We’ve given our a review a 5 but would’ve been 4.5 if that was possible. It’s a great property and we were happy with the initial cost, location etc. The property is old and quirky which we like in a big city, let down by really small things which would make it a ‘slam dunk’ 5.

Location is great, really close (7 mins walk) to the Sagrada Familia, plenty of bakery’s close for coffee, bread, breakfast etc, 700m to a metro station, and only 150m from a decent Mercadona supermarket. The Place de Catuloniya is about 20-25 mins walk, the closest beach if that interests you a 30 minute walk. The longer walks can all be done quicker by metro of course.

Check in was really easy, and remote with electronic key codes which are sent via the guest site which a link is sent via email. The only complaint would be we had to pay another 50 euros for the privilege of letting ourselves in because it was out of normal office hours/check in times. Felt a bit unnecessary to us, however the hosts were quite obliging to get us a few food items like bread milk water so we had something for our arrival.

The place itself was fine, the main bedroom being large with old style windows opening up onto the street front. This did make it loud in the mornings with traffic etc but that’s to be expected in a big city. The second and third bedrooms are not massive, and have no natural light, but there are windows which open into a central staircase shared with 3 other rentals properties. Beds were comfortable enough (but only 1 pillow each) with a double wardrobe in each room, not enough coat hangers though. The main bathroom was ok, but we all used the newer shower/toilet room at the back of the property which was more modern. The kitchen is probably a little tired and in need of a refurb but it had most of the stuff you need, including a nespresso coffee pod machine. There were 6 of us but there were not 6 of everything e.g. wine glasses, side plates. Also, it was let down slightly as it hadn’t been cleaned to an acceptable standard. This may be as much about what we expect but the oven tray was covered in grease, and microwave door had food splashes, so clearly hadn’t been checked by housekeeping after previous guests. The host did however come and change the oven tray and bring glasses midway through our stay.

All that being said, these are all pretty small things, and easily sorted so have not ‘scored down’, as they did not affect the fact we enjoyed our stay in Barca. We pride ourselves on being model guests so we do let hosts know if something isn’t quite right, hoping that they will put right for subsequent guests and thank us (rather than thinking we are a pain!!)

So overall, we would recommend this place, particularly if the host puts some really easy changes and checks in place.