Barcelona attracts huge numbers of visitors every year, including many who choose to stay in a short-let apartment during their stay.
(Photo: deepskyobject via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Blessed with over 300 days of sunshine per year, culturally-rich and with a nightlife to rival anywhere in the world, the Catalan capital definitely requires more than a few nights to experience the city to its fullest. Of course, just like everywhere else, Airbnb is number one in the Spanish short-term rental market; however, there are an increasing number of alternatives. Here are five of the best.
Booking.com
Our number one choice for finding weekly rentals in Barcelona goes to Booking.com. With so many options on its books, you can be almost certain to find an apartment to your liking. The website has multiple filters on its search engine, enabling users to choose their apartment according to their budget, neighbourhood and preferred amenities. When we searched for short stay options, we found a fine selection of apartments in central districts such as El Gótico and El Born, with prices starting at around €250 per night for a fully furnished studio. Booking.com also has a customers reviews section, as well as a Price Match Guarantee for any accommodation booked on the site.
Homelike
A popular accommodation platform for people seeking monthly rentals, Homelike’s flexible check-in and check-out dates allow guests to change their plans at the last minute. While booking through many other rental platforms can be a convoluted process, Homelike keeps it simple, displaying high-quality photographs and basic descriptions of the apartments, and deploying icons to show the property’s amenities. On our selected dates, we found 127 apartments available with prices starting at €1,575 for a furnished studio in the district of La Barceloneta, and rising to €5,000 for a two-bedroom apartment close to the hilly area around Montjuic.
HousingAnywhere
HousingAnywhere is perhaps the world’s largest platform for mid-term furnished rentals. When we looked for tenancies starting in April, we unearthed over 2,000 properties dotted all over the Catalan capital with prices starting at €400 per month for a medium-sized bedroom in shared accommodation in up-and-coming Sant Antoni. Barcelona is relatively small, but each neighbourhood has a very distinctive vibe; students and millenniums tend to prefer areas like La Barceloneta, the Gothic Quarter, Gràcia and El Raval while families and older couples generally opt for quieter areas like L’Eixample and Poblenou. HousingAnywhere has many impressive features, including detailed neighbourhood guides, listing alerts, and an online customer support team. Service fees include a one-off charge equivalent to about 25% of one month’s rent.
Spotahome
With over 120 properties on its books, Spotahome has a fine selection of apartments for rent spread all the way across the city and even up the coast as far as Mataró. Monthly rates range from as little as €420 for a large room in a shared apartment in Horta to €1,450 for a two-bedroom flat in the centre. It’s worth mentioning that these prices can drop by as much as 7% if the apartment is rented out for a period of 6 months. Like most short-term rental companies, Spotahome adds administration fees to the advertised price, so you should make sure you fully understand the extent of those costs before confirming a rental.
Coliving
Inspired by a trip to San Francisco, Coliving.com was set up to create a community living concept to allow like-minded people to live, work, and play together. Emphasis is placed on design and comfort, with all secondary costs and utilities covered by the monthly rent. In Barcelona, there were 12 co-living options available during our search. Despite the selection being relatively small, the variety of accommodation options is impressive. For example, in upmarket L’Eixample, we found a shared room (including co-working space) in an eye-catching 48-bedroom complex at €465 and in Saint Marti, a hotel that was leasing rooms at €1,590 per month, including access to a swimming pool, three restaurants and a gym.