Sandro's apartment was a great base for my family of four to explore Barcelona. It's located right near the Joanic metro stop in Gracia, close to a few different grocery stores, and there are lots of small streets, shops and restaurants to explore northwest of the apartment. (We had a great lunch at the Cuban restaurant directly across the street.)

Things to know about the apartment: All of the windows are light/air shafts, which means no view, but also insures very little street noise. We slept well and the beds and linens were comfortable.

The apartment is on the ground floor, so the second bedroom and bathroom are one flight of steps down to the first basement level, and the third bedroom is down another very steep flight of steps to the sub-basement. Again, there is adequate light and air from a light shaft (and a patio in the basement with both a washer and a dryer that we made use of) but I wouldn't reccomend those rooms for the very young or the very old. Basement construction also inevitably comes with a bit of musty dampness -- worth knowing if you're sensitive to allergies. (We had no problems and would stay here again.)

The living room was a comfortable place to hang out after long days seeing the sights.

The kitchen was well equipped (four burner stove top, oven, dish washer) and we cooked a few meals. My only complaint would be the mildew smell from under the sink, likely due to water getting into the cabinet from the sink above.

The shower was great (once we figured out how to use the handles...) and the heating units kept us warm on chilly nights.

Sandro was extremely helpful, not only arranging for us to be picked up at the airport at 7 am (for a reasonable cost) but also mailing us a jacket that we had left in the apartment. He was responsive to emails during our stay as well.

All in all a solid apartment and we would be happy to return.