Barcelona VRBO Apartment

VRBO is a reputable site and you shouldn't have any problems. But NEVER wire payment to the owner - always use your credit card to prevent fraud.
I'm not familiar with that area of Barcelona, so sorry I can't comment on the neighborhood.
Good luck!

The neighborhood looks a little seedy but the apartment looks nice. I guess I will take a chance with it. Who knows.. May go back to hotels or just do apartments depending on the length of stay. Thanks all!!

Last summer, we rented an apartment in Barcelona that we found through VRBO. The company was negre.us. It was a business run operation, not an individual apartment that someone had. The neighborhood was Eixample and we couldn't have been happier. They have other apartments in Eixample and I highly recommend them. If I remember correctly, we used Paypal for the deposit and ended up paying in cash upon arrival. Good luck!

VRBO doesn't mean 'legit' -- it is the classifieds and many of the apartments listed are from agencies -- the days when it really was 'by owner' are long gone. WE have had good luck with VRBO apartments but are under no illusion that if the authorities crack down we might not be left high and dry.

We use the following benchmarks to validate a prospecrive rental:
- need to have more than 20 referrals
- referrals must be from a variety of countries, never all from the same country
- we email the landlord w a several questions about the apt or immediate area and monitor how long it takes to recieve a response and how much the answers respond to our questions. More than three days to respnd is too much for us.
- we always seek to negotiate the price.
- we always outline our expectations for what condition we expect to find in the place. We especially focus on water temp, air cooling, kitchen functionality and if the lift is operating
- we send the landlord an email stating non functional items significantly distracting from our quiet enjoyment of the rental is cause to revolk the credit card payment
- If the landlord will not agree to these terms than we move on to the next property as this is a very competitive marketplace and is in the rentors favor.
Most important, we contact prior landlords to ask for their recommendations for rentals in other locales and have enjoyed great success w this type of networking.

Your comment re the seedy appearance of Barrio Gotic....yes, from the outside it does look rundown somewhat to those of us living here where there are green lawns, wide streets, etc. But, remember this area of Barcelona is among the oldest of the modern areas (the buildings do not date back to the Romans!), with the construction taking place in the 1800's. The narrow street were common...and kept the areas cool in the summer from the intense heat. I stayed last year in the Born area, adjacent to the Gotic and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the many streets in both areas. You will be safe, there is a lot of foot traffic at all times, lots of shops, bars, etc. I would stay there in a heartbeat, and in fact plan to return to the Born - Gotic area in the early spring. This is the real Barcelona, not the highclass hotels that are offered. You will enjoy the area I am sure.

Thanks All, I have booked!