Sallés Hotel Pere IV in Barcelona

I would not recommend this hotel.

I will start with cleanliness. The room was cleaned daily and the towels were changed; however, the decorative pillows and bed runner smelled unpleasant and were visibly dirty. Despite us placing them to one side with a note asking for them not to be returned to the bed, they were put back each day. The mugs and spoons provided for making tea were also not properly cleaned. On arrival, I made a cup of tea and noticed a thick stain or leftover food on the spoon from a previous guest. I poured the tea away and left the mug and spoon on the table, expecting them to be replaced by housekeeping. When we returned later, the mug had been rinsed and the spoon polished, but the residue was still present. Rather than escalating the issue, we chose not to use the in-room amenities for the remainder of our stay.

Unfortunately, our experience worsened when we visited the spa later that evening. We brought our phones with us but, as there is a no phone policy, we were instructed to place them in lockers, which we did without issue. Considering that when we entered, a member of staff named Servas was already dismissive, rude and repeatedly rolling his eyes at us, we tried to put our phones away quickly, stay out of the way and leave the area as soon as possible. Although we were instructed to place our phones in lockers, we were not told to switch them off and, in the rush, one was inadvertently left on. After approximately half an hour, the same staff member entered the spa and aggressively approached my mother and I, demanding that we switch our phones off as one of them was ringing. We have no issue with staff enforcing rules, but the manner in which this was handled was unacceptable. He reprimanded my mother loudly in front of other guests, causing significant embarrassment and distress. Shortly after returning to our room, she began crying and suffered a panic attack.

I raised this incident with the manager, who dismissed it as a “misunderstanding” and did not offer an apology. We were told that other guests receiving massages had complained and refused to pay when the phone rang. While we understand their frustration and sincerely apologise for the disruption caused, this does not justify verbal aggression, disrespect and unprofessional behaviour. The situation could and should have been handled calmly and respectfully. We were simply advised to avoid the spa when this staff member was on duty and told that it would not happen again.

This does not appear to be an isolated incident. After what happened, other guests told us they had experienced similar behaviour from the same staff member. Additionally, on my final day, when I visited the spa alone as my mother refused to return, I overheard staff gossiping about the situation while looking at me. This was highly unprofessional and uncomfortable.

As for the spa facilities themselves, they are reasonable. There is a steam room, sauna and salt room. The pool, as mentioned in other reviews, is small but adequate. One issue is that there is sand at the bottom of the pool, so I would recommend wearing swimming shoes to reduce the risk of injury or infection.