Decimononico

If you don't like reading long reviews, suffice it to say that if you are looking for a mid-term/short stay apartment you will be very happy staying here, as the building, apartment and staff are all top notch! If you want more details, see below: I am staying in this apartment in El Born for the month of September, 2024. This is my fourth visit to Barcelona, and it will be the longest, so I was wanting/needing a comfortable place. The building is located in a pedestrian zone, so you will get dropped off on a nearby street if coming by cab or Uber, and will walk the final part to find the building front door on the Carrer de la Pescateria. I can't say enough about how nice this apartment is. I am in Apartment 14, on the first floor (up one flight from the ground level). It has a separate bedroom that can be closed off with a sliding barn-style door, a separate bathroom (also with a closeable sliding door) and a small changing area where the closet is located. This too is closeable from the main front door and foyer area. There is a living room with a TV, a dining area with a table and 4 chairs, a credenza for storage, and a one-wall kitchen, with a coffee maker, stove, oven, half-size refrigerator, microwave, kettle, and a sink. There are plenty of pots, pans, plates and other dishes, glassware, silverware, and, with some re-arranging, room for food storage, too. High speed internet, critical for me, is available for no extra charge in the unit via WiFi. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how truly friendly and helpful the staff are in making sure I understood how things work here and making sure I was comfortable. I have now met and worked with Ana, Javier, and Emma, all of whom are superbly nice and helpful. The office is staffed from 10 until 5 every day, but you probably won't interact with them much after the first few days. Although I needed a lot of help with the simple things at the start, like where to take trash and recycling and how to work the stove/oven, after that initial burst of interaction I didn't require much direct help. But whenever I encountered them, they knew me and asked how I was doing and if I needed anything. There is an elevator in the building, but I just took the stairs after I moved in, as they are located in the lobby and convenient to the building entrance. If you are not familiar with El Born, it has more shops and restaurants than you can believe. It is a maze of small pedestrian walkways and alleys combined with roads too small for cars but which have cars anyway. There are more tourist things to do within a 15 minute walk than I can name here, but to suffice: this apartment is convenient to La Rambla, the beaches, the marina, Barceloneta, the Cathedral, and more. The Parc de la Ciutadella is a 2 minute walk from the apartment. There are a multitude of small grocery markets everywhere nearby, but a real grocery store (Aldi) is about a one minute walk, and a second one (Dia) is about a 5 minute walk from the apartment. Despite the central location in the tourist zone, it is relatively quiet here. There are no bars or clubs directly around the apartment building, although there are some within a couple of minutes walk. Due to the nature of El Born, with the many small passageways, you likely won't here any night noise if you like having your windows (which are all really doors, with small balconies in this apartment) closed. Full Disclosure: It was warm enough to have the apartment closed up and the Air Conditioning on for my first few days here, but it is a nice, much cooler and drier day today, and I have the apartment entirely open right now, and I can hear some traffic noise from the main road, Passeig d'Isabel II, but it is not bad at all. I will amend this review if any new developments occur, but at this time, this is by far the best place I have stayed in Barcelona.

To me it looks like they scam people with the deposit. Before your stay you have to pay a deposit of 320€, which is rather unusual for hotels, but okay, I didn't think anything of it. When we arrived in the room, our first impression was very good - stylish apartment. A closer look, we noticed the shortcomings of the apartment. The furniture looks cheap, as if it is about to fall apart. The couch didn't seem stable, the chairs creaked so we didn't want to sit on them. On the last day of our stay, the glass plate, which was placed on the dining table suddenly broke during breakfast. It had absolutely nothing to do with us as we just put a cup at the table and had our hands on the table while eating. A table should be so stable that you can have breakfast on it without breaking the whole glass plate! This glass plate did not rest properly on the table from the start and stood over the edge. At checkout the receptionist was friendly and I was assured that the manager would get back to me quickly regarding the deposit. After several emails to which I did not receive an answer, an invoice for 280€ (!) was only sent to me 1 month later. The remaining 40€ of the deposit was returned to me. The glass plate which was broken looked by no means of high quality. When I contacted the same company which made the new glass plate, I got a cost estimate of only 180 € for a glass plate with the exact same dimensions, It looks like we have been scamed. And other reviews say the same! I do not recommend Deco Apartments! Worst and most disappointing experience ever!

We booked this apartment but due to lockdown it was cancelled so we could not go. However, the owners have refused to refund our money but offered us a voucher for a later date stating that it is none refundable . This is disgraceful behaviour, since they cancelled and the apartment was not available. Needless to say we will pursue a refund. I’m sure the apartment is very nice but beware of unreasonable hosts.