Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona: Review
Overview
Majestic Hotel & Spa has incredible service, setting, and services. It’s lovely and makes me feel like royalty.
Booking
We booked through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, using our AMEX Platinum Card. This gave us the following benefits:
USD$100 good & beverage credit. (we used it at the hotel’s incredible lounge)
Free breakfast for 2 people
Room upgrade when available (we DID get an upgrade)
Noon check-in
4pm checkout
While room rates at the hotel can hover around $500/night during the busy season, we were able to find rooms for $260/night at the beginning of December. Booking with our AMEX Platinum also gave us 5x points on the stay, yielding roughly 2,600 AMEX Membership Rewards points (or about $50 in future value).
Location
Located right on Passeig de Gracia, and nestled in the Eixample neighborhood, Hotel Majestic is gorgeous. It’s conveniently very close to one of our favorite neighborhoods (or barrios), Gracia, where there’s a ton of restaurants, bars, cafes, grocery stores (our favorite being Veritas), and barber shops. Eixample has a ton going on - it’s the “big city” side of Barcelona.
On Passeig de Gràcia, there’s much to explore - mainly, fancy shopping: Gucci, Tumi, Hermes, Boss, Tiffany, Burberry, Armani, et cetera… It’s a major thoroughfare which makes it lively and festive, especially during the holiday shopping season.
Room
In a word, decadent. Because we booked through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, our most recent stay resulted in an upgrade to a 1 bedroom suite. The room had a large bedroom and a separate sitting room. The room’s amenities included:
A gift of cookies and bottled water
Television in the living room and bedroom. Both of with we were easily able to plug in our Roku.
Nespresso coffee maker (with extra pods on request)
A large couch and coffee table
King bed
4 closets
A fabulous jacuzzi tub
A robust shower
Bidet, obviously
Dual vanity
Towel heaters
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona 1 BR Suite
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona 1 BR Suite living room
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona 1 BR Suite bedroom
Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona 1 BR Suite bathroom
Dining
The menu is definitely more omnivore-centric with some vegetarian and limited vegan. The staff is very kind and amenable, so it’s easy to ask and have them guide for dietary accommodations. Since there are so many vegan dining options in the city, we did not focus our energy on getting vegan meals out of the Majestic Hotel, although we did thoroughly enjoy the complimentary breakfast that came with our stay.
While breakfast was also more omnivore-centric, there’s copious breads, nuts, olives, juice, champagne (included), non-dairy milk, baba ganoush, guacamole / avocado spread, oatmeal - all very fresh and delicious.
Not to be missed, evenings in the lounge are lovely. In addition to a live piano player, they also have an impressive drink menu. Using our USD$100 credit from booking through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts, we were able to enjoy quite a selection from the extensive drink menu, including:
Gin martinis
Cuban rum
Aperol spritz
Bourbon - many fine varieties
Service
The service is impeccable. We were not the fanciest people in this perceptibly very fancy hotel, and we were greeted with the utmost of courtesy and respect. Front desk staff and bar staff speak excellent English (and Spanish) so business can be conducted with ease. Some breakfast service staff were more english fluent than others, you need only be patient and ask and you shall receive.
Pros
Decadence: it looks and feels like decadence
Food and drinks: I love their breakfast, the beverages, and the locations where I consume both. The breakfast is served in a nice indoor/outdoor terrace with a delightful dining atmosphere, and champagne is included. Their bar has several big, comfy chairs that make it enjoyable and easy to lounge and enjoy the atmosphere (and people watch)
Rooms: they’re amazing - fancy, robust, replete.
Location: very central and it the middle of the city
Cons
Location: it’s in a very central location and there’s consequently quite a bit of hubbub. The din of the city is muted with windows closed.
Size: it feels and is quite big, especially in complement with the location. This is a pro for some; I tend to prefer a quieter, more private stay.
Other guests: The other guests are different travelers than us - very business-focused business travelers and workers. Great for people watching but it can take you out of vacation mode when you hear “consolidation,” “enterprise scaling initiatives,” and “return on investment” too many times during breakfast (though, this could be because we were visiting during the off-season).
