Renaissance Barcelona Airport

We just came back from a tour of Spain which we ended on our own in Barcelona. We had 3 nights free from Marriott Rewards at this hotel.

The good points: Beautiful hotel, mostly english speaking staff, excellent concierge, free shuttle to airport on the half-hour and only 10 minutes from airport, and a shuttle twice a day to downtown, hotel manager wanted to take care of any problems

Alabaster lounge staff extra nice and food a better value than the restaurant

Not so Good:

Mosquitos in the room, problem not dealt with after pointing it out to staff at reception desk

Shower Curtain: Fell down and then it was removed by staff

Front Desk Clerk: Told us we only had 1 night free instead of 3 nights and would not call Marriott Rewards to help us resolve the problem

Location: Over an hour to get in to city unless you can take the free shuttle leaving at 9 and 10 am

Food: Restaurant very pricey, recommend cafeteria across the street for breakfast

This visit started badly as the courtesy coach was not available after 2300 and my flight got in at 2345. Despite notifying them of my late arrival this information was not shared. The taxi meter for a two kilometre trip was €4 but the penalty for a short journey made it €13!

Fabulous entrance hall and very comfortable room. All the necessary toys and good bathroom equipment.

I was there for a business meeting the next day and was offered the Elite room for my meeting. This is a very grown up facility and highly recommended.

This more than made up for the transport fiasco.

Really enjoyed my stay and the staff looked after me very well.

We stayed at this hotel because most of Barcelona was sold out (during the 3GSM conference). During the show, it was expensive (but that is to be expected). It is a nice facility and the staff are nice. The breakfast is excellent and the dinner was good (I had osso bucco), but the menu is limited. The bar is almost non-existant. In room internet service costs 20 Euros per day, but is fast.

The real problem is that this hotel is that it is in an extremely remote office park (which is, of course, deserted after dark). There's a bus, but it's slow and regular bus service stops around 11pm. Before midnight, the hotel offers a free airport shuttle, but BE WARNED: It is not physically -at- the airport. After midnight, by law, a cab from the airport to this nearby hotel is a minimum 15 Euros! For other cab fare reference, at midnight, a cab from the Barcelona Princesa Sofia (Avenida Diagonal business district) was 13.40 Euros.

We missed our flight to London and decided to stay in one of the hotels nearby the airport. My boyfriend liked this hotel so much that we decided to change the ticket again and stay one more night.

Everything from the beginning was a nice surprise. The shutle bus takes you straight from the airport, beautiful lobby, helpful staff, very reasonably priced, great, new rooms (the biggest bed I have ever seen, flat screen giant tv, iron with iron desk) and bathroom (fantastic decor - marble on the floor), and fantastic breakfast. Can't think of any disappoinment.

Everything was wrong with this place. It's isolated (there is nothing close to the hotel), and hard to find the shuttle from the airport. The room was dirty (our coffee pot looked like someone had used it as a shovel). The door to the room was broken (and later fixed). The air conditioning hummed. Room service didn't have anything on the menu, and was overpriced and bland. They forgot to bring us utensils. The fire alarm went off at 2am. The hallway noise was easily heard in the room.

Don't waste your money!

We stayed here on our way back to the United States. The rooms are small, small, small! But the staff is incredibly helpful and polite - it was a pleasant surprise for Spain.

Our room was clean. There was no coffee maker or refrigerator but there was a mini-bar. The bed was so large that there was almost no room to get by. Otherwise, it's a nice place to stay for a night or 2.

The restaurant food was very good and the decor was stylish and funky. Overall, a solid experience.

J'ai passe une excellente fin d'annee a Barcelone en sejournant dans cet hotel.Apres avoir franchi une etonnante reception ,vous arrivez dans une belle chambre claire.La salle de bains est belle et les lits excellents.Certe l'hotel est eloigne du centre de Barcelone mais a 4 minutes de l'aeroport.Une navette gratuite vous depose a la gare Renfe ou au depart de l'aerobus( environ 30 minutes pour arriver Place de Catalunya ).Le restaurant est tres bon et le service souriant et agreable.Le soir du 31decembre ,a minuit, une coupe de champagne a ete offerte aux clients descendus sous le dome de la reception.Le tarif est tres interessant.Je recommande fortement cet hotel moderne de derniere generation pour un transit a Barcelone et meme pour un sejour pour visiter cette belle ville.

