Barcelona apartment input, please

Old Jul 29th, 2014, 03:20 PM
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Barcelona apartment input, please

Looking for a nice place for 3 nights in late November. I have come upon these. The first 2 are located in Carrer Canuda 24 (Old town – Gothic Quarter).

http://barcelonastuff.com/Barcelona-5.html

http://barcelonastuff.com/Flor-6-Apartment.html

And these:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/590503

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1871329

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/744153 (I realize no view, and no windows)

Looking for input on location, primarily. Thanks~

And if you have a studio or 1 bedroom that you've rented and love, please feel free to share~
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Old Jul 29th, 2014, 03:28 PM
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If you're looking for an apartment in Madrid, then you're going to have a lot of difficulty with these choices-- these are all in Barcelona!
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Old Jul 29th, 2014, 03:40 PM
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Opps! I AM looking for Barcelona.

[I was also thinking about starting a thread for Madrid hotels. Thanks.]
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Old Jul 29th, 2014, 08:18 PM
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{Thank you kind editor for fixing my thread title!}
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 12:24 AM
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Don't forget these properties now have to be licensed. The adverts must show the licence number. This is one reason why AirBnB is in trouble again most, but not all, of their listings do not have licences. I hope the other websites post licence numbers or they could be in the same boat.
http://www.thelocal.es/20140707/airb...gal-apartments
How to find if your property is legal:
Use this search engine. http://www14.gencat.cat/rtcwebguies/...sp?pst=1&lg=en
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 05:46 AM
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Thanks; I do know about the license. I just looked again to verify, and they all show # except the loft one, so that may need an email to get license #. And I have checked them out on the registry as well.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 06:10 AM
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Glad you reminded me.
Emailed owner of #1871329 asking about license; the reply:

Thank you for your interest in our apartment. We started the Airbnb experience since January 2014 and HUB licences are not assigned to our neighborhood (Ciutat Vella) since 2008. We are declaring our incomings from the rentals to the goverment (they are bank transfers from Airbnb to us) but we couldn't get the HUB for the touristic activity. It is a real shame.

Don't know if this is true?? But will be removing this from list.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:37 AM
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We had success with Barcelona Stuff and they run their business well. Dunno these apartments and I can't get a precise location from their website. We had one in their Portal del Angel building.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 07:51 AM
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Thanks Russ. The location of the barcelonastuff apartments is: Carrer Canuda 24 (Old town – Gothic Quarter) The website didn't provide much info; so I emailed them and they gave me this info.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 10:02 AM
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I am glad it was removed from the list. One never knows it there will be trouble head or not. Maybe the whole thing will die down and it will be situation normal. But until then just keep look and asking for the licences numbers. BTW These have nothing to do with paying taxes it is all to do with standards.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:07 AM
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ribeirascara,
Is there a similar site for Madrid?
Thanks
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 11:56 AM
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It's a good thing you don't need AC, I noticed one of them (I think the first Air B&B) says it had AC but you aren't allowed to use it at night, only during the day due to complaints from the neighbors! Night is the main time I want to use AC when it's hot, to sleep, and you are gone during the day anyway. Very weird.

IN any case, the one in the Gothic quarter is kind of far from a metro stop for my taste. It's sort of equidistant from pl Catalunya and Liceu, which means not really close to either, but not too bad I guess (probably about 5 blocks). That is a very small, narrow street dark, of course, lined with shops of all kinds (not necessarily good ones). I guess the other two aren't that different, both north of Diaganol, just one near Sagrada Familia, the other farther west. Those might be okay, I"m not that familiar with that area above Diagonal, I've stayed closer to placa Catalunya even when in Eixemple. But I think it would be a nice enough area and they aren't too far from metro stops, just not near where the action is, I guess.

I would never rent the last one, in the US, that would be illegal to even have a residence with no windows. All of these are pretty basic and stark, don't do much for me, but I think I like the one with some yellow best, but that's just taste. They are pretty cheap.

Last time I was there I rented this one
http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...rea=5&pagina=3

They seem to have a lot that are about the same price as the stuff you are finding and a lot more attractive (although the 1 BR I rented is about 120 euro per night in Nov, it seems). That first one you show under AirBnB looks real grim to me, for example. That particular building above has several apts in it for rent by a professional company that manages the building, so I think it is probably legal. It does show a license number. The location was excellent and near tons of restaurants and a nice area.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 12:56 PM
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Two problems with Habitat: (1) their prices tend to be higher, (2) they often want cash deposits. The fact that you get the deposit back when you leave as long as you haven't had a pack of wild dogs running through the flat is irrelevant if you're going home from BCN (or out of the Eurozone) because you're stuck with Euros.

The Carrer Canuda flat is thisclose to where we stayed - the Carrer de la Flor (private street, can only get there through gated entry). It's a fine area close to Catalunya, Las Ramblas (if you must) and the Gothic 1/4. Can't really go wrong with that location unless it's noisy. The location is CLOSE to the Placa Catalunya stop (there's an exit on the edge of Las Ramblas) and Urquinaona. Book without fear.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 01:36 PM
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We rented from Habitat 3 times. Had no problems.
Did not find the prices high.
Euros can be exchanged for any currency.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 01:57 PM
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"That first one you show under AirBnB looks real GRIM to me, for example" How so?

We aren't heading home after BCN, so euros being returned isn't issue.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 02:33 PM
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5 and 6 bstuff location looks good.
Before deciding I would ask for the exact address...then, you can google the street ( view) and get a better idea
of the area.
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 02:37 PM
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This one is nice looking, not sure about the area, seems good. No reviews, new property.

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...alconies-4.htm
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 02:51 PM
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And this one too:

http://www.oh-barcelona.com/en/barce...ren=0&babies=0
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Old Jul 30th, 2014, 10:41 PM
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Danon,
There are presently no licensing laws for Madrid.But they are thinking about it. If and when changes like this occur I will post it.
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Old Jul 31st, 2014, 03:08 AM
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We spent 8 weeks in Barcelona a few years ago near the Cathedral (not Sagrada Familia). We loved the Gothic area and were very happy we stayed there. I prefer it to Eixample (but not a huge dealbreaker)
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