Ramblas Apartments

Barcelona Apartment Rental Guide

Holiday Apartments in Barcelona Spain
Every year it amazes me that many tourists never even consider staying in a Barcelona apartment rental when the added benefits of privacy, self-catering facilities, as well as possible lower rental fees, are significant over staying in any other form of Barcelona accommodation. You will also be able to find apartments in Barcelona locations that are difficult or too expensive to find a hotel e.g. the beach area.

A holiday apartment also offer you all the modern conveniences of home as well as being quieter than a hotel not to mention adding a touch of real class to your stay in Barcelona.
The good news for you is that not many other tourists think of staying in a holiday apartment either so there are some real bargains to be found!

The Barcelona hotel industry enjoys a 80 to 85% year round average room occupancy. This high demand for hotel rooms has pushed up rates significantly over the last few years with an average double room costing around 130 - 200 Euros per night. Barcelona has precious little development land left and for this reason the hotels can afford to push up the rates.

A Barcelona Apartment rental is the solution
Not only are you likely to save money staying at a holiday apartment but it can also be easier to find available accommodation in a holiday flat during the peak holiday seasons ( May to September) when most of the hotel rooms are booked up.

When there are more than 3 people in your group you will save even more as the average apartment will cost less than the price of a double room in a hotel. Often apartments have 2 or 3 additional pull-out beds in the lounge area that will give you the option to have more people in the flat.
The typical rent for an apartment in Barcelona varies typically between 80 to 350 Euros per night for the whole apartment. The price you pay obviously depends on several factors including the location, and quality of the apartment and its desirability.

How to find your ideal Barcelona Apartment rental
The best place to start your search for a Barcelona apartment rental is online. It's a good idea to know a little about the location of your apartment because Barcelona neighbourhoods can vary quite significantly.

News from Catalonia Weblog

Fetching RSS feed... please stand by

Barcelona and learning the Spanish language

Barcelona is one of those places you arrive to and immediately feel at home. You step off the plane and the heat hits you instantly - especially if you arrive in summer time. You drive to your apartment in barcelona or your hotel and begin to realise that you might belong in this wonderful city.

Many people who have come to Barcelona for any length of time end up staying for one reason or another. Some stay because of the diverse culture here, others because of work and many because they just want to try living here a while to see if it works out.

Some, if not a lot of people stay because they want to study the Spanish language. Not only do they learn Spanish with the aid of the numerous quality learning language schools and centres in Barcelona but they sometimes end up learning Catalan as well.

I'll always remember the first time I heard the Catalan language. It reminded me of the French language and of the times I spent in London trying to get to grips with it at school. It took me quite a few Spanish lessons and quite a lot of practice to actually decipher between the two languages - Spanish and Catalan. To the untrained ear, one probably wouldn't know if one were being spoken to in Spanish or Catalan - that knowledge will come with time. Looking back in retrospect though, I don't know how I could not tell the difference!

Getting back to Barcelona, there is so much to do here - so much in fact that you could never ever get bored. For the architects and lovers of architecture amongst us, let it be said that the city is swamped in peculiar buildings from the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.

Many people will have heard his name as it is generally associated with The Sagrada Familia or The Sacred Family Church. Catalans generally call this Church a temple and it is indeed a shrine to the excellence and fine works of this gifted Catalan architect.

Other things to see and are "must sees" in my opinion are the following:

* The gothic quarter or (barrio gótico)
* The Picasso Museum
* The Nou Camp (Barcelona FC stadium)
* Tibidabo - a lovely mountain with a theme park on top and spectacular vistas.
* Parc Güell
* La Pedrera
* Casa Battló
* Las Ramblas
* La Boquería - a fantastic indoor market with the freshest fruit and fish.

These are my "must haves" and "must sees" and are highly recommended to anyone contemplating visiting this wonderful city for the first time.

Incidentally, if you do decide to come to this great city why not rent an apartment in Barcelona - a lot cheaper than a hotel and definitely more fun!