The apt was clean and nicely decorated however the check in process was horrible. The "Sito" or whoever shows up on the page as a host for this apt was a no show despite I telling him the time. (Even before the check in he kept asking on our exact ETA and travelling and not knowing traffice patterns of the new city, I gave rough estimate but he told me that it has to be at 1.15pm and this is a commerical properly! I also received an email directly fromt the commerical property asking for additional personal information and I told him that Airbnb is very specific and telling me not to provide extra money or communication or information outside Airbnb.) We were told to go to another building for check in where we were greeted by very unhelpful and unfriendly receptionist who didn't care for a travelling family's comfort. Demanded our passports, and extra tax money and said we can't check in till we paid. I told her that I was not made aware of passport or extra cash. She was very aggressive and asked me for my phone and started browsing my Airbnb page for conversation between the 'no show host' and me.And through all this ordeal she was continously on phone with someone else relying what was happening. Knowing a little bit Spanish, I could tell that she was talking about the check in but without ever paying attention to me. I paid the tax and told her but didn't give her passports and offered her passport numbers and copy of passports. After a long train journey, we had to wait 30 minutes on the street before we could check in. Thank god Barcelona was second lag in our journey. Can't imagine flying international for 15 plus hours and being treated this way in a new country. It would have left us with a sour beginning.
Apartment is clean and nicely decorated but it's a commercial property which should have been a good thing. There are signs posted everywhere telling guests to "not do this or that." I saw at least 4 various stickers. Very unwelcoming. My other Airbnb hosts in Spain were so lovely and welcoming and helpful but this host/receptionist didn't seem to care for guests unlike even the hotels who might miss the personal touches like Airbnb but are helpful neverthless. We enjoyed the sites and food and people of Catalunya so we didn't let this bother us but if Barcelona is 1st leg of your long journey, be careful and aware of the above issues.