We really enjoyed our stay in Barcelona - unfortunately, this apartment was not one of the city's highlights.
Pros:
- The location is brilliant. It's at the intersection of Barcelona (and therefore close to the beaches) and El Born (a bustling, beautiful neighborhood). The apartment is extremely close to train, bus, and metro (the L4) stations.
- Size: the apartment has two spacious bedrooms, a large bathroom, and an open-concept kitchen, dining area, and living room. The ceilings are very high, making the space feel even bigger.
- The rooftop is beautiful and has some very nice seating areas.
- Interior decor is nice (except for the stained/dirty living-room couch). There is ample closet space.
- The AC units and other appliances work well, including the washing machine on the roof.
Cons:
- So many bugs. We could not keep the windows open, lest bugs enter the apartment, and even with the windows constantly shut we had a fruit fly and cockroach infestation. Simona & Pia were nice enough to set traps and send exterminators twice, but we were killing fairly large cockroaches from our first day in the apartment to the last.
- The apartment is ground-level and has a separate entrance from the rest of the apartments in the building. The front door opens directly into the apartment, which isn't great for safety (especially since the door does not have a peep-hole to see who's outside on the doorstep/street). There are also recycling bins across the street from the front door, so garbage trucks are constantly coming by and emptying them, quite loudly.
- Check-in was convoluted. One of Simona & Pia's employees let us into the apartment around an hour after our agreed-upon time and asked us to sign a contract (in Spanish, which we had previously made clear we do not much understand), which included multiple stipulations - the most relevant one was that we would have to pay for all electricity usage in the apartment.
We were disappointed by our experience in the apartment, but still really appreciate and thank Simona & Pia for hosting us.