Xavier is a great host who is very communicative and even picked us up from the airport and held our bags in his own vehicle for us at checkout as we had a later flight.
This air bnb was pretty good, and is cutely decorated. The air works and it’s nice the building had an elevator For luggage (which we had a lot having spent the days prior in the country). Poble sec is a cool neighborhood and close to metro (5-7min walk) but we spent most of our days in other areas of town. I’d stay in the neighborhood again.
That said the flat itself didn’t meet what we would expect from an air bnb plus. It’s also a bit misleading, while there is a balcony, it’s closed in, narrow and cannot be used to spend time on. The flat is on the backside of the building which means it’s quieter (the square is very loud) but it means if you open the balcony window you’re looking on dirty alley and laundry hanging. So if you’re hoping for outdoor space this isn’t it.
We were around over a Sunday and most restaurants were closed so we planned to cook a simple dinner for ourselves. We had to buy the basics too such as cooking oil and it was difficult to wash dishes with only one ikea tea towel. There’s a clothes washer but no soap, nespresso machine but no coffee (and shops nearby didn’t sell the pods), only one wine glass etc.
The first night the battery in the fire alarm on the tall ceilings died and so every 30 seconds it was beeping - we got no sleep. Xavier was very responsive though and fixed it quickly on a Saturday morning which was super appreciated!