Hi,
We stayed at Sonia's place last November for 4 nights and had a pretty good experience. I travelled with my mother (76 years old) and two children (8 and 6 years old). Sonia's check-in time was 3 pm and even though our plane landed in Barcelona she did not accept early check-in at all but instead gave us the opportunity to leave our bags and suitcases in her office which was a bit of a nuisance as after dropping of the bags we had to find things to do to entertain the children and then once I dropped the family off in the apartment I had to go back to the office get the bags and go back to the apartment. The staircases which in total is 4 floors as there is a pentry are pretty narrow and difficult to go up with a large and heavy suitcases. The apartment from outside looks worn out but inside it is pretty modern, nice and clean. The apartment is quiet and safe. There was shampoo, shower gel, tooth paste etc. already in the bathroom which I am not sure was left from a previous tenant or was on the house. Sonia was wonderful in sending all kinds of information about Barcelona, places to see and restaurant information etc. very useful. Also in the house there are maps etc. that can be used. The apartment location is close to La Rambla (about 10 minutes walk) but I would suggest you to use a taxi to go to other places. There is Condis supermarket very close to the apartment on the main street (Avinguda del Paral-lel) which is a great asset. If you are travelling with kids I do recommend you to take scooters with you if you have any as it makes walking around Barcelona so much easier. The apartment is located in the end of Carrer De Tapioles which does require you to walk up a little hill which we did not mind but after a long day does get a bit too long and then the stairs do get a bit too steep. One complain I might have is that there were no curtains and the drapes did not close in the house which meant that when the sun was up we were up as well. But I did not say anything to Sonia about that while we were there as I did not have the time and it did not really bother us very much but it would be great to get it fixed to have a long sleep in the morning. The sleeping arrangement was just perfect for us but it might be tight for a 5th person. The kitchen has all the utensils you need and there is absolutely nothing missing in that sense. Thank you to Sonia and all her help, hospitality and useful tips and warmest regards to her little cute baby.