If you’re planning a family trip, this might not fit you well.
A few key words and details below.
1. The REAL price was 17% higher than the one shown on Airbnb.
2. Privacy issue
3. Washing machine issue
4. Low hospitality
1. Only 4 nights costed us 52€ city tax. The tax is NOT included in the price shown by Airbnb when making the reservation.
It is only mentioned in one of the apartment details (not main text) and requires to pay extra only AFTER you make the reservation.
It really surprised me because wherever I travelled, the city tax was ALWAYS included in my bookings.
After I got to the apartment, I checked more Airbnb flats in Barcelona. It seems it’s not the only one having this hidden cost. There were still some which didn’t mention any extra payment - cannot be sure that they don’t even mention it or they are gentle hosts which actually are transparent enough to include it (as in other major cities of Europe).
While writing this review, I just checked again this apartment’s description and I concluded that the owner required me even a higher tax than the one shown on the apartment description - WOW!
2. Privacy can be an issue for a family
The bathroom with the toilet it’s situated in the “bedroom” - less than 1 meter from the beds and is completely made of glass, not transparent, but still… quite disturbing.
The glass door has a gap by which you can simply see straight away, the person on the bed while you’re sitting on the toilet through the 1 cm door’s empthy space when it’s closed.
If owners wish to handle this issue, an indoor textile cover for the bathroom could help.
We were 3 persons and it was a bit disturbing when each got to the toilet.
An extra thing: there is no door inbetween bedroom and livingroom-kitchen.
3. Washing machine issue.
There are 2 washing machines - one was defect but when I used the other one, I just realized that it has a defect too. As soon as I started it, it automatically changed the water temperature - I chose 30degrees but it automatically switched to 60degrees - it was too late for my clothes to take them out.
I appreciated that the owner was very responsive when I tried to communicate this issue, but still … was too late.
A repair could handle this issue.
(By the way, the conditions don’t mention damage to the clothes made by washing machine!?)
4. Low hospitality
This apartment is part of a company owning more than 50 flats - this implies many things for an airbnb apartment - unpleasant for guests, most of the time.
I personally think Airbnb lost its real value: sharing homes.
When you go to a home, you wish to share some of the things from your home and get the feeling of … being a guest.
When cooking, you will realize there are no salt, sugar, peper or oil, etc - really basic things for a home.
It still had cutlery, pots, pan, etc.
(Yes, of course it’s mentioned in the apartment details but hospitality is not really about that)
WARNING: “If you don’t take your own trash out, if you don’t wash your dishes out when leaving, you’ll PAY EXTRA - up to 300€!”
It wasn’t my case as I am a tidy person, but still… If as a guest I’m demanded to take the trash out, then for what am I paying a 45€ cleaning fee!?
I guess that would imply even a higher fee.
My personal conclusion - it wasn’t a home. It was simply an “apartment” made for making money. If you’re a family maybe won’t fit you. As a couple, it might - just remember to take into account the extra cost which is not included in the price.