Barcelona had been on my wishlist for a while, so when a deal came up on British Airways to use our air miles we snapped up the deal, as who doesn’t love a weekend in the sunshine. As part of the deal, we had a number of hotels to choose from, but after having cocktails at the Meliá in Paris we decided to give the Meliá Barcelona Sky skyscraper hotel designed by Dominique Perrault a chance, as who doesn’t love a hotel with a view.
The Meliá Barcelona Sky is like two hotels in one, up to the 14th floor it is a four-star, while between the 14th and 29th floors are part of The Level, a kind of exclusive club that gets five-star service as well as spectacular views. Of course, we wanted to be spoilt so we upgraded, and I’m glad we did as it meant we had breakfast on the 24th floor that has great views of the city, and we had access to The Level Lounge, which had snacks and drinks on offer throughout the day.
The hotel definitely has a business vibe to it, with grey decor and perforated steel panelling in the corridors and a high level of service, the staff are very friendly and helpful, however, it does also have lots of great facilities like the outdoor pool, which we could see from our room, a spa, a fitness centre, a cocktail bar and terrace and two restaurants.
Meliá Barcelona Sky – Location
Located in the Poblenou, the area often touted as Barcelona’s answer to New York’s Meatpacking District, the location is, however, more of a residential and business area than a lively centre, and if you like to eat locally to the hotel you might be out of luck. The hotel does have a great Mediterranean cuisine restaurant, Merkado on the ground floor, and the Skyline 24 Terrace that offers 360-degree views of the city and the Mediterranean.
The Meliá Barcelona Sky is however not far from Mar Bella Beach, which has a selection of bars and restaurants, and we didn’t have a problem grabbing a taxi into the centre of town or jumping on the metro, Poblenou was a 5-minute walk from the hotel, and there are also tram stops just outside. The hotel is also super close to where you can jump on one of the hop-on-hop-off tourist bus routes that
Meliá Barcelona Sky – Rooms
As part of The Level service, the rooms are more spacious and luxurious than the standard, smaller and cheaper rooms on the lower floors, however, they are slightly dull and grey, thankfully the spectacular views and floor-to-ceiling windows really makes up for the lack of colour in the room.
The minimalist rooms also feature premium dreammaker mattresses, an extensive pillow menu, TVs, Nespresso machines and kettles, iPod docking stations, minibars, dressing gowns, slippers and luxury toiletries.
We stayed in The Level Grand Premium with a Sea View, which also had a bath that was separated by glass from the bedroom, as well as a rain effect shower, a massive 55″ flatscreen TV and a little seating area. For a city break, this was plenty of room, and we found it very comfortable after a long day of sightseeing.
Meliá Barcelona Sky – Overall Feelings
Would I stay again? Yes, even though it seems too far out of Barcelona, I actually liked that we could leave the craziness as this is most definitely one of the touristy cities I have visited, much more so than Paris or even London. By staying a little way out it felt like a refuge and it didn’t hurt that it had incredible views, a gorgeous pool with a Moet bar, and I did really enjoy ‘Tapas Time’ as part of The Level service where there was cute hot and cold canapes, snacks, sandwiches, cakes and nibbles, as well as an open bar – if you wanted to open a bottle of Champagne you can!
I also really enjoyed the breakfast, the
As it is out of the centre it means that there is more room, like at the pool, it was a good size and there were plenty of loungers as well as cute cabanas with cushions that were super cosy and romantic, and a great cocktail bar. If you are done with sightseeing this is a great spot to relax.
