My friends and I had an amazing time in Barcelona staying at Javier's spacious apartment. We were welcomed by the buz of the local La Festa Gracia that was in full swing the days we arrived. We had no idea that we had booked our stay during the festival, which could have been problematic if you were wanting peace and quiet. There was live music, fireworks and people celebrating until 2-3am in the morning. We chose to embrace the experience staying up late and were able to catch up on sleep thankfully when the festival finished 2 days later.
We never met Javier- I assume he may have been on holidays as most of the Spanish are in August. We were checked in by a friendly guy who didn't speak a word of English, however Javier gives very detailed directions, instructions before hand and was very responsive with his communication. We were also warned by the very steep and narrow stairs which we got used to by the end of our stay.
It is a great location, a lot of bars and little restaurants with a very local feel. It felt like a safe neighbourhood with people always out and about. I think it would have been even better had it not been holiday season with all the locals around and their businesses all open. When we wanted to do the touristy visits we walked to most of Gaudi's famous buildings and park Guell that were near by.
Recommend the stay!