The apartment is fitted out and decorated to a very high standard. We we met at the apartment by a very pleasant young man who gave us a comprehensive introduction. The apartment is located on a quiet street but within a minutes walk in any direction you can get small supermarkets, a full array of good restaurants and pleasant bars. The main junction of the Diagonal and Passage de Gracie is 2 minutes walk. Here you can get the metro to all the city. Don't be afraid of using taxis, that are relatively inexpensive and frees up time to do other things if time is tight. The taxi fare from the airport to the apartment cost 40Euro for 5 passenger with luggage and takes about 30 minutes. The host arranged our return taxi and collected us from the front door, bang on time. Fabulous. The only comment I would make is that the lift in the apartment block is small and travellers with small children with a pram may have some difficulty negotiating their way to the 3rd floor. All in all a great place to stay.