Highly recommend! Zulma was lovely and welcoming, the apartment was beautiful and spacious, and the location was excellent. The apartment was clean, sunny, and beautiful. It is very centrally located, and I felt quite safe walking everywhere, even late at night. In 6 days, I only used about half of my T-10 (10 trip) public transit pass because it was so easy to walk everywhere.
On the day I arrived, Zulma let me know in advance that she had a schedule conflict for our check in time. Though I assured her that this was no problem, she graciously insisted upon buying me dinner and told me to go the restaurant below the apartment to order something while I waited for her. I enjoyed a lovely meal and conversation with the people working at the restaurant, and Zulma met me there. It was a wonderful welcome to Barcelona!
Our schedules only overlapped occasionally, and the second bedroom was not rented for most of my stay, so I could enjoy the apartment as my own despite being shared accommodations. When we did cross paths, I enjoyed conversation with Zulma, and she offered many recommendations for exploring Barcelona. Practicing Spanish without being able to switch to English was good immersion. Though my speaking skills need more work, I think I understood about 90% of what Zulma told me, and we could use a translation app as needed.
I stayed in the East facing room with the larger window. In the Airbnb photos, it’s the room with photos of Paris on the wall. This room overlooks the street and is 1 floor up from outdoor seating for a bar. This room has a larger window than the back bedroom, and I welcomed the light, air, and activity of the street. I was usually out late and exhausted when I slept, so if there was nighttime activity on the street, it did not bother me. The bed and pillows were very comfortable.
The room was cozy and well-appointed for a traveler. There was space on the floor for my suitcase and plenty of space on the desktop for other items. The drawer in the nightstand was empty, as was the wardrobe, so there were many places to store things, as well as some hangers to hang clothing I washed by hand while traveling. I also appreciated that the room included a fan for the hot weather, tissues, and a trash can.
A week after Summer Solstice, the room was very hot and bright with early morning sunshine and a heatwave. The window has a shutter, but I only lowered it a little so that I could let fresh air in. The week was so hot that Zulma ordered air conditioning during my stay, and it was scheduled to be installed the week after I left. I’m sure this will greatly improve summer temperatures in this apartment!
The photos accurately show the 2 Airbnb bedrooms, living room, and kitchen. However, I was surprised by the bathrooms. One is a very nice spacious bathroom with a relatively small cubicle shower. The other is more of a closet with just a toilet and a smaller shower that is rather high up from the floor. That is all that fits in the second bathroom; there is no sink and there is very little room to move.
I am not a large person, but I found the second bathroom to be uncomfortably small. I appreciated having a second bathroom if desperate, but I only used it once for a challenging shower on the first night. The slightly larger shower in the larger bathroom also required stepping up to get into the shower, but it was lower and easier to access.
Fortunately, there were never schedule issues with the spacious bathroom. While Zulma and I were occasionally in the apartment at the same time, I was often alone and could easily do whatever I needed to do.
I love that Zulma includes breakfast ingredients, coffee, and tea (very nice selection of quality green teas) when hosting. She even messaged to remind me to enjoy a good breakfast before heading out to explore Barcelona each day. This was wonderful and very convenient as I didn’t need to go grocery shopping to enjoy a home cooked breakfast. Her kitchen had everything I needed to cook, and she offered to share bakery bread, cheese, and pasta when she was making her own meals.
All in all, this was a wonderful stay and I hope to visit Zulma again soon. Muchas gracias, Zulma!!!