We had a great trip to Barcelona over New Year's Eve and stayed at Pepo's apartment, which is located just one block away from Sagrada Familia. That's why the Area is a little touristy but also nice and has some bars arount. The good thing is the supermarket downstairs and the short walk to the next Metro station. The City Center (Plaza Catalunya) is about 5 Metro-Stops away; we sometimes also walked there in about 30 minutes).
Pepo is a very nice and helpful host. We could reach him by phone and email every time and got immediate response.
The apartment itself had everything we needed. It is fully equipped with more than enough towels and the kitchen also offers more than enough space and equipment to cook meals. The bed is very comfortable and has a warm blanket (which was nice because of the spanish winter temperature of 8°C).
We enjoyed our stay a lot and would totally come back.