The access to this apartment is extremely challenging. Located off a dark narrow street, the small door of the building opens to a tiny staircase with multiple turns per floor. There is absolutely no space to even place your luggage inside the exterior door. The width of the stairwell is about 24 inches. It is too narrow to carry a suitcase in each hand. Several of the floors of the stairwell have burned out lights which make it very dark at night. We are fit adults and have rented numerous apartments with no elevator and required walk-ups, - this stairwell was very difficult to maneuver.
Even though the apartment is near the top of the building, the rooms are dark and windows look out to the building next door. Even by noon, I was never sure if the sun was out. The apartment advertises a balcony, but it is a French balcony overlooking the narrow street and offers no outside space.
The kitchen is not well-equipped for cooking. We had to buy a lighter to turn on the gas cooktop and oven. There were no dish towels and no cutting boards. Standard wine glasses would be a nice addition.
The bedframe was broken. Actually, the bedframe consists of 2 mismatched twin size frames taped together. The wooden slates on the frame are not solid and do not stay in place resulting in creaky noises and an overall unstable mattress.
The bathroom has a compact tub/shower combo with a flimsy plastic accordion door. On a positive note, there was good water pressure and plenty of hot water.
There is an AC unit over the dining area, but the bedroom could be stuffy during a hot night.
Being in the heart of El Born is the best quality of this apartment. I recognize that Barcelona tends to be an expensive city, but this apartment was not a good value. We were also surprised at the tourist tax that was required to be paid in cash. This additional charge was not communicated to us beforehand.