Hilton Diagonal Mar in Barcelona

[BWV Dreamin]

This hotel is one of Disney's cooperating hotels prior to the cruise. Has anyone stayed here? It is located by the beach.

 

[kcashner]

What I found in 2010 was that booking the hotel directly rather than thru DCL was a much better value! It seemed that rather than give DCL a discounted rate which they then could sell to us (increasing it a bit to make profit for DCL), the hotels in Barcelona "sold" to Disney at rack rate. DCL then increased the cost to guests! This was the case at each of the three hotels I checked.

I did not stay at this hotel, so no comment on it; just on the rates/booking.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thanks! I was thinking even if I paid a taxi from the aiport to hotel, then again from hotel to the port, I would still pay less than paying for Disney transfers. I was looking at thier hotels because they won't let you get the transfers unless you stay at one of their designated hotels.

 

[sissy_ib]

I didn't know DCL had cooperating hotels. What does that mean? Disney transfers? I already booked my hotel for Barcelona tho.

 

[kcashner]

DCL used 3 or 4 hotels last year--all VERY upscale and expensive. I stayed at hotels near the airport that offered free transportation to/from the airport, and used public transportation to get into town for sightseeing, etc. After one bad experience with a taxi, on my final trip I took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and caught the DCL transfer to the port (but I was solo on that cruise, so $30 wasn't bad.) I actually did 3 cruises into/out of Barcelona last year...

Warning--taxi to airport--they add all kinds of fees. You pay on a different pay scale on weekends, extra to travel to/from the airport and cruise terminal, etc. What I was TOLD would be about a 7 Euro cab fare was 25 Euros. I have absolutely no doubt that the dude was running up the meter, but.....

One nice thing--on the shuttle from the airport, they didn't want us to get to the port too early. Thus, they took us on a guided bus tour of the city--very nice.

 

[GoBlueGuy]

We stayed there the night before this year’s WBTA. We used Hilton points. We weren't there long! Our flight from LHR was delayed, and we didn't get to the hotel until about 2:30am, and had to be up at 7:00 to eat breakfast, and make the bus.

The room was very nice. It is within walking distance to the beach, but not what I would call convenient.

We used Disney transportation to the port the next morning, which was very convenient. We essentially walked off the bus, and directly onto the ship. Check-in was done at the hotel, no need to stop at any desk at the port.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

How were you able to get Disney transfers when you booked the hotel on your own?

We stayed there the night before this year’s WBTA. We used Hilton points. We weren't there long! Our flight from LHR was delayed, and we didn't get to the hotel until about 2:30am, and had to be up at 7:00 to eat breakfast, and make the bus.

The room was very nice. It is within walking distance to the beach, but not what I would call convenient.

We used Disney transportation to the port the next morning, which was very convenient. We essentially walked off the bus, and directly onto the ship. Check-in was done at the hotel, no need to stop at any desk at the port.

 

[pixie08]

The only thing to consider about that hotel is it is a bit out of the central Barcelona area. So if you plan to tour at all it might be a bit far. Deb wills from allears stayed there in 2007 and has a review.

We stayed at the AC Diplomatic (which was a particpating hotel last summer) we booked it for around $150 with an arly booking rate on our own. We saved a lot compared to disney,s price. We booked it because we thought we may use the dcl trnasfers but wound using cabs because that saved us money as well.

 

[GoBlueGuy]

How were you able to get Disney transfers when you booked the hotel on your own?

Disney did not provide transfers for us from the airport to the hotel, only from the hotel to the airport.

We had to get a cab from the airport to the hotel. It was approximately 30-40 Euro with tip, if I remember correctly (we had been on a plane for approximately 20 hours at the time, so I was more than a little fuzzy.)

 

[pixie08]

How were you able to get Disney transfers when you booked the hotel on your own?

As long as it's a participating hotel, all you have to do is call DCL or your TA and ask them to add the transfers on!

Also DCL had so many buses at the port you could just get from port to airport on day of disembarkation which is what we did.