Giant cockroaches!!! We were so disappointed with this place. If I had read a review like this one prior to booking, I would have stayed away from this apartment and anything else managed by Habitat Apartments.
The apartment had a lot of bugs. When we arrived to check in, there was a silver fish crawling on the floor. Throughout the week we had more silverfish, spiders, and giant cockroaches in every room in the apartment. I had to go through Airbnb's process to get a partial refund for the days we saw them, as pests are something that covered by AirCover, although in initial mediation with the host, they refused to refund.
Communication with the host was abysmal. Habitat Apartments is what's called an API host at Airbnb. That means it is a company that runs its Airbnb apartments through an outside platform that then communicates information with the Airbnb platform. This means that there is not someone who monitors Airbnb directly with adequate frequency to be responsive to your inquiries, and you must go through a phone number they provide in order to reach someone timely. I wrote to the host about the cockroach issue via Airbnb as soon as it happened, as Airbnb instructs its guests, and it took them over 13 hours to respond. My phone didn't work with voice calls and the numbers they provided were not on WA for internet calling, so I had to borrow a phone to speak with someone at Habitat. The person who answered my call was rude and nonchalant, sounded like she was doing me a favor just to have picked up the phone. They later brought one half-full can of cockroach spray and three traps (not enough for every room, which turned out to be a major issue as we found them in nearly every room).
The listing is not accurately described on Airbnb, and the photos do not convey what this place looks like. Notably, the beautiful blue rug is not there, the coffee table is different than in the photo, and the outdoor spaces are not set up to be used as they are in the photos. For instance, the front-facing balconies only contained one dirty, sad-looking table and chair, as opposed to the two tables and four chairs featured in the photos. The nice glassware, plates, and placemats featured in the photos are also not available. The back patio with the outdoor couch and chairs was filthy and could not be used. There were no hand or dish towels in the kitchen, and no broom or anything to sweep up with.
The place is in desperate need of upkeep. There is only one A/C remote control in the back area where the bedrooms are, so the guests in the two rooms must share the remote, which is not conducive to needing to turn off or on the A/C in the middle of the night. The hallway bathroom's door handle was falling off and missing screws, and it was impossible to close the door. The shower in that bathroom is a handheld shower head that is crooked and sprays outward into the bathroom and shower curtain, making it impossible to take a shower without holding the showerhead in your hand.
The host also charges a "tourist tax" that is apparently mandated by the Barcelona municipality. It is charged outside of the app upon check-in. However, in the days leading up to my check-in, nobody out of 4-5 customer service reps from Airbnb could tell me what the municipal legal code was that mandates the amount and frequency of this tax. Upon check-in, the Habitat representative who met us was also incapable of explaining the origins, amount, and legal basis for the tax. We were ordered to pay 4.40 euro per person per night of our stay, yet the decree that was finally provided to me via URL link by Airbnb after hours of back-and-forth and escalating to supervisors, for the year 2022, was something like 1.35 euro per person per day. A slip of paper provided at the check in process contained the Decree number and citation, although admittedly I chose to try to enjoy my time in the city rather than conduct more legal research, and I've since lost the piece of paper.
This was supposed to be my friend's and my "splurge" nice place to end our trip to Spain, and it was a total disaster from start to finish. We wasted nearly 2,000 USD on just one week's stay here, and it couldn't have been a worse experience. Private real estate companies like Habitat Apartments masquerading as Airbnb "hosts" are everything that has gone wrong with the platform, and the reason why communities and locals fight so hard to ban Airbnb in their jurisdictions. Avoid this apartment and anything else managed by Habitat Apartments.