The apartment is lovely with a gorgeous patio overlooking the streets of Barcelona. We enjoyed having some wine and people watching in the warm sun. The apartment is modest and comfortable. It was nice to have Rodrigo greet us upon our arrival, give us a tour of the apartment and provide us with the keys and additional advice. It made us feel welcome and open to contacting him. It was in a great location with a quick walk to La Rambla which is the main bustling street. It was perfect for our needs!
Though the apartment was truly a Spanish experience, the door to open the flat is tricky. Our first night there we encountered some problems opening the door. I had texted Rodrigo about our issues and tried following his texts to open the door. I didn't ask him to come over to assist as I didn't want to disturb him because it was about 10 pm at night on a Friday. After about 20 minutes of trying to get the door open, a neighbor stopped and assisted us with the door. We entered the apartment and as I was dropping my items off, I hadn't yet texted Rodrigo that we had made it in. After about 5 minutes, we heard a knock on the door and realized he had come over even though we hadn't asked him to. The next exchange was very uncomfortable and to be honest, uncalled for. Rodrigo was clearly upset with us and proceeded to show us his texts asking us "was this not clear? Do you not understand" and showed us how to open the door several times and raising his voice at us when we didn't do it as he instructed. He was very condescending and slightly berating towards us. Where we are from, we open the door opposite than his apartment. The whole exchange left us feeling very uncomfortable staying in his place and contacting him with any further questions or issues. After he left, we continued to practice to open the door and that's when we realized that if a guest accidentally turns the door to the left and locks the reinforcement lock on the door, even if we are following the instructions to pull the door in, turn to the right and push at the same time, it will not work.
I would suggest walking guests through opening the door and also remembering that cultural differences make these simple things complicated. We have stayed in homes all over the world and never encountered an apartment door so difficult to open. The whole experience was very disappointing to us as we are customers, paying to stay in his home; We are not his friends or family where such an exchange might be more normal or acceptable. Rodrigo might have been having an off night and we just received the blunt end of it. However, I still don't think the situation warranted that type of reaction and behavior.
However, if the hosts enact these changes, I would recommend the home to stay in as it was a great spot.