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In june 2017 I have stayed some nights in the WBarcelona. After many stays I was still very excited to see the new interior design of the accomodations, especially the Cool Corner Suite which is my favorite.
I recieved a very warm Welcome at the reception and the director of Rooms greeted me. I was escorted to my ‘new” Cool Corner suite. I was happy to see the new changes in the suite! During my stays I have seen my Wishes come true.
Well, for a start, my Welcome present. It was my fav. red Marques de Riscal wine and the delicious chocolate brownies.
One of them was a comfy couch or comfy seat, and now I could make a choice where to sit or even lay down on the comfy couches. They are like islands in the sea, since the carpers have swirling blue colors. Now de couches alongside the windows are removed, the suite feels much more spaciousand and I just felt at home here. As always, the view is amazing from here.
I was also very happy with the Nespresso machine. It was for many years a big Wish every suite/room would offer this to the guests! At the moment the milk is served in plastic cups. I do hope the hotel will recycle the capsules and cups as it would be more environmental friendly.
The white curtains were new too and I was told they would black out the sun even better! It was a nice contrast with the blue colors of the carpet In the bedroom. The bathroom/showerarea is not refurbished. The bathamenities were parabenfree now. The last time I was here I noticed paraben in f.i. the Bliss showergel. This time I recieved on my request parabenfree bathamenities from the dirictor of Rooms. I noticed my big black tub was gone and was replaced by a stylish white tub. It made me Wish for a dip in the tub!

But I had no time…. I wanted to have a dip in the relative new pool near the gym. This pool was also a big Wish of mine and during my last visit I was not able to have a nice swim. I was told at the reception the rain was coming….. So I rushed to the pool.
When I arrived I was lucky to find a bed, every other bed was taken. But nobody was in the pool….. and nobody did later on. When I entered the pool after a cold shower, I did understand. The water was…… soooooo cold. It was disturbing my pleasure of having a nice swim. I could not understand why the hotel did not take care of heating the pool, f.i. with sunenergy. Still I managed to have a great swim and I was happy I did so: not long after my swim it started to rain

I was invited for the Wetdeckparty (!!!) and the hotel made a reservation for dinner in restaurant Bravo. So first I experienced the start of the first Wetdeck happening and the arrival of the many guests. I noticed the DJ and some figurants of the Tomorrowland happening. It was great but I did feel hungry so I proceeded to Bravo. The last time I did meet the son of the owner who was the manager, but it seemed he went away to open another restaurant. But he knew I was coming and I was escorted to a beautiful table at the window. Service was friendly and they assisted me to make a choice. I like organic food and it seemed almost all ingrediënts on the menu were indeed organic. Some exceptions may occur when the quality is not on par with the standards of the chef, the Dutch waiter told me. When they cannot find an organic ingredient of high quality, they might take a non organic ingredient. I ordered a beautiful organic salad with toast and cheese as a starter. As a maindish the ‘Jezuiet Monks rice’ with chicken as a side dish. I did some winetasting and made a choice for a delicious Rioja wine, it was non organic. The quality of the dishes is superb and the taste is delicious. The owner, mr. Carles Abbelan, was also awareded with a Michelin star and one can tell after dining here. Service was professional, friendly, warm, stylish and well organized. My plate was nicely prepared on side table. The prices ranges from moderate to high end.
After my dinner I went back to see the rest of the Wet Deck Happing and it was great to see the dancers and acrobats! I really enjoyed being here and I will remember it for a long time.

After these experiences I really needed my bath. After closing the white curtains in the suite I noticed it did feel very white in the room with white walls…..It did not give me a cozy feeling. The suite offers now enough lights and I find this a big improvement. I did have some problems to find out how to close the stop in the bathtub so the water would stay in the tub….. But after searching for some sort of instruction and after trying and trying I called the Whatever Whenever desk . She advised me what to do, but it did not stop the water running out of the tub. So finally they send a technician. He was very friendly but could not fix the problem. Shortly after him a collegue came by. He turned a knob to the right and …. Voila it was fixed. I guess it would have been easier when a instruction would have been available for this kind of bathtub. I did have a great bath with the little black duck!
The beds are also new, and one can tell. On my request I had a cotton blanket on the bed since I am allergic. I had a very good sleep after the wonderful experiences in the WBarcelona.

