More about Renaissance Barcelona Airport
Bring your own food
by TripAdvisor Member SpeedSki
We stayed at the Renaissance Barcelona Airport Hotel for 3 days prior to boarding a ship for a Mediterannean crise. We were travelling with children. The main problem was food. The hotel is in an industrial zone by the airport. There is no place to buy food. There is a tiny bar across the street from the hotel, but the hotel staff will not tell you about it if you ask where to eat. The bar closes at 5pm. After that, the only place to eat is in the hotel restaurant and hotel bar, both VERY expensive. Lunch for 5 (pizza and sandwitches) was $90 euro--well over $100 US. The full service restaurant was even more expensive with a limited menu and mediocre food. Room service prices were astronomical. We finally took a cab to a Carrefour store to buy food so the kids would have something to eat.
If you like ice, you are in trouble. There are ice machines on 3 of 4 floors, but they make about 1 cube per hour. I called the front desk to ask for a bucket of ice to be delivered, but it never came.
The location is a $15 euro cab ride into Barcelona, so even going out to eat at a reasonable restaurant in the city became an expensive proposition.
There is a free hotel van that will take you into the city, but it only runs a few times in the morning and a few times in the evening. We had no problems with the free van to and from the airport. We also tried taking a city bus to Barcelona. It was inexpensive-- 1.25 euro per person, but took 30 minutes to get to the city.
On the plus side, the beds were great. The hotel concierge was great and had maps to help us get around the city and made restaurant reservations for us at a great seafood waterfront restaurant. The pool was nice, but closes at 7 pm.
The front desk staff just couldn't seem to get their act together. Every visit to the front desk was at least a 15 minute wait.
If all you need is a place to stay over between flights, and you don't need to eat and you don't like ice, this hotel may be for you.
Very comfortable stay at Renaissance Airport hotel.
by TripAdvisor Member Trainlovers2
I booked this hotel for three nights because I thought the price was good at around $145 Australian per night for a four star hotel. Although we had some misgivings about the distance from Barcelona city ( three stops on the local train and a five minute trip on the hotel shuttle) we thought the hotel was excellent value for money and we found the journey in and out to be not as much of a problem as we had anticipated. After travelling around Spain and Portugal for four weeks we were delighted with the quiet environment of the Renaissance - our first really good sleep in four weeks of travelling! The king sized bed with a choice of pillows was pure luxury, the bathroom, with bath, was spacious, and the hotel provided bottled water in the rooms.The only downside was that breakfast was expensive as was the limited menu in the hotel restaurant. As our breakfast was usually fruit, with a later coffee, this was not so much of a problem but for others it might be.
Misleading Title, and horrible management
by TripAdvisor Member Moises07
We just came back from a trip around Europe. We stayed at 6 different Marriott hotels, all excellent except for this one. When we first arrived at the Barcelona Airport we had to take a taxi ($20) at 12:30am to the hotel because the shuttle between the hotel and airport stops running at 12am. Now, that was the first problem. How are you going to bill yourself as an Airport Hotel and not have a shuttle while the airport is open? There is a big difference between an airport hotel, and a hotel located in the airport property. Once at the hotel we were waiting for 30 minutes to check in when this big tour group arrives, goes ahead of us in the line, and are given all their rooms. When our turn finally arrived to check in we were told that our room, which we booked 2 months ahead, was not available! To compensate, Marriott booked a room for us complimentary, and for the other stranded guests, at a hotel that was 40 minutes out of the airport and out of Barcelona. What was supposed to be a really convenient and easy check in turned into a nightmare.
Fantastic Experience
by TripAdvisor Member Aguilas
I really can’t understand the very negative reviews this hotel has received. In my experience it was fantastic. The location is typical of airport hotels anywhere in the world. I can only assume the folks who complain about it have not done their research as to location or have never stayed in any other airport hotel.
The Renaissance offers a convenient, regular hassle free transfer to and from the airport (the rationale of airport hotels) and I would certainly stay here again when wanting to be close to the airport for late arrivals or early getaways.
Both inside and out are ultra modern. The rooms are extremely comfortable with enormous beds, luxurious bathrooms, and good quality toiletries.
The staff were fantastic, we mentioned, in passing, that it was our wedding anniversary and when we arrived back in our room the staff had delivered a complementary bottle of champagne.
The only downside was the Restaurant Manager who ignored all guests, apart from the Americans whom he fawned over at great length. As we all know, overall Americans are not the most experienced of travellers so this probably did their egos the world of good but at the expense of everyone else.
Believe the bad reviews!
by TripAdvisor Member elitistgirl
If you do anything, please believe the bad reviews of this hotel. It's convenient to the airport, the bed and furniture are nice but the walls are dirty, the staff is next to useless, the food is absolutely horrible and there is nothing else within walking distance to eat. Of course, the prices for rooms and food are through the roof. And beware of the pool! Both my husband and brother in law cut their feet on the tiles in the pool and my toddler son fell in an uncovered hole and skinned his lower leg up.
Also, we think there was a con man posed as hotel staff that wanted to "check our room for our room service cart " and took our breakfast order card that never made it to the kitchen. Very sketchy. Thankfully, we didn't let him in the room.
Do yourself a favor and do not stay here!
Dirty, skip the restaurant
by TripAdvisor Member Samantha2007
We arrived in the afteroon to relax before an early morning flight the next day. The public areas were filthy, but our room was fine. The pool was relaxing.
The restaurant had such a strange and overpriced menu that we decided to skp it and go to a local buffet libre within walking distance of the hotel. It was ok, with painters and day laborers eating along side office workers. The problem was dinner. Since the hotel sits in an office complex there was no food within walking distance. We had already returned our rental car so we were stuck. We ended up walking to a gas station for beer and pizza.
Nice room....but
by TripAdvisor Member clpv135
As an "experienced" American traveler, I can honestly say this hotel does not live up to the "Marriot" name. The room and bathroom were nice and modern, but that did not make up for the fact you cannot exchange traveler's cheques for Euros; have to call room service for ice - or go down to the bar, as none of the ice machines worked on any of the floors; no gift or sundry shop in the hotel or in the vicinity of the hotel; could not get anyone on the phone i.e., Operator; "ran out of wash cloths" - and did not have them but for 1 day of a 4 day stay; bar soap must be a rare commodity like wash cloths; awlful restaurant food - both lunch and dinner; dishes and trash were left in the 2nd floor reception area for over 24 hours - i reported this to the front desk myself as quality controls are apparantly lacking; and the walls are paper thin....I would never stay here again.
Please take a trip downtown instead.
by TripAdvisor Member lyah
This hotel was a bad decision. The rooms are nice but everything else was a problem. The food was very limited and very expensive. The lobby was very crowded. Thee pool looked like it was dropped in a deserted area and not inviting. There were no facilities for children. Then there was the Elite Zone, an area no one told you about. My friend bookeda suite and was in the elite zone, she was not aware of the separate services which included brakfast until she saw people eating the next day.
Most taxi drivers never heard about the hotel, you only confuse them more if you say Marriott.
This hotel does not deserve to have the Marriott name.
You're better off taking a taxi for 20 euros and staying downtown next to the restaurants and shopping.
Sign in with Facebook
