MarkCron

I picked LM and was happy with the choice. Upgraded to two room suites on two separate stays.

That's a big delta though

rstidolph

I stayed at the LM 3 years ago and used a SNA to a room with a living room on 2nd floor. Location was great, but room was very dated

platbrownguy

I've been in a big kerfuffle about where to spend two nights in Barcelona soon -- was between here, Cotton House, and Edition (as many seem to be). Thought about W, beach could be nice (but maybe too cold anyhow in March), but it's just out of the way and we'd like to walk to food. I scratched Cotton House after reading about likely difficulties getting a real suite with a separate living room. Scratched Edition because I'd have to book FHR to get breakfast, and that rate ends up being about $130/night more than the LeM, and because odds of getting a true suite there look slim to none. Currently have a cancellable rate booked at the LeM with SNAs applied and will definitely keep the res if the SNAs clear, but might consider bouncing elsewhere if they don't. Any advice welcome (open to other brands too) -- priorities are (1) location (anywhere in the general area of the LeM is fine), (2) increasing the odds of a proper suite (will have a 9-month-old), and (3) quality onsite breakfast (on the morning of checkout we'll have time to eat breakfast and head to the airport to get to Rome but will be much easier if it's on property; see also, 9-month-old). Current rate is 206 euro/night at the LeM.

Speaking of breakfast, which is why I came here to post initially, any recent reviews on what is on offer? Real eggs, hopefully? (Not just omelets or buffet scrambles?)

Murphy926

​​​​​​​Can't speak currently, but stayed at LeM pre-Covid in 2019 and the breakfast spread was fantastic. We made sure to make time to sit and enjoy our breakfast each of the five mornings of our stay.

MarkCron

There are plenty of options at breakfast, Including cava.
Eggs were not on a buffet, but I am not 100% sure they were cooked to order either. They probably were. There were about 10 items on a menu plus a buffet area with cold cuts, breads, cereals, fruit, yogurt, etc
FWIW, on 2 stays a few weeks ago, I was upgraded to a 2 room suite without using SNA as an Amb. I asked in the app chat for the upgrade when check-in window opened.

spainlover

that’s a big difference, I’d do 4P. Price may well come down later but it wouldn’t be worth that much extra to me.

spainlover

I’ve had excellent success with upgrades at LM, though I am Lifetime Titanium so that helps. I stayed 5 nights last fall, 3 paid & 2 award nights. I put in SNAs for a couple nights but was upgraded to corner suite for all 5 nights, as well as given bottle of wine on arrival, bottle of cava and cake on my birthday, & good luck & congratulation wishes for running Barcelona Marathon. I’ve seen other reports of less likely to get upgraded but I’ve always had good luck at LM. If ruling out Edition & Cotton House, Renaissance Barcelona would be the only other option in the general area.
I almost never have breakfast at hotels so can’t comment on their breakfast, but can say I like Restaurant Elisabets 2 blocks away (also right on a lovely plaza with a playground and numerous cafes on the plaza), Bar Lobo half a block from the Le Meridien & amazing pastries at Choc - 2 locations within 3 blocks

if considering other brands, Casa Camper a few blocks from LM is very nice and there are 2 Room-Mate Hotels within a few blocks of Plaça Cataluńa that I think allow you to book suited.

platbrownguy

The Le Meridien was the right choice. Location is awesome -- walkable to the Cathedral, the Picasso museum, two great food markets (Boqueria and Santa Caterina), and various Metro stations. (Sagrada Familia could be a nice 40 min walk but we took the Metro.)

We booked a car service through the hotel for our 8:40 a.m. arrival (95 euro) and it was seamless. The hotel anticipated our arrival, upgraded us to a beautiful family suite, and had it ready for check in at 9 a.m. The SNAs I applied were actually declined a couple days before check in, and I almost canceled as a result, but a full slate of suites showed available for booking so I took the gamble and am glad I did. The suite was recently renovated and had an awesome bathroom with both a shower/tub combo and a separate walk in shower that had incredible water pressure.

Breakfast was fabulous -- full buffet with hot egg dishes, glorious Spanish meats and cheeses, self-pour cava/mimosas... coffee and eggs/omelets to order as well, and a juicer with all kinds of fresh fruits (kiwis, oranges, apples, carrots, ginger, etc.).

We ordered room service after our post-arrival nap and got a great duck + shrimp paella "for one" (it was large) and some octopus.

Daily housekeeping and nightly turndown were provided without asking.

There is a small area with steam room, sauna, and open-air whirlpool on the 6th floor, no reservations required. The whirlpool is only heated to 30°C (86°F), and it is tiny (4ppl max) but still a nice amenity.

Also went to the bar for a cocktail one night (totally fine and not too overpriced at 11 euro), but Bar Lobo and Bar Gats are also great and just across the street and have cocktails in the 7 to 9 euro range... as well as the ubiquitous 2 to 3 euro glasses of vermut negro.

We took the Metro back to the airport and thought it was pretty easy (€5.15pp, L1 to L9s, 45 min total).

Staff were great and had good non-touristy recs (try Sagrades Tannines for a post-Sagrada Familia vermuteo). Wife agreed that it was an excellent city hotel and wants to return for a week to do all the stuff.

Some pics of the room & room service lunch:

darkobeatsdeath

July 2022 stay:
- Hotel looks great, rooms are a bit dated, yet, OK (hair drying was broken)
- Location is brilliant
- No platinum room upgrade, breakfast benefit was very nice (wide varaiety + cava for mimoza lovers)

Biggest issue was the internet, it was practically unusable. tried all the possible connection options (including paid + the conference code we got from the lobby team) on multiple devices (mobiles + laptops), got an avarage bandwidth of less than 1MB with ~30% packetloss. Even google searches failed (not to talk about emails). So if internet is important to you, i suggest preparing in advance with a mobile data plan

christianj

Interesting! We have always stayed at the W on previous visits (2013 and then again in 2015) because back then the LeM was in dire need of a reno. I could have sworn they renovated after that so it's odd to hear you say they rooms are dated. Anyone know when the rooms were last updated? We are possibly going back to Spain next year and was considering LeM and the new options that have been added since our last visit.