Claris Hotel & Spa GL, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World

A beautiful hotel in a great location. Easy access to public transport to get around the city but equally as much to see and do locally to the hotel. The staff are friendly and attentive. Our room was spotless and was made up beautifully every day. The rooftop bar and pool is superb. There are only 8 sunbeds but we managed to get some time on a sunbed most days. There is no shade around the pool but there is shade on the seated areas and sofas in the bar area for some respite from the sun. Evening drinks on the terrace are a must, it’s simply stunning and very chilled. Breakfast was fantastic with a range of egg options cooked to order. A great base from which to explore Barcelona!

Hilton elite loyalty recognition: none – apart from breakfast (which they are required to honour under the terms of the deal with Hilton), nada. From very simple things like some local amenity (which, depending on the location, could be fruit, cake, or a bottle of local wine) or a simple welcome card or a flower – nothing.

The hotel was not at full capacity when I checked in: a range of rooms was available to book on the app, including categories 'above' the one that I booked (so not a multiple-category jump). A Hilton loyalty upgrade was refused because it is 'subject to availability' and the hotel 'was full' (it was not, and it remained like this throughout my stay – the occupancy rate on the last night was 50% according to a receptionist when I asked for a late check-out – which was also denied – see below. Reception staff seem to be generally well trained in fobbing off any requests by constructing a story, let's put it that way, about how busy the hotel is). I then asked how much it was to upgrade, and the price was immediately given: 60 Euros a night to the next category.

A similar scenario when requesting a 2-hour late check-out: 'we are very busy', 'subject to availability' – even though the night before I was told the hotel was only 50% occupied. When pushed, they extended their 'courtesy' and offered one extra hour. When I was checking out, at 1 pm – lots of people who were checking in were sent away (to come back later) since the check-in time is 3 and 'your room is not ready'; early check-in is 'subject to availability'.

Construction noise: a block of rooms on the 6th floor, where my room was, is being refurbished, with varying degrees of construction noise that comes with it; dust and construction workers going back and forth (and speaking loudly). They built an enclosure to minimize some of it, but it just does not work (especially with the enclosure entrance kept open all the time). I asked for a different room; I was then shown a similar-category room, but one that was worse – it was not 'recently renovated' and looked into a rather unattractive space at the back of the hotel, so basically a choice between the bad and the worse? Again, low levels of occupancy and plenty of categories above to move to.

Room: I was allocated a 'beautiful recently renovated' room. It was cosy but did not quite feel as if it was recently renovated – the paint has certainly had time to dry, so to speak. The room itself was dark, with a small window (thankfully onto the main street; some of the rooms look out onto a rather unattractive external courtyard, and I think some are even inner-courtyard-looking), which had a built-in electric blind that would not go fully up.

The bathroom is small, with a single sink; the extractor fan was not working, so it was steaming up quite badly with the shower on (no bath).

The pillow menu was available, and I phoned on day 2 to ask for feather pillows (and then asked housekeeping separately), but they were never delivered (by day 5).

Breakfast: the basement-level space is nice, and white linen tablecloths make a difference, but the service is chaotic. There are different people doing different things: some will take your egg order but will not bring you a coffee, for example. The service is very performative but not efficient, with a varying degree of local 'charm' (or dismissive attitude – depends on how you look at these things). I tried different egg dishes; fried eggs were very greasy; an omelette was undercooked and not salted at all, so very bland; a restricted choice of things like local cheeses and hams was there, but it remained the same throughout my stay, and I was struggling towards the end in terms of what to go for.

Pool on the 7th floor: it was very hot in Barcelona when I was there; however, things were not made easier by the pool setup. There were sunbed/loungers around the small pool, but there were no umbrellas; there were some umbrellas over the seating areas next to the pool, but those seating areas are more for sitting to have a drink rather than being where you sit in your bathing suit on a 'pool day'. There were no water misters or anything to help alleviate the heat.

Pool towels were yellow-stained – at least the first two I picked up from the pile (no pool attendant as such, so you make up your own pool bed).

There are other 'small' things which I could write about which, to me, are as removed from the luxury, care, and attention that paying guests should receive at a property of this calibre, but the aspects above are enough for me not to consider coming back or to recommend anyone (especially Hilton loyalty members, and, I can't imagine, there will be elevated levels of SLH loyalty recognition given the overall attitude) to stay.

Plenty of choices in Barcelona: LHW's Majestic next door looked amazing!

PS: reading previous reviews and responses, I expect the response from the property will come with a very well rehearsed 'subject to availability' plastered all over it. Yes, yes, we know. But plenty of things you can do better - not subject to availability but to your willingness to train your staff and invest in service.

