The Level At Melia Barcelona Sky

I'm sitting with a glass of Champagne, enjoying the last of my birthday and the spectacular city view at The Level as I write this. We had booked a basic room package but were offered an upgrade, and I'm glad we accepted it. Every moment from when we arrived was amazing, and I would recommend this place again and again. A huge thank you to Laressa and Antonio at the Level for being kind, prompt and so helpful. The rest of the staff, especially the ladies at the spa, were just as wonderful. They made my 37th birthday beautiful and gave me a memory I'll always cherish. I had the most amazing four-night stay.

We came to Barcelona for a wedding and had one of the worst hotel stays I've had. We've travelled all over Europe and the US, but have never had service this bad. Our room had a leaking shower and electrical issues, and customer service seemed to disregard our concerns. After a frustrating amount of complaining, they offered Melia rewards points. We reluctantly accepted because dealing with Melia's corporate customer service was just as frustrating. Nobody warned us the points would expire in 10-12 months. We only found that out 14 months later when we tried to use them for another trip, so the compensation was essentially nothing. I've tried following up to renew the points, with no success. I've stayed at three-star hotels with better rooms, service and hospitality than this place could ever imagine offering. This stay ruined my Barcelona trip, and after such an awful experience I'll never stay at another Melia property. Stay somewhere else.

The lounge staff and hotel team were friendly, but I wouldn't call this a five-star hotel. I had to ask for my room to be cleaned. The Level lounge didn't feel worth the money. There wasn't much to eat, and the coffee was from a Nespresso machine. To be clear, the lounge does have fruit juice, soft drinks and wine during the day, plus different spirits in the evening. I still expected a fresh coffee machine. Sorry for any confusion.

The reception staff were friendly and helpful, but the hotel's quality was embarrassing for €400 a night. My studio smelled of urine, and I eventually found a urine-soaked carpet in the toilet room. A carpet in a toilet, and the shower was already full of mold. I asked several times for cleaning. After a day, maintenance came and painted over some of the mold, but nobody dealt with the carpet. They said cleaners couldn't enter because the 'Do not disturb' sign was on the door. That wasn't true: I let the cleaners in myself and showed them what needed attention. Too tired to move to another hotel, I went to a 24-hour shop and bought cleaning products and air fresheners to manage the smell. I still haven't been reimbursed for those items. After three days of complaints and conversations with managers, I was finally offered another room. I looked at three studios, and two had lots of broken parts, including shower doors. I chose the least bad one. It had a broken interior door and a light-blocking curtain that was too short, so I had to stretch it and wedge it against a door to cover the windows. They offered a 4 p.m. late checkout as compensation. On checkout day, I went to buy snacks for my flight and got back at noon to find my keys cancelled. I couldn't use the lift to reach my room. Reception needed my passport to reactivate the keys, but I'd left it there while I was still packing.