This review was based on a four-night stay in late September 2006, and written by a business traveler who frequents Marriott-brand and Hilton-brand hotels throughout the US.

Opened in August 2006, this hotel will cater to potential guests with its new construction, trendy/contemporary design, new beds, new Marriott linens, new fixtures, and cleanliness. As a previous reviewer mentioned, even the lobby itself is wonder to look at with light / projection shows, stars, and decor that makes one wonder if they had entered instead, a contemporary new museum / gallery / exhibition.

The lobby has a cafe (which serves drinks, sandwiches, and light snacks), reception desk, a business center comprising of two computers and one printer, as well as access to the Elite Zone, and a a restaurant downstairs.

The hotel has four floors of rooms; they are divided into two sides: one for "Elite" patrons and one for non-Elite patrons. The non-Elite patrons are typically folks who pay 119 Euros per night for their room, or are not Marriott Elite members. The Elite patrons are either Marriott Elite patrons or patrons who paid 139 Euros or more per night for their room. The Elite levels of rooms can only be accessed via what they call the "Elite Zone".

The Elite Zone features two computers (Internet usage costs 9 Euros for 45 minutes or 11.50 Euros for 90 minutes) and it is also where the conceirges are stationed ,providing lots of friendly service, information, and check-in service for Marriott Elite members.

As a previous reviewer mentioned, the Elite Zone not only provides elevator access to those who have Elite rooms, but it also provides: a lounge with comfortable armchairs and couches, a 42" LCD TV, 24-hour beverage access (juices, waters, some alcoholic drinks, and sodas), and food service (breakfasts, snacks, and desserts). Breakfasts comprise of coffee, muffins, croissants, sandwiches, cereals, fruit, fresh juices, milks, toast, and yogourts.

As the same previous reviewer mentioned, they needed to improve the way they control access to the lounge. Any patron at the time of our stay, could go in and out of the Elite Zone. This is unlike Marriott hotels in the US, where your card key is required to gain entry to the Concierge level lounge of the hotel. As a result, my wife and I noticed many times where most people in the Elite Zone were non-Elite members and they helped themselves in a seemingly indulgent manner to all of the drinks and food. (Does each person really need to take 3-4 drinks with them?) Sometimes, most of the food would be gone when we and other Elite guests arrived for breakfast; eaten by the non-Elite folks already sitting at the tables in the Zone. There is a sign above the entry and beside the entry to the Zone; however, most non-Elite people seemed somehow ignorant of those (intentionally, or otherwise). Sometimes at brekafast, staff would be asking everyone for their room numbers and instructing non-Elite guests to not return to the Zone, at all other times of the day, no checking seemed to occur. Due to the gross overusage of products and services in the Elite Zone by non-Elite members, we are concerned that staff may take all such away (even from legitimate Elite members in the future) in order to maintain profitability.

The restaurant downstairs is elegant, but a little on the pricey side.

My wife and I had a king-bed room on the "Elite" side of the hotel, and the room is very large by European standards. Prepare to enjoy a new comfortable bed with new Marriott linens, a 27" or greater LCD TV, glass desk and chair, comfortable armchair, minibar, and air conditioning. (The latter feature seemed only to support a cool mode, a heat mode or simply being off altogether.) The closet was somewhat spacious with sliding frosted glass doors, and housed the in-room electronic safe. The washroom was spacious, and was indeed as seen in a previous reviewer's pictures. There were two above-counter white bowl sinks, contemporary fixtures, dual mirrors with lights in behind, a toilet, and bidet, and a jacuzzi bathtub / shower. The jacuzzi feature is nice, but the nice rain shower was indeed hindered by the surprisingly small panel of glass that prevented only some of the water from splashing on the floor. Thankfully, a hand shower was available too, and so we used that to prevent the need to mop up a lot of water after every shower. the toiletries provided each day were generous: shampoo, conditioner, soap, skin lotion, mouthwash, comb, toothbrush, sewing kit, shaving kit, and more. The shampoo, conditioner, and lotion were mint-based or mint-flavoured which was strong and a little unusual, but refreshing in their own way.

The service is exemplary - nearly all folks from the housekeepers to receptionists, manager, concierges, and shuttle bus drivers are fluent in both Spanish and English. All were willing to do as much as possible to make our stay as best as possible.

