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 Cataluña 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.

nevansm

3 night stay in September 2022

Originally had 2 night point stay booked, SNA's confirmed to Prestige suite 5 days out. Ended up being able to get to BCN a day earlier, booked my paid corporate rate, chatted with front desk, but they didn't have a suite available for all 3 nights, got a deluxe room for the first night. All staff were pleasant and mostly tried the best they could. One odd thing, I was first of our group arriving and wanted a nice bottle of champagne. Went to restaurant around 3pm and asking for a bottle of champagne to enjoy in the lobby was quite a production. They couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to enjoy it in the restaurant. Eventually they delivered to room "free of fees" on ice, and I took the whole setup to the lobby so I could greet my friends when they arrived.

Breakfast for 2 adults per room (one Ambassador room, one Platinum room), buffet, hit all the buttons for our group. There were good variety of pastries, hot dishes (tomatoes, eggs, bacon, chix sausage, pancakes, croquettes), cold cuts, basic salad, and made to order eggs. Most enjoyable for our group was very drinkable Cava free flowing each morning. Service in the restaurant was mostly good.

The worst part: THIS!

I can't understand how a hotel in a modern European nation, can have internet with this lack of quality or bandwidth. I definitely expressed my frustration and was credited a few Euros for the issue.

As mentioned, location is excellent for sightseeing, other than breakfast, we ate all meals out at other restaurants.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I really enjoyed my trip to the Le Meridien Barcelona. Here are my pros, cons, notes, and photos:

Pros:

• Upgraded to a Family Suite a day before arrival
• Suite was large with separate living room, bedroom, large walk-in closet, and bathroom with separate shower and tub
• Though my suite was not renovated, the condition overall was quite good
• Usable desk
• Wi-Fi performance was satisfactory for video calls, etc.
• Nice view facing Las Ramblas and some of the rooftops
• Bed was really great - plush mattress, plush covers, plush pillows
• Shower pressure was nice
• Offered 4 PM late checkout proactively
• Manager came out to let me know my suite was ready (slight delay - not ready until 3:20 PM)
• Service attitudes were friendly
• Welcome gift of Welcome chalk sign, box of nougats, and lots of water bottles
• Elite welcome gift breakfast is a full buffet - omelet station, and a variety of other buffet offerings (waffles, pancakes, churros, etc.) - quality was decent (the W still has this one beat)
• Turndown service with 70% cacao dark chocolates provided

Cons:

• No Internet TV OS
• The bedroom TV was inoperable and not programmed for channels
• International outlets (one by desk and one in bathroom) did not appear to work - not sure what the issue there was
• Noise isolation between rooms through the connecting door could be improved
• I was not a fan of the coffee at breakfast - both latte and Americano - odd taste

Notes:

• It appears that floors up to 5 are renovated based on the hallways - there were working on a room on the 6th floor close by
• The Wii Mini in my suite did not come with controllers or games - here I was hoping I could get some Wii bowling practice in :-)

Overall, I would recommend the Le Meridien and would stay here again.

Photos:



























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DELee

That shower looks like the base is a foot off of the bathroom floor so that a person of any height basically is staring right at the showerhead instead of being rained on.

David

ElevatorEnthusiast

It was taller than it looked, or I'm shorter than I think.

jychen

Any recent stay? Wonder whether the upgrade chance is good or not these days.