The location was very walkable to many places, public transit was also readily available. Rooms and establishment was very clean. The breakfast was outstanding. Due to all of the Egyptian artifactsit was like staying in a museum. Staff was very kind and courteous. We where also able to leave our luggage both befor and after our stay. Coffee cup in room was very tiny comparied to American size. Not a problem just not what we are used to. Roof toop pool had impressive views of the city. We had one small problem as we asked for ice at 3:15 and we where told it would be there in about 15mn, by 5:30 it still hadnt arrived so we went out walking, returned about 8:30 and went to bed. A little after we went to bed someone opened our door, we did not hear a knock. We starteled and they said something and left. We thought maybe it was someone trying to deliver "ice". 8:30 is not our normal bedtime but we had spent 15hours and 3 plain changes flying from a different time zone so we where tired. We would definintely stay here again.

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience deserves one.

During our stay, my late mother's Figaro bracelet disappeared from our room. It was the only piece of jewelry I had left from her and is completely irreplaceable.

Before leaving for the beach, I left the bracelet on the bedside table (safe was not working). When we returned, it was gone. We immediately notified the hotel and later filed a police report.

The hotel confirmed through its keycard records that no one entered our room other than ourselves and hotel staff during the time the bracelet disappeared. Despite that, we were repeatedly told over the phone that what I was saying "could not be true" and that I must have misplaced it somewhere else. Funny considering I've never misplaced it or any other jewelry my entire life. That response was as hurtful as it was dismissive and honestly his tone was rude.

Their follow-up investigation amounted to telling us they reviewed cameras, asked the housekeeper (who has worked there for 15 years), checked the laundry and trash, and found nothing. That may satisfy the hotel internally, but it does nothing to explain how an irreplaceable family heirloom vanished from a room that only hotel staff accessed while we were away.

What disappointed me most wasn't even the loss itself—it was the complete lack of accountability or genuine empathy. At every step, the focus seemed to be on defending the hotel rather than acknowledging the seriousness of what had happened to a guest.

One thing I also noticed while researching this hotel is that management seems to argue with many negative reviews rather than reflect on them. After our experience, that pattern makes perfect sense.

I cannot recommend staying here. We left Barcelona without the last piece of jewelry I had from my mother, and the way this hotel handled the situation made an already devastating loss even worse.

Very positive experience staying at this hotel. Fantastic location, central to lots of things to see and do in Barcelona. Hotel staff were incredibly helpful. We did our laundry service at this hotel (many items) and everything was handled perfectly and returned to us well within the required time. The hotel are exceptional at looking after their guests and recognising special occasions (including both my honeymoon and birthday).

The lobby area is slightly underwhelming when you first arrive but the hotel really exceeds expectations when it comes to service, room quality, location, and the rooftop pool area. A few nice extras (e.g. free minibar in our case) were also much appreciated. The Claris has character and lives up to the standards of SLH. We would happily return.

todo bien

Excellent location. Could walk to many locations and also close to metro. Staff were super helpful with where to eat etc. Rooms were spacious and very comfortable.

It's the second time we stayed at this hotel. The first time was four years ago. We simply like the location and the roof top pool very much.

Excellent breakfast and spa.

We loved our one night by stay at this hotel. Amazing staff for whom nothing was too much trouble. The rooms were comfortable with lots of extra touches like a free mini bar containing beer, water and soda.
The pool area was immaculate and had lovely comfortable furniture. Reasonably centrally located. Jars of sweets and glasses of water were available as soon as you entered the hotel which was a nice touch.
Breakfast was cooked to order with continental available as a buffet and was exceptional.
The rooms we felt could do with a refurb, the decor was a little dark but overall a gem of a place with staff who really are amongst some of the best we’ve ever seen.

Location was superb. The staff prior to arrival and during stay were exceptional. Prompt responses, nothing was too much trouble. We needed luggage lock and one of the porter/door staff went and sourced one for us. Truly great.
The Terazza bar and restaurant were fantastic - nothing better than a roof top bar. The staff there, especially Jose were exceptional.
Highly recommend.

The entire experience was fantastic and above and beyond the service we receive at other hotels of similar stature. For starters, the rooms are beautiful and resemble a museum. The food was delicious. What really stood out was the staff and their attention to detail. I haven’t come across a better or more dedicated group of individuals in my many years of traveling. Osama was an absolute treasure every step of the way and I wish he could teach all hotels how to properly treat their guests. As an example- when he learned we had an early flight he arranged for a picnic basket breakfast that was ready when our uber arrived at 3:30 AM. I have been Hilton Diamond for many years, and don’t recall receiving this high level of service anywhere else. Another honorable shoutout to Galeem who was the host at breakfast. He had my order memorized and brought it to me every day. I highly recommend this hotel.

We can’t praise all of the staff enough. This includes the gentlemen at the front door who greeted us and helped us with taxis during our stay, the front desk team who helped answer questions and made restaurant suggestions, the upstairs bar staff, housekeeping, and all of the breakfast staff. We want to specifically call out Lydia and Osama who went above and beyond to help us at check in tofind the ideal room upgrade for a very reasonable additional cost. Breakfast at the hotel was so delicious every day, and our dinner at the Japanese restaurant was amazing! We loved the hotel and its decor, the staff, location, our room, and the roof top pool. Truly a five star experience all the way around. Highly recommend it.