Holiday Apartment in Barcelona with Friendly Rentals

We are happy to share that we had a positive stay in a holiday apartment in Barcelona with Friendly Rentals.  While planning our trip to Barcelona, we were not sure which type of accommodation would be best for us and it took us a while to finally opt for a holiday apartment.

Renting this holiday apartment in Barcelona was our first experience and we weren’t quite sure how the logistics of it worked such as who will give us the keys, are linens and towels provided etc.  After this positive experience, think I will be opting for holiday apartments instead of hotels.

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that I was excited to be headed to Barcelona thanks to cheap flights from Rome. With just three days in the city, we wanted to find a place that was central, quiet and value for money.  You can imagine how difficult it is to find accommodation that fits all three criteria.

We were fortunate to have found a holiday apartment in Barcelona that did.  The apartment that we rented was called the Traviata Apartment, located on a quiet street in the Gothic area and less than 5 minutes walk from the Urquinaona metro stop.

The location made it easy for us to get around and just walking distance to El Born, Plaza Catalunya and Las Ramblas. Yes, we walked everywhere, even to Barceloneta and Sagrada Familia.

Holiday Apartment in Barcelona – How it works

We made booking online for this holiday apartment in Barcelona with Friendly Rentals and paid a 25% deposit to book the apartment.  The remaining balance was to be paid in cash together with a cleaning fee of €40 when you check in at their office.

You could pay with a credit card but there will be additional fees. Also they will put a hold on your credit card for €200 as a damage deposit. This is not charge and just a hold so there will be no additional fees.

All the terms and conditions are clearly mentioned on their website. If you are unsure, just request a live chat with one of their staff or send them an email.  We had requested for a early check-in and as there was no one in the apartment the night before, they were able to accommodate our request.  However, we had to check-out at the regular time 11am and Friendly Rentals were able to hold our luggage for us in their office.

When you check-in, keys are given to you and are shown on a map the location of your apartment. As for the check-out, all you have to do is to leave the keys in the apartment and close the door behind you.

Holiday Apartment in Barcelona – Overall Experience

Renting a holiday apartment gives you more flexibility than a hotel and it feels more like “home” after a long day of sightseeing.  We were also able to buy some groceries from the shops on that street as well as from the nearby Santa Catarina market.

If you wish to dine in, you can prepare a simply meal.  They have a dishwasher available for you to use together with the dishwashing  soap.  However, if you want to handwash a couple of dishes, no liquid soap was provided.

For this holiday apartment in Barcelona, we were initially not impressed as the main entrance didn’t quite look one and had graffiti all over it.  Once we stepped inside, we were glad that it was well lit and brightly colored.  The entrance is always lit when you enter which is plus. In addition, there is an elevator.

The photos shown on their website is an accurate representation of the apartment.  The only disappointment was bathtub.

While they had a photo of the bathroom on the website, it didn’t show the condition of the bathtub.  The bathroom is clean but the molding along the edges of the bathtub was unappealing.  Another thing is that before checking in, we asked about toiletries.  We were told that we would get small shampoos and soaps but all we got was a bar of soap. This is a minor issue but I felt it was fair to let you know.

Overall, I would consider this holiday apartment in Barcelona again because of it’s prime location and the fact that it’s on a quiet street.  The apartment was clean when we checked-in and it was cozy.  For me, it was perfect for 2 people but maybe a bit tight for 4 people.

Renting a Holiday Apartment Again?

Yes, I would definitely rent a holiday apartment again and have already checked out a few apartments for the next trip.  We have already booked flights and now we need to finalize the accommodation.  If you are looking for alternatives to hotels, Friendly Rentals also has apartments in different cities including Rome.

As for this holiday apartment in Barcelona, I would recommend it if there are two of you traveling together.

Would you consider staying in a holiday apartment in Barcelona or what other alternatives to a hotel would you recommend?