We were really delighted with our stay in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona. My husband wanted a place where he could be close to the beach (not a great beach, but still a great place to go for a swim and to people watch), and then be able to go out and explore the city. We spent six days in Barcelona. I can't say that I got to every neighborhood, but everywhere we went we exclaimed how much we liked where we were staying. Poblenou has its own "ramblas" (walking street), without the crowds and commercialism of the downtown area.
This place is up about 3.5 flights in a tight, unairconditioned stairwell. The first time we climbed it, on a super hot day, after about an 8-hour flight with no sleep, and a pile of heavy bags seemed super daunting, but we quickly got used to it.
A lot of people in Europe live with no airconditioning, so we purposefully sought this place out because it did offer that amenity and we were grateful we did because for the first part of our trip it was in the 90s and relatively humid. There tend to be more cool breezes in the Poblenou due to its proximity to the sea, but it was still hot. That being said, there is only one unit in the living room, and we had to use a fan to push cool air into the bedroom. We shut all the doors we could to make the airconditioner not work so hard. The second bedroom is only big enough to accommodate a murphy bed -- if you're coming here in the summer as a foursome be prepared to keep all your bedroom doors open.
The place had all the amenities one might want -- the washing machine was very much appreciated.
We also very much appreciated the fact that this apartment is close to the action, but quiet. So grateful not to be on a busy street.
All in all I had a great experience and would highly recommend this apartment, and this neighborhood.