Let's get a couple of things straight from the start. Firstly this is not the Ritz, but then again if you want the Ritz you won't be looking for an apartment. Secondly you won't be able to park by the door (despite what your satnav may tell you!) as it's all naroow pedestrian alleys. There is however an underground carpark 200 yards away in Placa Commercial which costs 18 Euro per day.

Our first impressions of Decimononico were not the best. It is situated in La Ribera, a district of old buildings which is either seedy or trendy depending on your outlook, but which - like other areas of Barcelona - had a distinct whiff of sewage in the streets. Decimononico is an old 4-storey building which has been converted into 14 apartments, and which looked closed and shuttered at the time of our arrival in the early evening, an impression not helped by the building next door being encased in scaffolding. The entrance door is a single piece of thick steel sheet with adjacent intercom - no uniformed flunkies here! We were admitted by a pleasant girl who spoke good English, and shown to the office which, she explained, is temporary because 'we've got the builders in'. Mind, be careful not to arrive after 20.30, as the office is then closed and you'll be out in the street ringing the displayed telephone number!

We had asked for a high-floor apartment for two, but were shown to No. 12, a 2-bedroom apartment on the first floor with one double room and another containing a pair of bunks. The rooms were not large and had no wardrobes, just a chrome-wire device with baskets and hanging space. The living/dining area was roomy, with a sofa, settee, and single chair positioned around the small television, and a table with 4 chairs for dining. The furniture in these areas has definitely seen better days. The adjoining kitchen was well-equipped with fridge, kettle, and full cooker, but no washer or microwave, unlike the impression given on the hotel's website. The bathroom is fairly small with a large shower - more than adequate for our needs. There is a quiet and efficient aircon system throughout the apartment, which is in good decorative order. There are no carpets, but the apartment has hard tiling throughout, with the exterior walls to the living area left with exoposed stone, and the high ceiligs are similarly left in original condition. There are three small balconies, but no views as they open onto passages that are no more than 10 feet wide.

With all this minimalist finish and hard surfaces, I had expected some noise, but there was very little, possibly because there seemed to be few other guests at the time of our visit (late June 06). We did however suffer in some small way from the building work downstairs in adjacent, but as we were out most of the day, it just provided a convenient alarm call.

Around Decimononico are lots of small bars, specialist shops, and craft places, with a convenient small supermarket in Born, about 100 yards away. This is definitley an area of young people, but is well placed for the centre of Barcelona, paricularly the tourist bus which stops nearby and which you can uses all day with one ticket.

We booked the Decimononice through EasyJet/Hotelbeds, because we wanted an apartment but did not want to pay for a full week. So this is not the Ritz, but if instead of a hotel room you want the freedom of an apartment which is spacious, clean, and conveniently located, you may find the Decimononico is for you. It fitted the bill for us!

I'm not entirely convinced that what ruined our long weekend easter break was anything to do with Decimononico, more the fault of HOTELS [...]. We had booked well in advance, early Feb and had confirmation that it had been accepted. The apartments were chic and situated at the south end of the Gothic area, surrounded by small intermate cafes and bars. What could be more perfect? Until the cock up nothing. I emailed the owners two weeks before we were due, to find out if there would be any supermarkets nearby open at around 10pm on our day of arrival, only to be told they were fully booked. After sorting this out, we turned up at the apartments and given the keys and directions to a sprawling mess of an apartment up near the Arc de triomph (yes there is one in Barcelona) It was noisy (cars, trucks, underground etc) and dirty, topped off by the cleaner cleaning out our fridge of our food before we had even left. We eventually had a look at the Pescateria apartments and they are really first class. If I could give you any advice it would be to book directly with Decimononico, and avoid HOTELS[...] like the plague, who in my opinion ruined our long awaited break.

We have stayed in these apartments for a total of four nights ( 2 adults, 2 children aged 11 , 9 ).For anyone with kids they are set in an ideal part of Barcelona near to the sea front, 2 mins walk to the zoo and no more than 10 mins to the busy shop area of The Ramblas. The apartments have everything you could possibly need from a microwave, washing machine right down to a hairdryer ! We would definately recommend them to anyone.Although set in a quiet back street you still feel safe !!