Check-in & communication: Everything went smoothly. Antonio was there to greet us and gave us the key, followed by a quick check on the passport (the law requires hotels turn in visitor info to the city) and a walk-thru.
Location: The apartment was in a convenient location, only few blocks away from Plaza Catalunya where we caught a hop-on/off bus for the city tour. Safe and clean neighborhood. Plenty of cafes, restaurants, and supermarkets nearby. Walking distance to La Rambla where we checked out Mercado de La Boqueria, one of the must-try spots in Barcelona. We also checked out a Spanish guitar concert at the Tivoli theater, which was just a few minute walk from the apartment. We did a lot of walking through the streets of Gothic Quarter, and that was a lot of fun.
Apartment: It is spacious. Two bathrooms aren't connected to any bedrooms, which we found was okay. The layout is interesting; all rooms are connected with doors somehow as there isn't a hall way. There are two bedroom on one end of the apartment that are connected with a door. There's a living room between those bedroom and the third bedroom. We were two families, each with one child, so we put our kids in the middle bedroom, and each couple took the bedroom on each end. The kitchen was kind of dated but it was fine because we ate out almost every meal. The place was very clean and comfortable.
Noise: The area we stayed is relatively busy, so you hear street noises in the morning. They were doing major work in the unit right below us so we definitely heard the loud construction sound at 7:30am. We wish we had been given a warning at the check-in (as you would at a hotel).
Overall value: I wish we weren't given a reason to give anything but 5 star..... However, we booked during the WMC and paid over double what they normally charge during the season. When WMC was canceled due to fear of spreading COVID-19 we asked if they would be willing to adjust the price a bit (because unlike a hotel we couldn't cancel for a better rate), but they weren't willing to give us a break. This was unfortunate given the unforeseeable circumstance where everyone was impacted in someways.
