Gran de Gràcia Apartments

The neighborhood was the highlight, lively and cool with lovely little restaurants, and it reminded me of Shoreditch in London. It's only a few metro stops from the town center. The apartment was clean and well equipped, and I'd happily stay there again. One thing to know if you're arriving very late: check in online and they'll leave your keys in the safety deposit box. Otherwise, you'd need to check in somewhere else a couple of kilometres away, or pay €35 for someone to meet you at the apartment.

The location was great, with a metro nearby and nice neighborhoods around the apartment, and the staff were efficient when we asked for more toilet paper. But for a family, I'd only recommend staying here if you're a heavy sleeper. The motorcycles sounded like they were revving right beside us. We were on a noisy street, and on the first night we didn't sleep at all. We could hear people outside, traffic, and the metro passing underneath. We asked the administrator about moving to an apartment away from the street. He said he'd get back to us the next day and assured us he could move us, but no one called. When we phoned the day after that, the new person on shift said nothing would be available for four days, the night before we left. In the end we moved the mattresses into the living room because it was a little quieter than the bedroom. One bedroom had bunk beds with no guard on the top bunk in case someone rolled over and fell. We had signed strict rules about noise and fines after 10pm, yet the upstairs neighbors seemed to be having some kind of gathering. We called the emergency line because we just wanted to sleep. They said they'd call upstairs, but if no one answered, I would have to knock myself. I politely said no, since I was already in bed in my jim-jams and felt it wasn't my job. Luckily, it got quiet again a few minutes later. Some lamps were broken at the base and leaning against the walls, and a few bulbs had burned out. Our family of four was given one roll of toilet paper for the whole week. We told the administrator, and they brought us more.

Everything was fine until the end, when they charged me 100 euro for a small glass door that was already broken before we arrived. The receptionist had told us about another cabinet door in the room that the previous guest had broken. We assumed they'd checked the apartment and knew about its condition, so we didn't report the glass door ourselves. I feel they cheated us. Check the apartment carefully on your first day and report any damage, so this doesn't happen to you.

A comfortable, really nice place for the price. Having a private kitchen with all the cookware was a big plus for me. The Fontana underground station is a five-minute walk away, and there's a supermarket two minutes away. Highly recommended!