Overall, our stay at Rocío's apartment was fair and would recommend other prospective renters to stay as the location proved to be clutch.

This apartment is tucked away in a lovely, safe neighborhood where you can truly live like the locals do (where we enjoyed some of our more memorable meals throughout our trip).

It is still simultaneously located to everything you need to thoroughly enjoy Barcelona (i.e. mere minutes away from the awe-inspiring La Sagrada Familia!), and also easily accessible to metro and taxi stops to get you to other parts of town as needed.

There are just some drawbacks to consider beforehand as this space is more ideal for a certain traveler:

*As listed by the host herself: This space is not child-friendly and probably more suitable for younger travelers.

*Noise: There was construction at 8AM every weekday morning right outside of the main bedroom window - not ideal for light or (even deep) sleepers.

*Check-In Process: Rocío could not meet us to check us in, which is totally okay. She gave us a heads up on who to contact instead and was very responsive leading up to the trip.

However, as we're traveling internationally with little to no access to a phone without being charged roaming charges - a briefing on how to call the designated person prior would have been appreciated.

*Washer Malfunction: Be careful when using because we threw in a load one morning before we left for the day, expecting to hang it on the drying line when we got back. However, we came back to an apartment partially flooded.

We messaged Xavi about it who was apologetic and we didn't mind that we had to clean it ourselves. But he didn't bother to follow up with us about the issue which was disheartening as the washer is one of the amenities listed in the description.

*Cleanliness: Overall the house was maintained well - but the shower had mold and the surrounding streets reeked of urine. It didn't bother us too much but just a forewarning for future guests!

*Painters (I'm hoping this was more of a fluke issue): We had an unexpected request while we were out from the host's contact person, Xavi, to let in the painters that needed to work on the area outside of our room.

I understand the painters had to get work done, but this is also unacceptable to inconvenience us while we are on holiday. Ultimately we had to rearrange our itinerary for the day just to let the painters in as we were not comfortable with the idea of strangers having access to our room with our personal belongings out.

Also keep in mind the Catalonia Tourist rate (as mentioned in the description) - not a drawback per se but just good to remember (and that passport info is taken at check in).

All in all, it was a fair stay and we're grateful to Rocío for sharing her bright, open home to us. Cheers!