Hotel Sagrada Familia

The most serious problem was the laundry service. We filled out a form listing everything to be washed, but when our clothes came back to the room a few days later, one T-shirt was missing and the itemised list wasn't there. Reception said they couldn't help and told us to email the hotel. Our emails and follow-ups were ignored. We also tried WhatsApp and spent three weeks trying to resolve it and speak to a manager, but our requests were repeatedly refused. The hotel only offered compensation after we said we'd escalate to Barcelona Consumer Protection. They proposed credit for a future stay, which we found completely unacceptable. Why would we spend more money at a hotel where we'd already had so many problems? We rejected the offer and asked to be reimbursed for the missing item. After more discussions and a threat to contact consumer authorities, the hotel finally agreed to pay us. We did get reimbursed, but the whole process was needlessly difficult and time-consuming. There were other problems during our seven-night stay at Hotel Sagrada Familia, which was nowhere near as good as our visit 15 years ago. On arrival, we were given a tiny room with hardly any room to move around with our two large suitcases. Reception moved us to a bigger room, which was an acceptable size. We asked if the hotel offered room service and were told no. We then specifically asked whether that meant we had to go to reception for things like towels and toilet paper, and they said yes. When we later went down to ask for more toilet paper, which was poor quality and ran out quickly, staff laughed amongst themselves. We found that unprofessional and uncomfortable. Two days later, the room had been cleaned and tidied, showing that housekeeping was available after all. If we'd known, we wouldn't have left valuable belongings unsecured. We understand housekeeping staff are generally trustworthy, but guests should get accurate information so they can decide what to do with their belongings. When we pointed out the contradiction, reception said room service was available. Maybe there was a language misunderstanding, but that's unacceptable for a hotel mainly serving international tourists. The room also had maintenance issues: visible mould on the glass shower screen attached to the bathtub, and water leaked onto the bathroom floor every time we showered. Between the poor communication, misleading information, maintenance problems and missing laundry, we won't be returning.

We had to cancel seven bookings for our Spain trip. Every other host replied personally within 24 hours, and almost all gave us a refund. The refunds weren't the main thing; we really appreciated the personal response. This hotel failed at that. Service and help? None. Next time we'll use a better-known hotel chain. We'd booked two nights, March 22 and 23, through an accommodation app, choosing its non-refundable option. Our airline cancelled our flight from Australia to Barcelona a few days before we were due to arrive because of the conflict in Iran, and we couldn't arrange another flight at such short notice. We messaged the hotel through the app and emailed them directly, explained what had happened, apologised and asked if a refund or credit voucher might be possible. We understood they might not be able or willing to offer either, and wished them well. Neither message got a reply. On the second day of the booking, the hotel sent us a WhatsApp message noting we'd not arrived, asking if we had travel delays and threatening to cancel the booking. The representative wrote, “I’m here to help with anything you might need.” We replied straight away on WhatsApp, said we'd already contacted them twice without a response, and copied in our email in both Spanish and English. Again, no reply.

A pleasant stay. The room was basic but clean, and there are plenty of cafés and supermarkets nearby.

The bed was pretty uncomfortable, and we never got a restful night's sleep. Even though we stayed in January, our room was hot day and night, and the AC barely seemed to work. The shower was large, but could've used a shelf for toiletries. We didn't know washcloths aren't a thing in Spain, which was disappointing. It would've been nice to have takeaway coffee cups at the breakfast buffet, too. We wouldn't choose to stay here again.