SLS Barcelona

It's is not very often that I am lost for words but this 7 night stay at the relatively new SLS Barcelona (an alleged 5* property) was an epic failure. The hotel opened in May and by August one would have assumed that opening problems were solved. They were not. Given some of the appalling reviews online (those from real travellers, not the one post ever starlet/influencer nonsense posts) I already had second thoughts about this stay but having emailed the property in advance to inquire whether all facilities would be operating I was assured they were. This was already the first non-truth. The tapas restaurant closed down on day one of my stay and more than half of the menu was unavailable. Let's start with arrival. There are no porters available to help you with luggage, only grumpy looking security guards that never ever greet guests. The guards are there because this hotel is located in a less than desirable location (my fault for not researching more). It is frankly a sketchy location, in between a motorway, a waste incinerator and a half dead marina with most shops boarded up. This is not an "up and coming" location, trust me. The front desk (only 2 staff working for a 471 keys property) was a zoo, with large queues and no visible Accor ALL priority desk. When I asked for a priority check in a "manager" appeared to do the formalities. The hotel prior to arrival asked for my arrival time, but nothing was pre-prepared. What's the point of asking then? The room was upgraded from a junior suite to a full suite. The room on the 1st floor facing the marina was decent but unfortunately I was woken by construction noise right outside on the public foot path. In fairness the guest experience manager Florencia moved me to the 3rd floor which was better (and had a better outdoor space). She really tried to make this stay better but was clearly up against a deeply mismanaged hotel with no clear systems or trained staff in place. The suite featured a living/dining room, bar area with Nespresso machine and minibar, guest toilet and a large bedroom with a free standing bathtub (looks good on Instagram but is a complete waste of space in my view, no bath amenities were provided (e.g. salts)). The bathroom was large with a decent shower (though outside prime showering time the hot water took 15 minutes to arrive). The outside featured a wrap around terrace with 2 sun loungers and a day bed outside the bedroom and two more seats on the living room side. A new feature in the never ending saga of misguided hotel designs were touch screen controls for curtains and lights next to the bed with motion sensors which illuminate when you toss and turn in bed at night.... That said the room was the best part of the hotel if you ignored everything else. Facilities: The hotel has 2 pools: one the 1st floor (totally overcrowded and manic) and one the 6th floor (still busy but at least you have a chance of getting a lounger if you arrive early). What it is missing though is any design to make it a pleasant location, no greenery, no shade (umbrellas or sun sails) in 35c heat (they hand out hats). At least you have a nice view of the waste incinerator (which could have easily been blocked with some design features and some walls). Shout out to server Charleen, the only staff member with a smile and a positive vibe in the entire hotel. With one restaurant now closed the main restaurant was the only dinner venue. Food was ok (expensive) but the service was a mess, staff there were completely untrained and people were receiving food before they even got their drinks. The breakfast (€35/person) served in the same venue was poor and badly organised. Long queues were forming at the front desk. Once shown to your table they pour you your OJ but not coffee which you are supposed to get yourself from industrial Nespresso!!! machines (so much for a 5* experience). I told them to get lost with this and they managed to serve coffee at the table but frankly staff attitude sucked. The food on offer was mediocre and the range poor, more akin to Ibis. The egg stations only operate on weekdays if you can believe it. When I asked a chef I was rudely told this was the way it is. The range of food and quality (and the Nespressso coffee) was not worth €35. Front desk staff had no idea about the free Accor ALL Diamond breakfast at weekends. Service: This is where it gets spicy. Service was dreadful bordering on rude. As already mentioned they are understaffed and those working are untrained but have time to chat among themselves. Turn down service was hit and miss. For a 5* resort hotel I would expect the bed readied (never happened) and the room cleaned and fresh towels provided but alas no, they missed it on several days. Housekeeping (outsourced to another company) just did not do its job, even when specifically asked. Nobody greets you by name, nobody smiles. It took 3 days for the welcome amenity to materialise. The hotel lobby has the stench of stagnant water and no amount of live DJs can cover that it is a truly unpleasant place to be. The room has an ice bucket but there are no ice machines anywhere in the hotel. Instead you have to call and they charge you a €5 delivery charge, I must have "paid" over €100 for ice alone.... The GM was never visible throughout the week. He should hang his head in shame for running such an amateur operation. Checkout was the best part. Luckily a guest experience manager was on duty and when he asked how my stay was he got the whole list. In fairness he took over €400 off the bill (that is after another €100 F&B credit already added for poor service earlier in the week) and encouraged me to give them another try. I did appreciate the gesture. In summary, this stay was a mess from beginning to the end. The hotel is all furcoat and no knickers (or style but no substance). You had to laugh though at the camaraderie among hotel guests, all swapping stories about how bad the place is (from the couple from New Zealand given a room next to the motorway and the French guy at dinner who went apoplectic about the service to the two other guest at check out all complaining simultaneous to staff). You can claim to be a "lifestyle" hotel only if you get the hotelier parts right, here they don't. If you stayed at another SLS hotel before (as I have) you are in for a very rude awakening. This hotel has no business being part of Ennismore/Accor in its current form.

We stayed as a couple for a relaxing holiday. It’s our -teenth stay in Barcelona so we didn’t mind staying away from the city center. The hotel is new and lovely, excellent food, friendly staff. We enjoyed our stay overall. It’s a short walk to the sea, and a loooooong walk to the center. The gym is amazing, and maybe that’s why people actually use it. The spa was still closed to our disappointment. Upstairs pool had absolutely no shade.

I must admit when my girlfriend booked this we were really worried looking at reviews but this place was amazing! Best hotel we have ever stayed and will be going back. All the staff were very friendly special mention to (valentina) she was brilliant! Rooms very clean, pools brilliant, fantastic breakfast. You are out of town but there is a free shuttle into town and back again. There isn’t any smells as other people have stated. You do pay €100 per night as a deposit and it will be refunded the week after your stay. Easy check in and check out. Really looking forward to going back! Paul and Sammi

Arrived for 1 night pre cruise, as a new hotel, as expected, the hotel was clean, and finished to a high standard. Staff were very friendly. Breakfast was good, but the tapas in the evening, was very average . beware, none of the pools were open until 10am, which as an early riser, was quite inconvenient . The pool was very cold. I booked and pre paid, via Amex. platinum card, and on check out, they tried to charge me again for the room, which had already been paid for. It was only when I showed my Amex paid invoice , that they agreed not to charge me again, very poor. The price of the room was good, as I am sure as a new hotel, they wish to encourage guests to stay, but even at that price, unlikely that I will stay again

+Breakfast, good cleaning. Staff nice in general. -I am still waiting for the 800 euro deposit after over 9 days. Raised an issue and not satisfied answers! I could not use the deposit at the hotel because they credit other room in error. - Bar downstairs refused to give ice for the room. Was told to call guest service. no answer.. -No upgrade despite 2 rooms for longer and loyal member. Bar upstairs refused to take drink vouchers. OK, it is a nice hotel but a bit outside the center. Taxis tried to scam even the official ones. A trip to center should not cost more than 20 Euro depending on trafic. Ask for reciept. Check taxameter before the stop. Aftermath is a bit terrible becouse of the administration. What 5 star hotel can not provide some ice for a customer?