Hilton Brands - Istanbul and Barcelona

[Aquahound]

Hello all. I am taking a dream cruise next year that begins in Istanbul and ends in Barcelona. I have a load of HH reward points I plan to use for my hotel stays. Can anyone recommend from experience any Hilton brands, preferably nicer ones, near either of these ports? Thank you. :)

[stinesheri]

in Barcelona, we stayed at the Hilton Diagonal Del Mar. It was quite nice, and our upgrated (even with points) room had a view of the Med and La Sagrada Familia.

 

It is a little out of the way, in that you will have to take taxi's or the metro (we took taxi's), but there is a metro station nearby and a taxi line just outside. For us it was nice to be out of the fray once we got back to our hotel, so being out of the way wasn't a problem. And, given that it was free with points, paying for the taxi was not a hardship.

 

There is a nice pool, which after a long cruise was a welcome place to relax.

 

All and all, I would recommend it and would stay again if in Barcelona.

[Aquahound]

Thank you, Stinesheri. I will look into that hotel. Our stay will be free also, so I am not at all bothered by having to taxi there.

[Bruin Steve]

I guess I've stayed in a few Hiltons around the world...

 

Several years ago, we stayed at the Hilton Barcelona (the one uptown, not the Diagonal del Mar)...It was a nice enough hotel, but NOT very conveniently located--at least not for a tourist (though closer in than the Del Mar)...Since then, we've always chosen a hotel closer to the Placa Catalunya, which IMHO, is THE area to stay in for Barcelona...the Hilton is in a very nice area--convenient to banks, corporations and a modern shopping mall...but not convenient to the main tourist attractions...

 

Our first trip to Istanbul, we stayed at the Conrad...marvelous hotel, comfortable, modern, great security...but also not very convenient to the tourist sites...we hired Ekol Tours to, basically, in addition to tours, chauffeur us around Istanbul...

 

Even though we loved the hotel itself, this last visit, in 2009, we opted instead to stay at the Sari Konak--a small boutique hotel right in the Sultanhamet, about a block from the Blue Mosque...it was nice to be able to just walk to all of the tourist sights from there...though, obviously, nowhere near the luxury and elegance of the Conrad...

 

I wouldn't necessarily tell you NOT to stay in these hotels (especially if you get them for free with points)--we actually really loved the Conrad Istanbul, just be prepared to deal with some extra logistics in the way of taxis or other transportation...

 

Ps. The Conrad Istanbul does have INCREDIBLE views of the city...it is up on a hill and can be seen from everywhere...

 

Good luck...

[Aquahound]

Thank you Steve. That is great info. :)