AC Diplomatic - Barcelona, Spain     

Really enjoyed our stay here. Lovely hotel. Fully AC rooms, which is essential in summer. Free minibar is also a bonus. Pool is more of a dipping pool but has a fantastic rooftop view of Barcelona. Walking distance of Las Ramblas ( GREAT shopping) and coffee at Tapa Tapa is wonderful in the morning. We were lucky to get a balcony room, at the back but if you go below the 4th floor, the view is abit limited...... just a wall. Parking is good, although expensive, but in the centre of any town what do you expect! Would recommend it to all.

My company held a business meeting here from June 4-6th, 2008. There were about 45 of us from all over Europe, Japan, and the U.S. I was with the U.S. contingent, so we arrived on Tuesday June 3rd. Taxi from the airport for 2 people plus luggage was a little over 40 Euros. I don't understand the recent reviewer who said don't pay more than 25 euros....on our return trip to the airport the fare was again about 45 euros, and I know from my familiarity with the maps that the most expedient routes were chosen both times. I checked in around noon on June 3rd and was assigned room 311. This room is directly above the entrance, and has a lovely view of the intersection on which the hotel is located. I spent a lot of time just watching people out the window. There was a pastry shop across the street that I did not try, but others in our group did. There was a bank with an ATM just out the front door of the hotel and to the left. The hotel itself is lovely - lots of light colored wood, with gray and chrome accents everywhere. We used the hotel bar every night - the staff were fairly friendly, and efficient. The last night I went downstairs by myself, however, and sat at the bar for quite a while and nobody ever showed to take my order, so I left. The front desk staff, by the way, were most gracious each time I interacted with them. My room - again, room 311. The air conditioning worked GREAT, which was not the case for some of my colleagues. One person reported their A/C never worked well. One person in 313 reported they smelled too much cigarette smoke in their room, so they changed rooms after 2 nights. My room was directly across from the elevator, but I never heard noise from that. Noise from the street was muted, although of course I could hear the horns. The mini-bar was replenished daily, and contained a San Miguel beer, a non-alcoholic San Miguel beer, two bottles of plain bottled water, one small bottle of sparkling water, a small bottle of Coke, a small bottle of Diet Coke, and two small bottles of Fanta. Some days it was two bottles of Fanta limon, and sometimes it was one of limon, and one of orange. There were also two chilled tumblers and a bottle opener inside the refrigerator. The bed was comfortable, with three fairly plump pillows. There isn't a clock in the room, which was odd, although I was able to get a wake up call each day. The electricity in the room is activated by inserting your room key into the slot just inside the door - that's fine, except since I only asked for one key, it meant that I lost my internet connnectivity every time I left my room, because I had to take my room key with me, so my computer shut down. The front desk has adaptors available (the cord on my laptop power cord had a built in converter) I totally agree with the reviewer who said it was disappointing to only have 2 channels on the tv in English. I watched way more CNN International than I was interested in. The bathroom was green, black, and white marble, on the floors and walls. Very striking, and beautiful. The sink was set into an inch-thick piece of clear glass - very modern. A small tray under the sink held packaged slippers, toothpaste, toothbrush, lotion, kleenex, and other accoutrements. The shower was very powerful, although it's odd for me to get used to the European custom of having a shower door that only goes halfway down the tub. I had the same thing in Paris 2 years ago. Spread lots of towels on the floor, or you'll have a big mess! The water pressure was very strong, and there was always plenty of hot water. Ample vials containing shampoo "champu", "body milk" and other things were provided each day. The floors are numbered oddly, for Americans. The bottom most floor was -2. Our meeting rooms were on -1. Breakfast was on floor A. The lobby is on floor 0. Breakfast was included in our room rate. At one end of the buffet they had doughnuts, sometimes chocolate doughnuts too, croissants with a sticky glaze, and some other sweet pastries. They also had platters of fresh watermelon and pineapple. They had bowls of corn flakes, cocoa puffs, and one other cereal, with carafes of skim milk or whole milk available. There were carafes of orange and apple juice, and a toaster available with several different kinds of bread. There were a few assembled sandwiches - I always chose the small rolls with a slice of ham and cheese on them, and there were platters of cheese and assorted meats (ham and turkey) available, along with assorted small pots of jelly, marmelade, etc. Circulating waiters would bring coffee, and I found out on the last morning, after one of my colleagues ordered a "Coca light" that they would even bring a Diet Coke, although our waiter frowned a lot....probably to let us know that we "weren't supposed" to be ordering such things at breakfast. I've heard reports of the breakfast being 18 euros - which given the current exchange rate would be about $28 American dollars....no way would I pay that amount for breakfast out of my own pocket, but since it was part of our negotiated business meeting rate, it was fine. It's not really pointed out, but there is a small 'menu' on the table that lets you know that you can order eggs from the kitchen, for no additional charge. The meeting rooms were on floor -1. They were adequate - the chairs were a little uncomfortable for some of our bigger colleagues, since they had arms on them. The 'snack breaks' were fine, with coffee and tea available. The afternoon snack consisted of several different kinds of cookies, which were all fine. The hotel itself is in a great location, close to many tourist attractions, and shopping. One night we turned right outside the hotel entrance and walked two blocks up to a restaurant called "Salt and Pepper" (translation) which was a tapas bar. One member in our group speaks Spanish, and he ordered for the table. We had an assortment of tapas, and they were generous with circulating with bottles of red and white wine. The next night we had a planned group dinner for the entire group at another tapas restaurant right on the Pl. de Gracias. Way too much raw fish and seafood for me, but the Spaniards make terrific ham, and there was always good bread and cheese to be had. Their national dish of bread rubbed with olive oil and tomato was great when the bread was toasted first, but soggy otherwise. I never did see the restaurant Citrus that others have referred to. I didn't do any shopping myself - when we walked to our group dinner we passed Dolce and Gabbana, and Ferragamo - not exactly the Wal-mart where I'm used to buying clothes and shoes (insert a wink here!) I would not hesitate to stay again at the AC Diplomatic. The location was good, the staff were friendly, and thankfully spoke good English (my Spanish is horrible, although I always tried it, to be polite). I can recommend the club sandwich through room service, but I'd avoid the hamburger. Two colleagues got sick, and attribute it to the hamburger, which was served fairly rare. The front desk staff have some excellent maps, and can direct you to wherever you want to go. One of the best ways to explore Barcelona, though, is just to get out there and walk around. Ask the front desk for a card with the hotel address - they aren't the only AC hotel in town - and if you get lost, at least you can always flag down a cab and show them the card, to get back.