Oh Barcelona, you’re pretty n all, but we could do without your mañana mañana attitude spoiling our hotel plans. First the W pushed back its opening date no less than three times, and now it’s the turn of the Mandarin Oriental.

Last time we checked, the hotel was due to open on October 29. But when we hadn't heard any fanfare today, and checked out the hotel’s website to find the calendar showing “no availability”, we smelt a rat.

So we just called Mandarin Oriental’s PR people, and they told us the hotel is scheduled to open on 26 November. So that’s delay number one. But we’re expecting a delay number two,

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Last time we looked, the W Barcelona wasn’t going down so well with its clients. But then that was after opening weekend, nearly a month ago. Is it time to give it another chance?

The Independent reviewed it this weekend and, going by the review, it'd seem the “abysmal” service and “no edgy people” may have been teething problems.

The hotel is “nothing if not striking”, they say, and the pool is “bracingly cool” (we're assuming that's in a literal sense - it's nearly November, after all). The views from the 26th-floor Eclipse bar, meanwhile, are “bewitching”.

Irony! Just when we vouched for the safety of travelers in Madrid last week with our "Bad Rap Cities: Madrid" story, a high-profile woman fell victim over the weekend to the city's thieves who prey on tourists.

It all went down on yesterday evening in front of the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, when beloved fashion designer, contemporary of Andy Warhol, and legend in her own right Diane von Furstenberg twittered:

Some locales can’t seem to shake their less-than-sparkling reputations despite efforts to lock away the skeletons of yesterday. We’ve decided to highlight five of these Bad Rap Cities that are making moves to shed their grimy and gritty images in hopes of becoming more tourist-friendly. Maybe, just maybe, after reading this series you'll be willing to take a chance on them. Enjoy.

Bad Rap City: Madrid

Why Go?
Just like Barcelona, Madrid has a rep for being a Thieves Paradise. Many post-trip reviews are peppered with tales of pickpockets roaming the streets in droves, armed with purse-cutting knives. Add to that the declarations that local men are lecherous louts, and female travelers become skittish about visiting alone. But forget the fear mongerers rantings and head to this beautiful city that is chock full of impressive art, delectable cuisine and is a nightowl’s dream.

We may love us some hotels, but research into accommodations in a destination usually includes looking at alternatives like temporary stay apartments as well, especially when we sit tight in the same city for over a week. Contemporary design usually wins us over as well, since isn't the point of paying so much to stay in a nice place to not be surrounded by your usual clutter? For this reason, we totally know where we're headed next time we're in Barcelona: The MUJI Whotells buildings in the Raval, Eixample and Barceloneta quarters.

The collection of temporary stay apartments, managed and outfitted like hotel suites gone native, occupy refurbished designer apartment buildings and offer 1,2 and 3-bedroom apartments

Oh dears. We really hate to say this, but could it be that with all the hype around W Barcelona and its foxy building, they forgot to work on the foxy W vibe?

Barcelona resident Pulso BCN alerted us to the fact that there could be a problem with his comment here. He stopped by on Thursday, which should have been banging, seeing as it was the first night, but although it had a nice-looking pool, he wasn’t feeling it. “Maybe the W hipness is in crates stuck in Spanish customs,” he reckons. On his Twitter feed he went further: ”No glam opening, no edgy people, just a bunch of staffers running