A Weekend in Barcelona
- RetiredCormac
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
Our drive down to Heathrow was fine until we got with spitting distance and a self-inflicted diversion meant to save some time went horribly wrong. We lost nearly an hour in traffic as we watched planes land. Thankfully the process of dropping the car off at Purple Parking, bus to airport, and security / we were travelling hand baggage only - were all pretty good to us. Leaving nearly an hour in the lounge for an early lunch and a couple of glasses of champagne each. Jane is a dab hand at seeking this out from the many staff in the business lounge - you need to specifically ask for champagne, otherwise it is self pour Prosecco. It will be Cava once we land in Spain….
Gate A20 appeared on the app, well before the terminal screens (50mins before planned departure time) as advertised.
Jeez - how hard is it to get out of Heathrow. It’s 30mins since BA748 left the gate and started our taxi. Waiting now at the end of the runway whilst loads of other planes appear to jump in, in front of us rev engines and disappear into the clouds.
The pilots are going to have to fly this plane like they stole it to arrive in Barcelona anywhere near on time.
Lounge and priority boarding as a result of my status match from Hilton Diamond to Royal Jordanian Gold Sparrow (eagle or hawk would have sounded so much better) paid off again - $149 well spent.
Sleepy time…..
That didn’t work. I’m still awake and we are nowhere near Barcelona.
Snacks and water compliments from BA. It’s a bit naff - but it seems you now get a choice of a weird corn snack or 2 Hob Nobs.
Looking around it seems most people have opted to bring on a meal deal. Certainly looks more appealing.
If there was anything ever exciting or exotic about flying those times are gone. We are on a metal tube shaped bus flying through the air with everyone you’d typically find on a bus. Exceptions are lack of WiFi - you get that on buses now, and everyone is eating, oh and it doesn’t stop.
People are the same everywhere. Lacking self awareness, manners, and the most common basic social skills. Knobbers. Don’t take your shoes off, pick your nose, cough without covering your mouth.
The seats aren’t very comfortable on this a321 neo, but at least they don’t have a recline option - otherwise I’m pretty sure I would be in a seat sandwich now.
Pilot has confirmed that we are scheduled to land on time - which is welcome news. Maybe the travel gods are back on my side?
Landing - and not a long taxi to the stand. BCN 1 LHR 0
Irish passports - winner winner chicken dinner. No queue at the border and we were probably at the hotel, before some of our UK comrades from the flight had cleared the airport.
Uber was the initial plan - but surge pricing or whatever had kicked in - and it was silly pricing.
So we bought 3 day travel passes for a little bit more than the one Uber trip.
Some time later…..
Whilst the metro is very good for getting about - we have preferred to walk all weekend, taking the back streets rather than the larger commercial streets. You get cooler bars, an insight into local life, and less traffic and tourists.
That tourist pass is now looking like poor value. But our steps for this holiday are looking pretty healthy - Saturday was 12km, Sunday 6km, Monday another 6km. It's a nice city to walk around, with quite a variety of safe neighbourhoods.
Food and drinks across the city haven’t disappointed, both in terms of quality and price? Meal for 2 for 40 Euro, two drinks for under 5 Euro in a major city? Where else can you get that sort of value.
Saturday evening was well spent at the bottom of the Olympic Hill - watching stage 1 of the Tour de France - the team time trial. There was a good atmosphere, and it was fun to watch, albeit a bit difficult to follow without a screen and a constant stream of reliable data.
Live sport is great - but works better for those sports that are played on a pitch, field or track where you can see everything. Being at the bottom of the hill we had no appreciation of the excitement at the finish line.
Sunday was a balancing act of Tour de France and F1. The location at Collblanc, a 25-minute walk from the hotel, was a good spot to watch the race come into Barcelona - there were plenty of spectators, but it wasn’t overly crowded. We had our own race back to the hotel, having mistakenly understood that the F1 race started at 17:00. It had actually started at 16:00 - so we got to see the last lap - which dissappointly finished under a safety car. Jane was happy that Charles won.
On Monday, we left our luggage at the hotel and took a last walk around the city - visiting La Rambla and the beach. Our lunch was down near the big fish sculpture and was again very nice and very reasonably priced. It was however just warm, rather than hot. That said at well over 30 degrees in the sun, I’m not sure that piping hot food would have been the right way to go anyway.
