We took our three elementary school daughters to Barcelona for four days. Jose’s apartment was the perfect home base for us and his hospitality was the icing on the cake for a fantastic stay.
Neighborhood
We felt safe and were glad to be near a major landmark. We had quick access to two different metro lines, a large generic grocery across the street, a small highend boutique grocery around the corner, a 24 hour pharmacy and many small restaurants, parks, a playground and lots of small stores within a short walk.
The streets were safe and neighborhood quiet at night. We even took a late night walk with the girls from the apartment up the hill along the Avenue de Gaudi to the Sant Pao building. The locals were out enjoying the weather, girls got an icecream and we felt safe and out like a local, not a tourist.
Apartment
The apartment was great for our family. The square footage of the apartment is elegantly used to have three bedrooms and two full bathrooms. We travel internationally a fair bit (my husband is Irish) so we aren’t put off by creative use of space.
The apartment was very clean and had everything we needed. I can’t think of anything we wanted for. We had dinner in the apartment one night (premade food from the gourmet grocery), which worked beautifully. There were more than enough linens and equipment in the kitchen. The internet, hairdryer, washer/dryer all worked as expected.
The apartment is on the 6th floor and building as a small elevator to make that a doable experience. It’s Barça/Europe and an older building. If you’re looking for modern architecture - you might be in the wrong neighborhood.
Service/Hospitality
The icing on the cake was José and his kind hospitality. He met us at the apartment and gave us lots of tips for the neighborhood. He also emailed me a list of restaurant ideas after we asked him for places to eat with locals and not in overly touristy spots. Honestly, José such a nice guy I almost invited him to come to dinner with us!
One of my children became quite ill while we were in town. I was up at 6am researching where to take her and reaching out to my euro contacts. I emailed José and 30 minutes later he sent me several suggestions. He even emailed later in the day to make sure we were okay.
José makes you feel like you’ve got a local friend the minute you arrive in the apartment.
Thank you again for the lovely apartment and wonderful hospitality!