samoca

My first trip to Barcelona. We are going first to Venice for a week and then flying over on Vueling to Barcelona for a week. We are two middle-aged gals from Santa Monica, CA--(both named Pat!)

I have been studying best areas and even called my friend who moved back to his native Barcelona (alas, he lives in the suburbs in a too small place). Had decided Eixample Dreta was right for us. The discussion yesterday over L'Eixample vs. El Born let me to Habitat Apts. I found this one, which as you see is not in either but in Gotic'. It is in what seems to be a little alley off Carrer Comtal near Porta Angel. Why I like it is we wanted two separate bedrooms that both have decent-sized beds--which turns out to be very hard to find. But this seems to have two double bed sized bedrooms. However, it is on the first floor. Would this likely be very noisy? I am a light sleeper, my friend not so much. I wish I could find more reviews on it. They are all excellent on the page but may not be real.

Here's the link:
http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...price&pagina=1

So far this is the only apartment the two Pats agree on.

Thanks so much for your insight, Fodorites!

bilboburgler

Well first floor will be one above the ground floor so not too bad (in the old days before lifts these were the best floors) and you are not on the Ramblas proper so the noise should be ok. it looks great to me, have you looked at street view?

Elizabeth_S

We stayed nearby and loved the area and the apartment looks nice. Habitat gets great reviews. I would also suggest having a look at street view to make sure you're not on top of a bar.

Cowboy1968

Streetview is a great resource for Barcelona as almost any tiny alley is available to "walk through" online.
In general, that is a very nice area. Neighboring Portal d'Angel street is not one of those narrow old town alleys but a rather wide pedestrian street. You should experience much less noise on Comtal than in the heart of the bar/pub/resto zones of Gotic or Born. But Elizabeth's suggestion to check if that apartment is not just one floor above a bar is a good one to be on the safe side.

samoca

The "alley" turns out to be Espolsa-Sacs. I did find it on street view and it looks like it dead-ends a little after the apartment location. It says refurbished in summer 2012 so the google street view might be before that. If I call Habitat and ask them, will they be straight with me about whether it's noisy? So many people here recommend the agency. I've found so many appealing apartments, by the way, that I made a Pinterest page for them--Barcelona Rentals. My friend is nickle and diming the price. There are so many good deals out there, booking this far in advance--"an embarrassment of riches."

danon

I doubt habitat could guarantee a quiet street...
depends on the number of bars and late night pedestrian traffic
It is just steps away from Born .
I am not fond of the narrow streets or first floors( often not much light and air and more noisy
than higher floors)
Not always, but often the price tells you something.
I would keep looking.

Cowboy1968

The street is not a dead end, but goes thru an archway under the house where it hits Comtal. At least from I could take from where habitat placed their logo on the map.
No one will or can guarantee you "quiet" in the heart of Barcelona.

samoca

Thanks all. Decided to keep looking.

samoca

Cowboy: Come back to this because of price and the 2 double beds. I see from all your various Barcelona postings and your posting here that you are quite well-informed about the city. If the Habitat agency, which gets good reviews all around on Fodor Spain, says there's no bar downstairs, do you think this location is good?--very hard finding a 2-bedroom with 2 double bed apartment in a central location. I have spent several days at it. The price is quite low for an 80 sq m apartment. Is that necessarily a sign of something wrong? Thanks again for your efforts already at finding the place on Google street! Did you live in Barcelona or do you just go there a lot?

Elizabeth_S

I did a quick search and found a reference to an apartment that must be pretty close to this one (or is this one) and noise was mentioned as a problem

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...Catalonia.html

Have you considered Habitat's Princesa apartments? I've seen many happy references to them over the years and they both have two queen size bed

http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/...rea=4&pagina=1

You might ask for a couple of email addresses of prior rentors and ask them - I've done that in the past with agencies.

crazyfamilyof4

if you are of interest I have booked with this company:

http://www.likelivingthere.com

They have had great communication with me and I hear it is a good location ( El born area).

Cowboy1968

Hi samoca,

I have just been a dozen or more times in Barcelona, but have not lived there.

The noise from a bar is one thing.
But regular city life goes on till much later hours than you might be used to. People finish dinner as late as 11 or midnight. Stay in bars till 2. City cleaning / waste disposal can happen in the wee hours. People leaving for early morning flights and make "noise" with their carry-ons.
In the old town with narrow streets and 5-6 storey buildings left and right all these sounds and noises get amplified like in a funnel. If your bedroom faced the street you would hear all kind of "noises" all night.

And it's not so much the matter of picking the right place in the Old Town neighborhoods (Gotic, Born/Ribeira, Raval) but by default and building pattern everywhere in that maze.
Life just follows a different pattern and timeframe, and you will have young teenagers playing football in the street at 10 or 11pm as that would not be considered "late". If you adjust your perception of what is "night time" to the hours of 1 - 8 am, you will get along easier.

Furthermore, it als relates to your usual living conditions.
If you are used to a quiet suburbian lifestyle in a single family house where you barely hear anything between 10 and 7, then you will notice the difference.
If you have lived in apartment buildings on a busy city street, you would probably not so notice much difference.

The perfect remedy if you are really sensitive towards noise would be to look for an apartment somewhere in Eixample, the huge checkboard-pattern part of town with wide streets and many trees to mute the noise. And get an apartment which does not face the street to be on the very safe/quiet side.

danon

I completely agree with Cowboy..(.after visiting Barcelona six times in seven years. )
Going again in four weeks.

Public transit in Barcelona is excellent and cheap, you might do better NOT staying right
in
the center of the action.

danon

P.S.
We have a condo in the middle of a big city, the level (and time) of noise
is very different than in narrow streets of Gotic.

BigRuss

UGH. The generalizations about noise are not helpful.

We stayed with Barcelonastuff.com in an apartment about three blocks from where your habitat place is - it was off a gated alley (if you magnify the location map to the maximum, it comes up as "Carrer Flor") on Carrer Canuda between La Rambla and Portal d'Angel and the building was SILENT at night.

Cowboy1968

Yes, sometimes and somewhere you will have no noise from no one. Thanks for sharing that anecdotal expertise.

samoca

Am now looking at this pace from VRBO. I will just take the smaller of the two bedrooms. There are lots of rave reviews, and this owner has offered to pick us up gratis (!) from the airport and give a 10% discount. I don't know the exact street. The place does seem to be quiet. Decent location for a first visit? Thanks again all.

http://www.vrbo.com/411480wnerprofile

danon

It is not as " in the middle of the action" as the other, but you can get places by metro
in 10 - 15 min, Placa Espanya and some other atractions are even closer..(. walkable.)
I will be staying not far in April.
Can you get the exact address? What floor is it on?
Carrer Arago is a busy road ...seems to be right on it.
Best to (street )Google the place to get an idea of the area.

samoca

Seems to be 99 Carrer d'Arago. It's top floor with a lift--Google street photo says 97, but I'm assuming it's the 6th or 7th floor. There is a nice little patio. All reviews from VRBO say it's quiet and rave about the landlords. It's very reasonable (at least to me) at 80 euros a night with 65 euro additional cleaning fee AND a free trip to and from the airport (anyway, one way for sure). I basically trust VRBO since I've rented several times in other places through them.

Elizabeth_S

If it was me I'd prefer to be in the area of the first apartment - more to do with transporting back and forth. Since you've decided to take a twin/smaller bedroom that probably opens up other choices?