I rented an apartment at Arc del Teatre 5 through apartmentinbarcelona.net, a rental site recommended by Sarah Wildman of the New York Times. The relationship between "Rege Apart" apartments and apartmentinbarcelona.net, if any, is unclear -- I'm not sure if they are actually separate companies that own separate units in the same building.

First, the positives: I had no problems with the apartmentinbarcelona.net people. They were responsive to all of my initial questions, payment was problem-free, etc. The apartment itself was small but clean. The bed was comfortable, and the apartment had a washing machine which I used and really appreciated. Although I stayed there by myself, the apartment (#1B) could easily house 2-3 people. At 70 euros/night, the place wasn't overly expensive for 1 person, but would have been quite inexpensive for 2 or more people.

However, the negatives easily outweighed the positives. By far the biggest problem is the noise level at night. The building is located above a dance club and the sound insulation is extremely poor. I kept the windows completely shut, but the crowd outside was so loud, and the sound insulation was so inadequate, that it literally felt as if I were sleeping directly out on the street. Fortunately I'd brought some earplugs along -- otherwise it would have been impossible for me to fall asleep at all.

Second, the location gets rather dodgy after dark. The building is located on a dirty, narrow side street just off of the south end of Las Ramblas. While I personally never felt threatened going to and from the apartment, the surroundings would definitely make some travellers uncomfortable -- quite a few prostitutes populate the area later at night (2 am). I also heard some reports of drug dealers (and users) in the area as well, but can't verify that firsthand.

Third, the furnishings are pretty cheap -- you get what you pay for. When I tried to open the curtains, they almost fell down off of their moorings, which were not securely fastened to the wall. The oven unit in the kitchen had an exterior piece that was falling apart. Maintenance could definitely use some upgrades.

Overall, I would not recommend this place and location. Seek out a much quieter apartment in a better neighborhood. (Iin my opinion, Las Ramblas is not a great location to visit anyway -- but that's a different subject.)

Booked the apartments through the internet. Location was great which was just next to the Ramblas area however the positive point ends there. It was situated next to a night club which became really active past midnight till 6 am in the morning. The room wasn't insulated from the noise at all and has to put up with it the whole night. The rooms were not as big as shown in the pictures. But the final straw came when our apartment was broken into and we lost cameras, lenses, money and other valuables. When we report to the staff, they seem to pass the responsibility to us that we did not use the safe. A police report was made but the security video was not handed to the police by the staff. The staff did suggest that the cleaner lady was seen leaving the apartment with another man holding an umbrella to hide his face. Despite that, they are unwilling to do anything further. Hence we suffer great lost. So whoever going to rent this place, beware of insider job. Not safe at all.