How to Find an Apartment in Barcelona

Many travelers think that searching for an Apartment in Barcelona is usually an easy task, but if you are not familiar with Barcelona districts and apartment rentals in the Catalan capital, you should consider reading the following guide for searching, choosing and booking your Apartment in Barcelona the right way and avoid any bad consequences during your stay.

How big the Apartment should be?

Once you know the number of guests traveling to Barcelona, you will decide about the size of your apartment and how many bedrooms it should have. If you are just two people, a couples or two friends, it's sufficient to book a Studio or if you need extra space get a One Bedroom apartment with a bedroom and a living room. If you are a couple with children you can take the advantage of taking a One Bedroom Apartment, so that the kids sleep on the sofa-bed in the living room.
The Two Bedroom apartments are preferred by families with older children or friend-couples who wish to spend their vacation in Barcelona together and in the mean time have each couple their own bedroom and bathroom. Groups usually choose Three bedroom or even a Four bedroom apartments that are in the same building to stay as if they were in a hotel.

Where to stay in Barcelona?

The choice of the location of Apartments in Barcelona plays an important role in the success of one's vacation. The decision about the district to stay in, is based on your personal preferences:
If you prefer exploring the history of Barcelona, go for the Old Twon (Ciutat Vella in Catalan), the Gothic Quarter (Barrio Gotico), El Borne or el Raval. Here you can explore the well conserved Gothic architecture with most of Barcelona monuments concentrated in this area, as the Cathedral of Barcelona, the Placa Real also as the Picasso Museum in Born district.
Preferring high-standard apartments away from the crowds and the noise? Choose Eixample, which is very close to the above mentioned historical center of Barcelona. Most of Eixample monuments were realized by the Modernist architect Antoni Gaudi like the Casa Mila, the Casa Batllo in Passeig de Gracia avenue, also as the Sagrada Familia. Beach lovers will go for the Barceloneta district to enjoy its Mediterranean beaches which could be very crowded and trendy in the summer season.
Business travelers visiting Barcelona should consider the districts Sants and Plaza de Espana. Those are well-suited districts for business travelers thanks to the location near Barcelona Fair (la Fira) and Barcelona Congress Centre. Public transport is also very reliable in Sants and Plaza de Espana, the metro connects Sants railway station with all parts of Barcelona.

How much will you spend for the Apartment?

Barcelona is not a very cheap destination, so tight budgets won't really fit to get a comfortable and safe apartment, but you can also choose smartly and even negotiate the rates of the apartment if you are planning a long stay or if you are making a booking for a group. Prices are depending on the location in Barcelona (more centric is more expensive), the size of the apartment and also the quality of the apartment itself, that means the building standard, the furniture level and facilities like WiFi and air-conditioning. Apartments in Barcelona are also classified by stars similarly to hotels, from 1 to 5 stars. The most popular and affordable are the Three and the Four star apartments. The 1 and 2 star apartments can't guarantee the quality and safety that you expect and the 5 star apartments are rather a premium choice which could be quite pricey.

Instead of booking directly, start by contacting a travel agent in Barcelona

Search well the Internet and avoid international websites where you cannot find any contact of the agent, those are usually global company that will overcharge you and will never assist you with any information about Barcelona, sometimes it's even a robotized system. Go for a smaller company where you can talk human-to-human and send them a detailed e-mail about your preferences for the apartment in Barcelona based on the above mentioned points, size, location and budget. Even after getting the answer, ask about whatever comes to your mind, the street where the apartments is located, in which floor, how are the beds distributed, what amenities are exactly in the apartment...etc. If the price seems to you high, try to ask for a discount, yes discount, prices could be negotiable, mainly if you are staying more than one week in Barcelona, even a small discount is possible, at least you save for shopping during your stay in Barcelona.

You've booked your apartment in Barcelona, what to do further?

Now that you get a good deal from the agent and you made the booking, still few details you may consider in order to finalize what you started in a good way, we know that this could be annoying but we are telling this after an experience of several years in apartment rentals and we know that a wrong information can lead to worse complications later. So take the address of the apartments or the place where you will pick-up the keys, verify that this address exists and there is no typing mistakes in it. Take the mobile phone number of the responsible person for the check-in and provide also your phone number including international country prefix, I mean your mobile phone number that you will take with you to Barcelona.

Sticking with those advises, travelers will avoid inconvenient consequences during their stay in Barcelona and guarantee that they will get the right service and apartment they paid for.