Méridien Pacific Tokyo --> Keikyu EX Inn Shingawa-Ekimae
Le Mériden Grand Pacific Tokyo --> Grand Pacific Le Daiba

Interestingly, both hotels don't seem to have renovated from their days under the Le Méridien flag so they're both quite outdated. Quite a shame they left Tokyo, personally - the city's dynamic and edge for art/design would make an ideal setting if they decided to return.

Fingers crossed that there's one in the pipeline soon.

khabah

gooselee

Hoping for this. Just booked a Jr Suite at 14.5k/night - which seemed like a no brainer as the standard rooms are already 12k.

We will be very happy in the Jr Suite, but would be very nice if we are able to get an upgrade at check-in to a Prestige or even Mediterranean. The Mediterranean Suite terrace looks wonderful!

For those interested, SPG offered the Prestige Suite at 24k/night, but the other suites (Med/Family/360) were only bookable with cash.

factory81

FYI; Rates change. I am paying 56500~ points for 3 nights in the Jr. Suite in September (something like 18k a night). The Prestige is 30k/nt during that stay. My SNA's are applied, so I hope to get the Prestige rooms really. But I do agree that it seems like a great value for these suites. I thank SPG for offering this reasonable choice.

gooselee

Yes - all good data points. I think these are excellent values as the dates I'm looking at, standard rooms are in the 450 EUR range and junior suites near 600 EUR.

canon5dfan

Stayed here 2 nights and LOVED the property.

Platinum recognition: AMAZING. Upon checking in I was immediately greeted by Ana the Experience Specialist. Because we checked in early and my gf had fallen asleep while waiting for the room, Salvadore the Front Manager upgraded us to their "presidential suite" which was the 360 degree suite for one night (the second night was booked already). Needless to say the room was amazing

The hotel now switches between hosting a cocktail mixing and paella making event for their platinum guests. The week I visited, we had cocktail mixing so it was fun to learn from one of their bartenders how to make a few drinks. I've heard the paella is better but unfortunately the chef was only teaching the course the following week.

The amenity was a oven glove so I opted for the breakfast on the bottom floor. Food was good but nothing special.

Rooms: The 360 suite was amazing of course. It came with two balconies and a 360 degree foyer with a retractable projector screen on the 9th floor. There were plenty of plugs and the bedside clock was outfitted for the newer iPhones. The second night we were switched back to our original Prestige suite on the SPG preferred floor (2nd floor). We had a view overlooking the rambla and the windows were thick enough that we couldn't really hear the noise unless there were sirens. This room was a little bit older with less plugs and included a Bose and iHome sound system/alarm clock that only accepted the older iPhones. Both rooms had rain forest showers and provided Cinq Monde toiletries.

All in all, I would recommend staying here if you're trying to do all the touristy things. We moved over to the W Barcelona our last 2 nights. While the view was great, we were pretty thankful for having done most of the touristy things our first 2 nights.

conroy

My family and I (me, wife, 9 yo daughter) stayed here on our vacation for 5 nights on points around the end of June/early July. I booked a Junior Suite on points and we had a nice room on the top floor. The hotel is in a very nice location to see the sights, walk la Rambla, etc. (I picked the hotel over the W primarily on location, but I also prefer LM/Westin to W because it suited my style for what I want out of a hotel).

I used the platinum amenity for breakfast. the buffet there is very good (try the Iberian Ham) and they did not bother charging my daughter for the whole 5 days we were there at all. The waiters were all very pleasant and we were able to get by with our basic table manners Spanish. I accidentally spoke in French once and the waiter just switched over to that and continued in French instead, jokingly .

I used the car service to and from the airport (90 euros each way) as I had a family with luggage. They were on time and very pleasant, helping us with explaining little details as we went.

I also used the Your24 service as we arrived at 9-10am. We were given a separate room to use to relax/take shower/etc until our suite was ready. Turn-down service (couch->bed for daughter) was efficient/courteous every evening.

This was my first trip to Barcelona and I was very happy to have gone. While the weather was pretty warm/hot, you learn how to deal with this while still enjoying your time outside (walk in shade, stop for ice cream, drink a lot of water, wear a hat, walk slowly, break up trips with places that have AC, etc). We saw the Picasso museum and Sagrada Familia (which was amazing!). We want to Casa Batillo (a Gaudi house) and it was also worth the price of admission (though not that cheap). We usually found some tapas place with a patio to get dinner. Eating a few blocks off La Rambla was usually far cheaper, quieter, etc.

The running joke, especially for those who are familiar with brew-pubs with huge numbers of beers on tap, was that often there would be only one (Estrella, often enough) at wherever we want. I enjoyed the cultural difference.

To nit-pick on downsides about the hotel/area, just to not sound over-nice:
- service was a bit slow one or two times (check-in). This was partially because my room was not yet ready and I arrived early, partially because computers seem to be slow sometimes. There were also a lot of people arriving around then/checking out around then. Honestly, I was not in any rush on vacation, but I mention it to add balance to the positives for those reading the review.
- My parents (who had been previously but not stayed at the hotel) had told me to be careful for pickpockets on the main street as they had been targeted during their trip. We were careful (keep purses in lap while at restaurants, etc). I saw a ton of police out on the main street, which may have also implied this was being worked on. We didn't stay out super-late each evening, so perhaps that impacted what we saw. As with any crowded, touristy area, be smart and you will be in better shape than if you are not being smart.
- The annoying street vendor thing in Barcelona right now is this mouth whistle thing. I never saw anyone buy one, but every day I saw the same couple of guys 30 yards from each other down the strip trying to get people's attention to buy one. I can only encourage you not to do so, for the sake of humanity

This was a great use of my SPG points and I would stay again.

Did I mention the awesome ham?