Apartamento en la calle Balmes

Everything was great. Large rooms with plenty of entertaining space. Everything was clean and tidy but the refrigerator didn’t work.

Because I was in route I didn't receive the message that the greeter was unable to meet with me until 12:00. I was there at my arranged time of 11:30 and had to sneak in the door as another apartment owner exited to have a place to sit and wait. That meant sitting on the stairs. The greeter didn't make the appointment until much later. I felt he was very rushed to get somewhere. He did explain the systems and the door locks. As we checked out the apartment I found eight lights/switches that didn't work. The fan above the cook top, the CD player, there wasn't a bar for the toilet paper roll, door locks were old, worn and tricky. While this was happening the maid was "washing" the entry floor. I don't believe she washed the other floors because there were large dust balls under the wardrobes and beds. The kitchen counter tops whipped off black after she left. First night we had a roach in the kitchen.Other problems: toilet was so dirty it was black in the bottom of the bowl, toilet bowl brush was covered in toilet paper, internet didn't work; floor corners, back of doors were dirty, water stains under mirrors in dining room, we blew a fuse when a hair dryer and curling were on at the same time, cooking pans were a health hazard with peeling plastic non-stick services, freezer had three-four inches of built up frost. This apartment needs a redo of the electric and a steam cleaning. We called on the internet for help. It never worked. CD player had layers of dust inside. Air conditioning filters are clogged and dirty. No window in one bedroom and no air conditioning in that room. The photos should be up dated they aren't correct. Twin bed rooms are very small. Positive things are the living room and location. Local support staff are,(I think) trying to manage too many apartments. They seem rushed to complete task and don't seem to have enough time between assignments if someone need help to come to the apartment. I made a lot of telephone calls and waited hours for help when I was locked out. True it was my mistake but, ones expects help with a reasonable response time. For the price I expected more. I wouldn't stay again.

Pictures can't be trusted in case of this apartment. Actually the apartment is really tired, dusty and dirty, doors were broken and etc.

Fortunately, the bed sheets were clean but when looking under the sheets then it would be better not to look.

Also it was a negative surprise that there is only one real window for the entire apartment (the others which can be seen from the pictures are artificial and there is no view through these).

From the positive side - everything outside of the apartment was nice (building itself, corridors) and the location is also great.

Thank you for making our stay in Barcelona so wonderful!

When we arrived at the apartment, the wifi wasn't working and there was a handy man there fixing the aircon. Once he left and we got settled, we slowly began to notice how many things didn't work. The toaster, the hob, light switches and the fridge bulb stopped working. The toaster even electrocuted one of us. The shower which you have to hold above your head, leaks all over the place in the bathroom where the lights kept flickering. I rang the owners to try and fix all this but they only managed to replace the fridge bulb and the toaster after much difficulty getting into contact with them. The apartment itself is very much like the photos and the location made up for what the facilities lacked. There was also only aircon in one bedroom out of 3 which we didn't think would be the case from the apartment description. It was liveable and clean but if you're expecting an easy stay then maybe this isn't the best apartment to go for. Cannot fault the location though, it made it all worth it.