08039 Travel Guide
Tags: Checking In On / W Hotels / Hotel Openings / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
W Barcelona May Be Stylish, But Still Needs To Work On Service
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Last time we looked, the W Barcelona wasn’t going down so well with its clients. But then that was after opening weekend, nearly a month ago. Is it time to give it another chance?
The Independent reviewed it this weekend and, going by the review, it'd seem the “abysmal” service and “no edgy people” may have been teething problems.
The hotel is “nothing if not striking”, they say, and the pool is “bracingly cool” (we're assuming that's in a literal sense - it's nearly November, after all). The views from the 26th-floor Eclipse bar, meanwhile, are “bewitching”.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Twitter / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
W Barcelona Still Pretty, But Needs Serious Work on The Vibe
Oh dears. We really hate to say this, but could it be that with all the hype around W Barcelona and its foxy building, they forgot to work on the foxy W vibe?
Barcelona resident Pulso BCN alerted us to the fact that there could be a problem with his comment here. He stopped by on Thursday, which should have been banging, seeing as it was the first night, but although it had a nice-looking pool, he wasn’t feeling it. “Maybe the W hipness is in crates stuck in Spanish customs,” he reckons. On his Twitter feed he went further: ”No glam opening, no edgy people, just a bunch of staffers running around trying to find a spot.”. Oopsie…
Tags: Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Hype / Barcelona Hotels / Spain Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
The W Barcelona is Open Tonight But The Weekend is Booked
Temperature: 77 degrees. Weather: partly cloudy. Time: to check in to the W Barcelona.
Western Europe’s first W, and the snazzily-numbered 33rd in the world, has opened its doors today. The Bliss therapists are unwinding tense muscles right now, the Eclipse staff are girding cocktail glasses with sugar, and the head honchos must be breathing a big sigh of relief that its third predicted opening date has finally come through. And right now, that pool must be looking a little less peaceful.
Tags: Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
24 Hours to Go For W Barcelona
The pillows have been fluffed, the loungers have been wiped down, and the water features are in place - W Barcelona finally opens its doors tomorrow.
There are still rooms available for EUR 280 ($411/£255) if you fancy an off the cuff trip. To persuade you, the temperature is currently a balmy 22 degrees centigrade, although it’s a bit cloudy – let’s hope the sky clears by tomorrow morning!
Don’t worry if you can’t make it though - the opening party will be in “early 2010” according to the hotel. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean they’re worried about opening month glitches. In the mean time, here’s another picture from its Facebook photo album. We fully expect the hotel to be this buzzy when we finally make it down there…
Tags: Hotel Openings / Facebook Hotels / Sneak Peek / W Hotels / Hotel Hype / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
Thanks to Facebook, We Get a Sneak Peek at the W Barcelona
There are still six days to go till it opens, but the folk at W Barcelona have stuck up some sneak peek photos on their Facebook page. The teases!
Up top is the the sundeck at the Altitude Terrace. Then there’s the WET Deck (loving the water all over the place)
Tags: Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Hotel Hype / Hotel Delays / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
The Countdown is On: Only Seven Days to Go Until W Barcelona Opens
We’ve waited and waited and now we’ve only got seven days of waiting left: W Barcelona opens a week today. According to the hotel, everything is on track for the opening, and it’s even sent us some pictures to prove it. Now, these look CGI to us, so we’re hoping the real thing is just as good. If it is, they’re going straight in our drool bag. In the mean time here’s what we’re most looking forward to.
The Wet Deck (above). Note how it seems to have plastic/glass walls to stop you plunging into the Med. Scary, but popular, we’re thinking. We’re also thinking about that pool – it’s 26 degrees out there (79, to those who work in farenheit), don’t you know.
Tags: W Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / Hotel Openings / Hotel News / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
W Barcelona Will Open on October 1 with Rooms at $344 a Night
Wow. Seems like "mañana mañana" may not be the way the Spaniards do things anymore. Or not in Barcelona, because the W is still set to open October 1*, and, as we just found out, you can even make reservations for one of the 473 rooms.
The promised “endless sea and city views” sound good, right? Well, if you want to experience them, you’ll have to start saving your pennies. The cheapest room (a Wonderful one) is currently going for EUR 240, or $344, excluding tax. Want a suite? That’ll be EUR 580, or $831. Let’s hope it’s worth it.
