You may notice that there are about 70 reviews that give this listing 5-stars. There are many good reasons for this.

First, Monica’s place is very nice, well-decorated, and kept very clean. I greatly enjoyed having coffee and meals on the outdoor terrace, which is beautiful. The room itself is kept cool at night, and the bed was very comfortable. The bed is long (longer than my queen bed at home), so if you are tall like me, this is a plus.

I fell in love with the Pobleneu neighborhood almost immediately. It is filled with great restaurants, cafes, and shops that you can walk to in less than a few minutes. It is very safe and the people are overall very friendly. The beach is a comfortable 10-minute walk through the beautiful neighborhood, one minute from the metro, and if you enjoy walking, you can easily access other sites by foot (take the beautiful walk to Barceloneta along the beach).

Monica is an exceptional host, and she made my visit to Barcelona exponentially better. As someone from a small town, traveling alone, and speaking little Spanish, there were numerous challenges in being in a big city that were new to me. Monica helped me in many ways throughout the trip, whether navigating the metro, providing me the inside local’s scoop on the best restaurants, cafes, shops, sites, and being a friend. She is a vey warm host, very kind, and extremely helpful. I felt very welcome and comfortable in the home. If I could give her more than 5-stars, I would.

The listing is an exceptional value and I feel really lucky that I had Monica as a host, got to stay in her beautiful home, and learn from a local about Catalan culture.