Our trip back to the airport was uneventful. We were able to squeeze a little more value out of the travel passes. Make sure and retain them for exiting at the airport - it appears that the airport metro train is the only time you need a ticket to exit a station.
The flight back, bus back to the parking and drive home were all uneventful - thank god the traffic issues of our trip down weren’t repeated.
Restaurants wise we have eaten at the following;
Cecconi’s Barcelona - this was a nice place. I opted for Pizza which maybe was an error - it was stone baked in an oven stacked with wooden logs - but Jane’s lobster pasta looked better.
Birras&Tapas - one word efficient. Ordering via a QR code or screen, and drinks and food would appear so promptly - it was impressive. Food was tapas - as you’d expect.
Restaurant mi Terra Badal - Colombian food. Felt authentic, and was busy with lots of locals - it was a good feed. If a bit bland.
Room - Spanish food - simple menu, down by the sea, next to the casino. Very reasonably priced.
In other news….
I feel the Hilton deserves its own little sub-segment;
Hilton online check-in promises an upgrade as a result of my Diamond status. However when I tried to select the room, I can’t. Online help can’t help - the irony. They forwarded my chat to the hotel front desk who appear to be unavailable to respond.
The Hilton Barcelona came in at 55,000 points per night for Tour de France Grand Depart weekend. So just under £200 each night if converted into real money. Its position was good for accessing the racing, might be a bit far out of town for some - but the metro is efficient and runs close by - so I don’t think the location is anything to be concerned about.
It was a little more expensive than I wanted to pay - but chosen for our free breakfasts, lounge with Diamond status, and 3 more nights closer to another year of Diamond from April 2027 to March 2028.
As we checked in, we were informed that the Executive Lounge happy hour for the summer is located on the restaurant terrace - as it happens, it’s a pretty good idea. It’s a nice 30 degrees celsius in the shade and they are serving complimentary cold Estrella, wine and soft drinks from 6 to 8.
We missed Saturday night due to a clash with the cycling.
On Sunday night - we were directed back to the indoor Executive Lounge. There looked to be some sort of party in the restaurant which was temporarily being used as the executive lounge. Which I assume was the reason for the unadvertised change.
The indoor Executive Lounge on the 4th floor was terrible in comparison. The high ceiling, hard floor and lack of soft furnishings meant that it was very noisy. The sound just reverberated around - banging of dishes, loud competing conversations instead of clinking of glasses and quiet muffled murmur of people enjoying themselves. There were too many people for such a small place, and the lack of windows made it even more soulless.
The food selection was poor - a repeat of Friday night’s, and well short of what we have experienced elsewhere with Hilton. Beers and wine were nice.
The sensible people left early to seek some food elsewhere.
We opted for a pizza and a plate of pasta in a restaurant at the back of the shopping centre located on the main road 200m to the right.
It does highlight though how much location matters - as it was probably the same food selection, drinks offering etc, as the Friday night on the terrace of the restaurant that we quite enjoyed.
I wouldn’t pay for the lounge - it’s simply not good value.
One very specific complaint. There is also something wrong with the bench on the right hand side as you walk into the lounge. It runs for 50% of the length of the room. When one person on the bench moves, the seating for all seems to tilt forward a little - it’s just weird.
Breakfast at the Hilton Barcelona has also been disappointing. Whilst eggs are available to order, an egg station would be a good addition. The toaster is poor - it warms rather than toasts, and the water isn’t hot enough to make a good pot of tea. If you don’t have breakfast as part of your room rate, I would suggest sourcing it elsewhere.
I’m unsure if we were unlucky, whether there was a fault with my booking, or it was an issue with the hotel but we had a number of simple issues.
Morning of day 2, our first breakfast we were kept waiting in the breakfast queue for the host to determine via the front desk whether we had breakfast in our room rate or not. It’s a benefit of Diamond status.
Both key cards then stopped working on morning of day 3, back down from 11th floor to reception to get them re-enabled.
Evening of day 3 - cards don’t work for Executive Lounge, again back down to reception to get them re-enabled.
Morning of day 4 - cards stopped working after breakfast - so couldn’t get back into our room, back down to reception again!
Each time, they somehow didn’t appreciate how frustrating this was.
No apology each time - just a new set of keys cut, suggesting it isn’t something out of the ordinary.
Would I come back next time I’m in Barcelona?
I don’t think so. The potential for the lounge to be inside would put me off, as would the breakfast offering.
I think I’d give one of the many other Hiltons in Barcelona a chance.