*Let’s just forget this is their third opening date, and give them the benefit of the doubt, ok? Good.
Tags: W Talent Shows / Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Only 'Ultimate Cool Hunters' Will Do For W Barcelona
Not that we want to start counting chickens or anything, but it looks like W Barcelona is still on track to open October 1. Not only are reservations are open – rooms cost from EUR212 ($299) for the opening night – but they’ve just started recruiting.
Being W, this is no dry process. At their beachfront “Talent Casting Centre”, to the sweet sounds of an inhouse DJ, prospective “Talent members” will be escorted into “whisper booths” and asked such pressing questions as “Why are you the city’s ultimate cool hunter?”
We’re thinking that finding 400 cool people in Barcelona won’t be a problem, though, so fingers crossed the opening date will hold. We’re starting the countdown now…
Tags: Hotel Openings / W Hotels / Hotel Delays / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
The W Barcelona Has (Nearly) Popped Its Cork
When a ship gets launched, it gets a bottle of bubbly smashed on it. When it’s a hotel that happens to be built in the shape of a ship sail, it gets what we’re thinking is a lot more than a bottle of bubbly doled out to the people attending its “ceremonial event” – which is what was going down on 19 May at the W Barcelona, to celebrate the completion of the sail-shaped building.
Unfortunately, although it’s ready on the outside, it must be looking pretty rough internally, because they’re planning on opening October 1st – despite the date originally being down for 2008.
Anyway, as an opening offer, they’re dealing a free upgrade, two cocktails, breakfast, a Bliss Spa gift set, and VIP access to the rooftop bar, which is going to be run by London’s finest Ignite Group. They’re also doling out a complimentary appetizer or dessert if you dine in the hotel restaurant, but we’re betting most guests will be out on the town for their dindins. Anyway, the choice is yours for €299 ($422, or £261). Valid for stays between October 1st (or whenever it opens!) to February 27th of next year.
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Delays / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
The W Barcelona is More Hotly Anticipated Than the W Hoboken
While a few of you readers are excited about the forthcoming W Hoboken, it seems that the W Barcelona is the one W Hotel that everyone is frothing over. The other week we put up a rendering of the hotel which looks like a giant sail and told you that the hotel was planning an April 2009 opening. But as we suspected that date is getting pushed back.
Thanks to Starwood Maniac we have an update on the hotel's progress:
Greetings from Spain! Just for yr info, this is one of the original drafts of the project, at least 5 or 6 years old... construction is quite advanced and will be ready by the end of Summer; building doesn't look much like above drawing, believe me. Wanna see a picture taken last week? It's mobile quality but still gives you and idea of where we are. By the way, all rooms will enjoy a WoW view, no need to rush to get one!
Tags: Hotel Hype / W Hotels / Barcelona Hotels / → All Tags
The Giant Windsail in Barcelona Will Become a W Hotel
In late 2009, visitors flying into Barcelona will see what looks to be a giant windsail on the coast right next to the entrance to the Port of Barcelona. Except this windsail is actually the W Hotel Barcelona scheduled to open on October 1, 2009.
The W Hotel Barcelona will be the second W to open in Europe (W Istanbul was the first) and the first W in Spain. But like all Ws it will debut with a bang due to its location right at the foot of the Mediterranean Sea in a building designed by Spain’s most famous architect Ricardo Bofill.
Tags: Killer View / → All Tags
Room With a Killer View: Grand Marina Hotel
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Don't you love it when a hotel's name stands true to its form? The above view is from room 711 at the Grand Marina Hotel in Barcelona.
As one could expect from this killer view, the hotel is a five-star. If you want to shell out for the presidential suite then you are sure to get this view and more:
The Presidential Suite, with a private terrace and exclusive views of the city, is located on the last floor of the building and offers, in the words of Henry N. Cobb, the architect in charge of the construction of the hotel, "the best views of the city". This floor also boasts a Marina Club, outdoor swimming pool, gymnasium, beauty and massage salon, hairdresser's and bar service in the summer.
This, to put it lightly however, is a room with a price.
Related Stories:
· Room 711 [Flickr]
· Hotel Grand Marina Reviews [TripAdvisor]
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