This was my first time in Barcelona. I’m from the US and was traveling with my partner here after a week in Lisbon. We were a bit taken back by the check-in process but chucked it up to the countries laws (paying tax in cash upon check-in, and the receptionist taking a photo of our passports on her cell phone) but after being handed the keys we realized, we didn’t even know what apartment we were staying in. After inquiring and heading to the apartment (2nd floor but 3.5 flights of stairs) we were a bit disappointed that the apartment was very….. basic. You can tell it had ONLY the bare minimum and the cleaning was not the best either. There was hair all inside the closet from the previous guest and the floors didn’t seem properly swept.
• Although the listing is technically the same apartment it does look a lot better in the photos than in person, and we noticed some of the furniture had changed. (Different couch, no rugs, no floor lamp in the living room)
• Since the building itself is quiet old, there’s a lot of charming aspects to it, HOWEVER that also means some aspects that are inconvenient like the water heater being over the toilet. My partner hit his head on this several times. The lights flickering since the electricity isn’t the best, (lamp on the left side of the bed did not work) and lots is weird noises from the bathroom, the fridge and event the walls. I’ll break it down in a pros and cons list below.
Cons:
1. Very noisy building. Because of the older set up, which is very common in a lot of spaniard buildings, you will hear everything. Just be prepared.
2. Older AC unit. We noticed a lot of dust on ours and the heat feature did not work. However the AC works just fine and reaches across the apartment well!
3. The porch is not big enough for the clothing drying rack so it took days to dry our clothes and they still smelled a bit weird after.
4. The stairs were a bit of an issue because they are so narrow and steep, and if you’re shoes don’t have traction then they will be a bit slippery. It was not fun lugging you our suitcases. But after a few days you get used to it!
5. Lastly, and maybe the biggest reason why we are leaving a 3/5 review is that the last night of our stay the water completely went out in the building. I messaged the host and after waiting about 20 ish minutes of not hearing back we checked again. It seemed to be back on. So I jumped in the shower and all seemed fine until after 5 minutes I noticed the water is turning Brown and then Red. We messaged the host photos and took videos. I felt so gross knowing that was all over my body. And 10 minutes later, the hosts messaged me back saying he knows about the water issue and it should be fixed soon. They Didn’t even respond to the fact that I showered in that. We waited 30-40 minutes and the water was back to normal. I re-showered only for the hot water to now not be working. We had an early flight to catch so at that point I just wanted to be clean and go to bed. This was incredibly disappointing especially after already not enjoying the apartment that much to begin with.
PS: Shampoo and Conditioner is not included so I did have to purchase this on day 2 after realizing this in my first shower.
Pros:
1. Good location
2. Lots of great places to eat nearby
3. 7-10 minute walk to touristy spots, supermarket around the corner.