This is a great place to stay, first time to Barcelona for my wife and I. Staying by Placa de Catalunya was a pleasant surprise, it's a great central location, lots of Taxi's, the Hop-on-Hop-Off Bus tours start there, low cost Bus Shuttle to/from the airport, there's a great bakery right next door for coffee/breakfast, etc.. You can walk towards the water down La Rambla St (stop by La Boqueria) into the Gothic Quarter (cool, old, historic area), or, go the other direction into Eixample (nice, classy area), Guadi's Casa Batllo' is a just a few blocks up the street. It's a busy area with a lot of action. The patio is giant, great view of the Placa, at night the fountains are lite up, you can see the Montjuic National Palace, the Olympic Tower, etc... Everything in the apartment worked great, shower/hot water was good, good thermostat/AC, bed was comfy, just overall a very good experience. We'd stay here again for sure