Suites Arago 565 - Abapart in Barcelona

The worst accommodation experience I’ve ever had, which significantly ruined my impression of Barcelona.

From the moment we tried to check in, things already felt off. The hotel provided no prior instructions, and upon arrival, there was only a vague and unclear notice stuck to the door. The check-in process was incredibly complicated, hard to believe such an outdated and unintelligent system still exists in 2025. It took us over an hour just to get into the room.

Once we entered, we found that we were placed on the ground floor with no terrace, no natural light, and extremely poor ventilation. A strong unpleasant smell hit us as soon as we opened the door. The bed looked acceptable on the surface, which gave us a bit of relief, until we pulled back the covers and discovered dirty sheets underneath. The cleanliness was clearly only superficial. I can honestly say I’ve never stayed at a hotel in such poor condition.

The bathroom was equally terrible. I highly advise against staying here if you’re more than two people. The hot water runs out by the second person, and there is almost no anti-slip protection or drainage. There is no Wi-Fi signal at all on the ground floor, and even the mobile signal is very weak.

If you’re staying over a weekend, good luck reaching any staff — no one will respond. By coincidence, the next day a staff member came because the front door was broken. We took the opportunity to explain our room situation and ask for help, but the staff’s attitude was dismissive and impatient. When he said someone would come to clean, he didn’t even bother to ask which room we were in. He clearly just wanted to brush us off. When we said we would leave a negative review if nothing was done, he showed zero concern.

In short, I do not recommend this place. Aside from the location, every other aspect was a disaster. Considering the price, which isn’t exactly cheap, it’s unbearable to endure such poor conditions. This experience has even made me not want to return to Barcelona.

-The apartment was very close to the Encants metro station, just a 2-minute walk. From here, you can access the entire city and the main tourist attractions.

-What I didn’t like was the lack of professionalism and willingness to help from the staff managing the apartment. I had written to them and informed them that I would be arriving late in Barcelona since my trip was in the evening. When we arrived at the apartment, customer service was unresponsive when I called them, and we had to wait nearly 30 minutes to check in, which had to be done manually.

-Furthermore, when I got to the apartment, I noticed it hadn’t been cleaned. I immediately wrote to the owner through Booking, who only responded the next day after lunch. The cleaners came, but they didn’t make much of a difference—just a basic cleaning.

The floor hadn’t been washed, and stains were clearly visible. The sofa cover wasn’t cleaned, neither were the keys and light switches. I cleaned the wardrobe myself, and the balcony wasn’t clean either. Also, in the dishwasher, there were pots and plates that had been used previously.

Perhaps this is the best they can do. Truly disappointed.

It seems they are renting this building also for long stays. On the top interior side of the building on nr. 297 they have bad educated Arab couple from which man screams till 3AM to his wife and waking up the rest of the block. It would surprise me if neighbors already called the police on them soon.

The hotel is well placed and the flat was big.These are its only advantages.
The service is awful. The receptionists are impolite and useless. No basic services like ironing (or at least an iron to let), broken hair dryer in the bathroom, dirty floor while checking in.
The flat had windows but almost all of them had a wall in front, the only window that had not a wall, had a terrace and nice noisy dusty construction works. Very enjoying.
Bad Catalan experience.
TO AVOID.