Next day I was looking forward to my breakfast in Bravo. I noticed again a new team and manager…The team was understaffed and one could tell. I had to wait very long, since no tables were available or cleared. The receptionist was rather unfriendly to me and almost yelled to me when I asked If I could sit at a rather large table, “How can you imagine you could sit at THAT table!!!”Two guests who came after me were allowed to sit at that table. I was happy to see Andrea the waitress who is here from the start, but she could not help me. After waiting very long I decided to go, but just at that moment they had cleared a table for me at the window! Service was chaotic, due to a lack of coordination and personnel. A guest came by and asked me how I felt, since she notice how I was treated at the reception of Bravo. Since I have been a regular guest here, it seems history repeats itself over and over again …. Its a shame since the quality of the food here is excellent. Personnel is friendly and do the best they can. They just need more personnel and a good manager to manage the breakfast here. Buffet is still in the bararea and some separate tables. The buffet ( see pictures) offers f.i. a range of delicious high quality cold cut meats, cheeses and even hot dishes. Personally I like the different styles of tortilla’s very much. They are very tasty. The buffet does not offer breadrolls but different sorts of bread you have to slice. The quality is again excellent.
The next day the terrace was open. This time I did get a nice table and did not have to wait long. But I did notice again the team was understaffed and I was feeling sorry for them. They worked hard and tried to be smiling and to be friendly. It was busy and I noticed so many demanding guests who wanted to have their orders within minutes. But the end was, many had to wait too long and became irritated, deperate ( nobody answered their needs). I even helped a young woman opposite of my table. I could see how frustrated she was and when I called Andrea, she served her instead. This time I was lucky I was taken care of, did not have to wait too long for my scrambled eggs or my coffee. Next to me was a couple, she wanted to have a bigger cup. The waitress told her which cups were served for the guests, but she wanted to have a bigger cup and became furious! The waitress repeated and said she could not offer a larger cup and the lady became furious. What can you do when guests are demanding the impossible? When I was at the buffet for some delicious yoghurt, fruits and cereals I took two bowls/grand cups with me and presented one to the guest next to me. Was this big enough for her? Well they did appreciate my gesture…. They liked the quality of food very much and I informed them they could have dinner here in the evening in a well organized Brave….

My second dinner was in Wave. The hotel had made reservations for me. When I arrived everthing was arranged. Though the team had changed, the kitchen knew my preferences and I was very well taken care of by mr. Victor Hugo and mrs. Ari. They were very empathic, friendly and interested in my opinion and taste. They were creative and wanted make my Wishes come true, instead of sticking to the menu. They made exquisite healthy dishes for me and after some winetasting I was served a special wine which made me very happy. I started with a 3 colored quinoa salad with avocado and goij berries. On the side breadrolls and two kinds of homemade humus. As a maincourse I was served a veggie Asian/Thai dish with spicy sauce, with ingrediënts as ginger, coconut, coriander. The finishing touch was a traditional Peruan drink with a kind of fresh sour taste. They made it special for me since I was planning a trip to Peru and mr. Victor was from Peru. He did give some advises. This evening I had on of the most wonderful dinner experiences in Wave.

During the day I spend some time at the new pool which was not so busy as the Wet Deck. The new poolarea does offer deluxe cabina’s. I did not notice any music like the last time, though I noticed several speakers. I decided to have a quick lunch and ordered a nice quinoa salad with bread and a drink, I told the waitress I did have not much time since I had to leave soon. I had to wait 20 minutes and when the waitress came finally back she told me it was not possible to serve this anymore. Since I had no time I went away without a drink or some food.
I had a great time a the beachclub Salt. During the first years the WBarcelona did not have a beachclub. I was a big Wish of mine and I even discussed it with the manager. So the beachclub is very special to me, I have seen it from the start. Service is great and in no time a sunbed with parasol was arranged. The waiter was very creative and friendly when I asked for a mango juice. The did not have it at the beachbar but he went to the restaurant and arranged fresh mango and apple juice! He just went one step further!

This 20th stay in the WBarcelona was the most wonderful stay ever. I enjoyed every minute of my stay here, except for the stressful situations in Bravo again and the cold water in the pool. The special check out was again very friendly and warm and my MAGC points I donated as always to UNICEF.
I just feel at home in this W/Starwood hotel, a home far from home as I used to say of some Starwoodhotels worldwide, like the Sheraton Imperial and Sheraton Rio….. Alas, I cannot say this of the WAmsterdamhotel where I have had very mixed experiences.

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