There were many benefits in staying at Iga's place. First of all, communication with her is if not instant, then within a couple of hours. She accommodated to our check - in knowing our flight comes in early and so let us come around 12pm. There is approximately 2 flight of stairs ( broken into halves). My boyfriend and I didn't mind at all as we knew that many Of the apartments in Barcelona are of similar style. The neighborhood is great in that you get to see how the locals live and is much quieter if you were to get a place, say, near La Rambla. The huge plus is that it is near Carrer De Blai and if you are a foodie (look in Yelp) you would know that this is the street for cheap tapas/drinks/pinchos. It is also close to Quimet & Quimet a famous tapas place (didn't get to go, so sad but good to know it was close to the place!).
Transportation is very straightforward here. Iga's place is on the green line where the big areas are located - like Passeig De Gracia, Catalunya where the Magic Fountain is, La Rambla, etc with easy transfers to get on the different lines. If u are staying for approximately 5 days, Hola BCN metro pass is the one to get!
The apartment itself smells like clean fresh linen. The place is absolutely clean. Balcony is beautiful and was able to get really good dslr shots. All essentials are available to you- towels, toothpaste, shampoo, hairspray, hairdryer, iron, etc. She provides even a beach umbrella which was awesome. She suggest not only to go to Barceloneta for the beach, but Sitges, a beach city appr 35-45 min away on railroad metro (R2). We can't thank you enough Iga for the suggestion, that beach is beautiful! Less tourists and very cute shops. We talked to the cleaning lady who was finishing up in the apartment and she mentioned how many of the art portraits in the place is of Iga (yes she is a model). I loved it all.
This place is definitely bang for your buck. I really miss Barcelona and staying in Iga's place was one of the best decisions I made for our trip. Again thanks Iga!!