Our family of five usually stays in apartments when we travel abroad, but this was by far the best experience we've had. We sent our arrival information to Anna, and she greeted us at the apartment and let us freshen up and drop our luggage, despite the cleaning person working to clean up from the previous guests. That gesture was much appreciated as we had just landed after an all-night flight!
Anna explained everything and gave us an extensive list of recommendations and directions for using the public transportation. She also left a wonderful list of restaurants in every neighborhood, which we perused and took to heart!
The apartment has every appliance necessary, and, most thankfully, air conditioning! The kitchen is nicely appointed, and we were able to eat breakfast each morning and several other meals there.
The location is superb -- very easy walk to Placa de Espanya and the Metro station, just two stops away from Sants Estacion and also a slightly (but very slight) longer walk to Rocafort. Within just a few blocks are really wonderful cafes, restaurants and tapas bars! We frequented the Mercadona market in the Arenas because two in our family have some specific dietary needs, but the 24-hour supermercat across the street was awesome for the basics!
This was such a wonderful base for us, and we all want to return. One of the highlights was eating at Casa Lucio, a wonderful Catalan restaurant nearby which Anna recommended. My husband called to try to make a reservation, but Lucio does not speak English, and my husband's Spanish is pretty broken. So we thought we could not get in. We asked Anna and Raf if they would be able to try to get us a reservation, and they did! The meal was one of the best we've ever had -- such an experience in and of itself!
Thank you, Anna and Raf, for your wonderful hospitality! We hope to return again some day!