Concluding my posts from my trip to Barcelona, this visit was my second stay at the Nobu family of hotels, having stayed at Nobu London Shoreditch earlier this year. I wasn’t that impressed with London’s offering, so I thought I’d give the Barcelona contingent a chance during my stay there.
Unfortunately Nobu Barcelona falls in to exactly the same summary as it’s London sibling – it’s lovely, but it’s not worth the price! Undoubtedly it’s a wonderful hotel, and the food it offers really is a cut above, but I think you can find just as wonderful a hotel for a lower price tag.
Location
Nobu Barcelona is situated in the west of Barcelona, close to the Plaça d’Espanya. From Nobu, the main area of Barcelona which is walkable is Montjuïc. Montjuïc is home to some wonderful museums, the Olympic Stadium, Botanical Gardens, castle and cable car so there is loads to do in the area.
Conveniently, Nobu is right next to Barcelona Sants train station, which is the main railway station in the city. To get to the world famous Sagrada Familia, it’s a quick 10 minute hop on the metro line L5 from Sants, and to get to the Gothic Quarter it’s 10 minutes on the line L3 from Sants. This means it’s really well located, and gets top marks given Barcelona is quite spread out.
Accommodation
The room was average in size with a nice big comfy bed, a huge TV unit and plenty of wardrobe space, as well as tea & coffee making facilities, robes and a safe. It was very clean and nicely finished with Japanese touches such as a tea set provided in the room. Water is provided daily, and I had some rice crackers on my pillow on arrival. The bathroom was modern and clean, with a huge walk in shower and nice big sink area. The towels were quite big and very cosy.
Whilst the room was beautiful, modern and comfortable, there were a few practical areas where it fell down for me. Firstly, there is no table/desk/surface area at all other than bedside tables (which house large lights, plus a phone on one side and a radio on the other). It meant when I had room service after a late flight arrival (delayed…again) the lady had to leave it on the floor, and I had no choice but to eat in bed which wouldn’t be my preference.
Secondly, the finishing touches just weren’t there. When I walked in the room was ice cold. I tried to turn the air con off but couldn’t, and realised it was stuck on 3 degrees. It took 3 engineer visits (when I just wanted to go to bed) to actually get the control panel to work.
Wifi is also provided, using you room number and surname. Cue 3 more calls down to reception as mine wouldn’t work, to be told they couldn’t figure out why and I’d have to use 3G, which isn’t possible when I need to work. It was eventually sorted by me logging on to their staff network with a password, but it was annoying to have to make a total of 5 calls to Guest Services in the course of about 2 hours. I’m probably blocked!
The room was absolutely lovely, please don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful hotel and I’m privileged to have stayed in it. However for the price paid, compared to other 5* hotels I’ve stayed in, just like its London counterpart, it doesn’t make it to the top of my list of accommodation recommendations.
Food & Drink
Now, this is where Nobu was special in London and I can confirm was still special in Barcelona. The food really is a cut above, and completely and utterly delicious. Nobu Barcelona has lots of food and drink options.
The first is the Nobu Bar, which serves snacks and drinks. I sat there working for an afternoon and it was a cool place to sit, with lots of customers coming through and a nice chilled vibe.
Nobu also has a rooftop bar which is open 10am – 10pm and offers views out over Barcelona with drinks and a food menu – and you can just peep the Sagrada Familia if you look closely enough. It really struck me that for a nearly 100 year old Cathedral to still be almost the tallest building in the city, shows how few high rises Barcelona has. Anyway, I had a spicy Catalan hot dog and it was DELICIOUS.
There is also a more formal restaurant, Kozara, which opens 7pm – 11pm. I had the teriyaki salmon and it was incredible. In typical English style I was there on the dot of 7 and no-one else showed up until I’d virtually finished! The majority of the menu is also available on room service, which you can see in one of my pictures above and was also super tasty.
Amenities & Experiences
Aside from the incredible bars and restaurants mentioned above, Nobu also offers a nice lobby area full of comfy seats and charging stations, where you can grab a coffee (or in my case, a wine – they even had my favourite wine of all time, Whispering Angel).
Nobu also offers a highly rated spa with a range of treatments, plus a gym which is open 24hrs a day for guests. I didn’t visit either, as I was in town for a work conference and just didn’t have time.
Nobu has a concierge, who was happy to help me with recommendations and ideas. Nobu also offers a range of Barcelona experiences which looked pretty cool. I particularly liked the look of the ‘Taste of Barcelona’ package which explores the gastronomic heritage of the city in a four hour private walking tour through the Gothic Quarter and El Born, sampling traditional dishes and discovering the local markets. After that it’s back to the hotel for a Barcelona Omakase menu at the restaurant. Amazing!
Finally, the rooftop is also home to a sundeck and small pool (more like a big hot tub inside) which is lovely for a sunny day – however, with only 3 beds and a couple of loungers it gets taken pretty quickly – so get there at opening at 10am (open until 6pm). Thankfully I timed my visit with windy and rainy weather so I didn’t feel I missed out too much!
So what did you think of Nobu? It was a beautiful hotel, but for me personally I don’t think it provided value for money. Having now tried two Nobus and having the same experience, I don’t think I’ll try a third. Stay safe and happy travelling!
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