I have heard that the old gothic area is nice but where else?

Also I found a place on Rambla del Raval, any thoughts on this location?

Iwilke, this was my thread when I asked the same question, I found the answers helpful and settled on Eixample left of Passeig de Gracia.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...aino&fid=2

Sorry you'll have to search under this heading BARCELONA for 8 Days WHICH NEIGHBORHOOD for apartment??

i don't know why I'm so inept when it comes to pasting URLs

The Barri Gotic/El Born neighborhood, and the Eixample area, are the two areas that are most recommended for tourists.

The Raval area that you are considering (west side of Las Ramblas) is considered "sketchy" by many people, although others say it's not that bad and is getting better. Search for "Barcelona" and "Raval" and read what people have to say about it.

not the one I would pick.

Here's GiuliaP's thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35097906

This is the apartment we ended up with. I was told by several people that it's a nice area on a pedestrian street.

http://www.way2stay.com/Barcelona-ap...en-52-2110.htm

I'll just give my standard warning about Way2Stay who we rented from: Deposits are non-refundable no matter what and if you want to change your reservation, you have to make an entirely new request, ie, a new deposit, ie bye-bye deposit. So if you rent from them, just make sure you are 100% on your dates, locations, etc.