FlyerTalk Forums - Melia Barcelona Sky Review

Just completed a stay at Melia BARCELONA Sky , please refer to my personal blog for photos at http://www.GETSETJETSET.COM and other hotel and restaurant reviews.

MELIA BARCELONA SKY -

Like a once delicate sequined dress, left in the cupboard carelessly, the Melia Sky Barcelona is the neglected remains of the once chic and exquisite ME Barcelona, the second ME by Melia to open after the flagship ME Madrid. After years of negligence and the initial use of cheap materials, it has now been downgraded from the trendy 5 star ME brand to a standard 4 star Melia.

A standard Melia it is not, as it still features many of the trendy touches of the ME brand, including Guest Ambassadors and a young chic vibe. , the room design is mainly unchanged, apart from the lack of an ottoman. It still attracts a younger, trendy crowd, as well as the ever prominent gay clientele,that it was famed for in its heyday: but now with more of a mix of families on holidays and couples on “city break” packages”.

The staff are delightful as ever, still maintaining the “ME can do” attitude, but it is the deteriorating hard furnishings and original bad room design that let the hotel down from the start. This might be one of the reasons why the hotel was downgraded to the standard Melia brand. Overcomplicated lighting in the rooms, noisy electronic blinds., inconvenient bathroom arrangements , all looked good on at the blueprint stage I have no doubt, but it seems Melia never actually tested the prototype of the room layout before launching it as most major chains do. The bathrooms do feature a rainfall shower and a separate bathtub with a window overlooking the bedroom, with a bizarre translucent door sliding between the bath and the shower. Outside the rooms dark dinghy corridors and dirty carpets dominate the hallways, with bizarre metallic walls.

After the downgrade from ME , the only telephone I had in my room was in the toilet. Hardly a place where you want to talk on the phone. A could not see a room service menu, but ordering food from the toilet was not something I was looking forward to doing anyway, had they had one.

The very small metallic pool , with a medium-sized sun deck was filled with trendy bean bags and sun loungers, maybe remnants of the days of the ME, but service was exemplary from all staff. Although I do fail to understand why a hotel of its size cannot provide an iPhone 5 charger to its guests.

The hotel still hosts “Dos Cielos”, the Michelin starred restaurant, offering only a seasonal tasting menu for €100e per person, on the 24th floor overlooking the Mediterranean on the 24th, as well as a poolside bar with light snacks ,snacks, a trendy lobby lounge and a restaurant offering fresh local produce. The YHI Spa offers all the treatments a weary traveller would could want, and an adequate gym is on hand.

I left the Melia Sky with mixed feelings. I felt it was aspiring to cling on to its old “ME” hotel status, and in certain aspects succeeded, but in the most crucial parts failed. As the old English saying goes “ All fur coat and no knickers” . A hotel with great potential but suffering from an identity crisis.

If you’re looking for a chic hotel with a trendy vibe, and are willing to forego 5 star amenities and overlook some of the shoddy interior finishes, then this might be the hotel for you. Personally, next time in Barcelona, I would probably take a pass,: not only for the worn out hard product but also the slightly awkward location.