As mentioned by a previous reviewer, the hotel is located in a business park, and some distance from the Barcelona downtown core. It is very close to the airport, so while it provides traveler convenience, one will need to rely on other means to do sightseeing around time or shopping downtown. One can take a cab (15-20 Euros), or, as I would recommend, a free hotel shuttle to the airport metro station. From there, it would cost 4.50 Euros per person on the Metro to travel downtown. The Metro is indeed easy to use and navigate, though I would suggest bringing cash with you, as not all ticket dispensers seemed to have working credit card readers.

If you need Internet access, I would recommend finding one of those "Easy Internet" cafes that are associated with Subway sandwich stores around town, which offer fast Internet at 1 Euro for 30 minutes.

All in all, yes, the hotel has a a few things to improve on (which I hope they will, after feedback from others and a letter I left with the Front Desk Manager), and its location is some distance from the downtown core; however, my wife and I would by all means recommend this hotel for those not willing or able to pay much higher prices downtown (either at the Hotel 1838 or Ritz Carlton). It is good value for the money, and still convenient with a little patience. (We actually enjoyed riding the Metro to different parts of Barcelona and exploring different areas very inexpensively.)

At the time I stayed at this property, it was only a few months old.

If you see photos of the property and then eventually arrive in person, you may be amazed at the approach of the esthetics of the building. It is a sensory experience. Your eyes are trying to take in the domelike planetarium that is the lobby/lounge/bar/café. Logos and appealing designs are projected in the dome, while Euro-lounge plays in the background.

There are lights imbedded like tiny stars in the ground, leading you to the check-in desk. For those who wish to pay a little more, just at the end of the dome is the "Elite Zone". Where you can saunter under an actual sign proclaiming your elite-ness and sit with a dedicated receptionist. This is also where the breakfast is served for the "Elite". It is an ultra-modern space, which has your eyes constantly taking it in.

The room was large by European standards and the bed was FANTASTIC! The design elements that were found in the lobby follow you to the room, and I was quite pleased with the layout. Even though we were at the airport, the rooms were very quiet.

The breakfast is a standard light cereal, meat and cheese operation. They make a tasty heated sandwich in the lobby cafe. Thankfully the high standard of European coffee is maintained - tasty.

The main hurdle the property faces is the location. It is in a business park near the airport. There are no supporting facilities for the traveler nearby. The café in the lobby is pretty light on the menu (snacks mostly) and the restaurant downstairs is pricy (but delicious). No knock on the prices as Barcelona is pretty expensive, but if you plan on staying at the hotel to eat it gets pricy. To counter this, there is the bus (the 165) that takes you downtown. It is a local, so it takes a while. There is also a hotel shuttle that leaves for the airport like clockwork every 30 minutes. From there you can jump on the Metro, and it is very easy system to navigate. Lastly, a cab will cost you 20 euro to get downtown.

The staff is working the bugs out a bit, but it is not for the lack of trying. Everyone was friendly and went out of their way to help any way they could.

As the property is close to the airport, you will find a few flight crews (of which I'm one). Language is not an issue as everyone graciously speaks English if required.

Stayed at this hotel in early September. Usually with a Marriott chain hotel, you know what to expect and it is usually very good.

This is a very new hotel and they have a lot of issues to work on.

They do not undertand the Conceirge Lounge for those who have have status. You have to tell them that you are able to be in the lounge and it seems like a fight to do so at breakfast time. The rest of the time, they don't question you.

The rooms are set to have EVERYTHING go off when you leave the room, including the airconditioning and the minibar. This is a big problem when it is warm outside. I tried to leave a business card in the slot so the air would stay on, but the maids made sure it was tilted out, so it was not effective.

My room did not have hot water the whole time I was there. It would be a luke warm shower in the afternoon and a colder shower in the morning. Not very pleasant. Not to mention the shower was not enclosed and was tiny so the water shot everywhere! There was also water spots on the ceiling above my shower and would leak on my head occassionally.

The location is terrible. Even though they tell you that it is quite easy to get to the city center, it is quite a bit of effort and takes an hour using public transportation. By taxi is the fastest, although it will cost you about 15 euros each way.

Although I prefer to stay at the Marriott chains for points purposes as well as the usual comfort of the hotel, I would not stay here again.