We are looking to book a month long stay in Barcelona and price difference between apartments listed on Airbnb and Barcelona-home.com is large enough that I'm now questioning if Barcelona-home.com is legit. Has anyone rented from that site and if so, what has been your experience?
Thank you,
Aleksandra
Posted by
Barcelona
64 posts
Easy: if they have an HUTB number, everything ok.
If they do not have it, you might be in trouble
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
2940 posts
Clarification: the HUTB number relates to the rented apartment, not the company renting them. Each apartment for rent has its own HUTB -a sort of "license plate" of the apartment that uniquely identifies it for legal purposes when it comes to renting for short stays.
So, Barcelona-home.com, in their offering at their website, where the property is described, they HAVE to show the HUTB number. If so, in principle, it should mean the owner of that apartment is in compliance with the laws and regulations of the City of Barcelona, and that Barcelona-home.com is too, as they cannot list an apartment that's not properly registered.
Also, for those not familiar with this issue, note that there are two actors here: one is the owner of the flat and another one is the company (Barcelona-home.com). Renting a legally registered apartment doesn't mean it's necessarily trouble free, it just means that, at least, in the legal requirements department they're in compliance. Think of this requirement like this: when you are buying a computer in a store, the manufacturer of the computer needs to have the approval of the FCC (in the US) to sell his computers, but having it doesn't ensure you might not have problems with the product itself, with the service received at the store, etc.
Other than this, sorry I can't be of more help... living here (and not working in tourism) I am not in the loop when it comes to specifics for a particular company.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you so much for a great response.