Barcelona Apartments - Akaza Holiday Apartments in Barcelona

A beautiful and spacious attic (60m2) right in the old centre of Barcelona with a private roof terrace, internet and Jacuzzi for only 300 EUR per month is certainly a seductive offer, when you are looking for accommodation in Barcelona. You write him that you are interested and he replies to you the same day.

 Because of a job transfer, you can't see the apartment but he sends you some very nice pictures of the apartment. He also writes you that he needs to rent the it out right away, so he accepts just 300 a month, the price actually was 900 EUR a month. You feel proud that you have found such a great deal on the expansive house market of Barcelona. You reply to him which step to take next. He answers that for him to send you his keys by mail he only asks a small deposit 500 EUR payment right away by bank transfer. You are excited and transfer the money right away! He even replied that he received the money and that the keys are on their way. Excellent! But after waiting and waiting for the keys, you finally get the feeling that it was too good to be true and that you have fallen for a scam.

Another example. You arrive in Barcelona for the first time and have made contact with a person who can arrange accommodation. You meet him in the centre near the apartment you have enquired for and he shows you this great accommodation with 2 bedrooms, fully furnished and with great view over the old city of Barcelona. He tells you that there are a lot of people interested, but you're lucky. If you want the apartment, you just have to pay a small amount (200 EUR) and then he will deliver the keys in one hour nearby the house. You are obviously impressed and even the price is affordable, so you take it! You think you have taken it, but actually already 10 people have taken the apartment for the same small amount and the so-called owner will never deliver the keys and has run with the money.

Akaza owner, Andréa Drottholm tells her story, from when she first landed in Barcelona. A third example of apartment rental scams, in fact a legal “scam” which we really want to warn our visitors about. 

The agency does exist they have several offices around Barcelona. They put adverts in the newspaper of apartments that do NOT exist, and again, it sounds too good to be true.. You call them up and they excitedly tell you to come to a certain address, in my case it was on Via Laitana, in the middle of old town, just where I wanted to live. So I go there, and find an office. I get led in an explained their procedure. “you pay us what was then 200 EUR worth in pesetas, we give you the address of the apartment and you deal with the owner directly. Its cheap its good and easy as you do not deal with an agency but handle the owner face to face. Also they added, “ The other agencies in Barcelona will charge you at least a month worth of rent, to offer the same sort of service”. 

 I have to admit I did not fall for it straight away. Left the office, walked to a few other real estate agencies to verify that in deed you do pay at least 1 month agency fee. As I was so excited about this attic in the middle of the Gothic quarters, for a cheap price, I went back to make my dream come true. I paid, and when I asked for the details of the apartment, they regret to tell me that this apartment is already rented, but they have plenty of others???????!!! It was too late.. In fact they give you a list of addresses, once a day you can come by and they will give you max 5 addresses, where of 4/5 are already rented out.. You then have to spend your own money and talk to the owners in Spanish The apartments they list are never in old town or any other attractive area for that matter, as they deal with apartments that no one else can rent out. 

At one point they sent me to look at a shop that had been made into an apartment, the living room window was on street level, with view for the public…nice if you are in to exposure.. The money was lost, I managed to find a house in the city centre on my own account, which made my home for 7 years. So in the end it turned out well for me, but I wish I had knew about these scams before I paid out the money that was spares for a student at the time.” Our advice to people who are looking for accommodation in Barcelona:

• Only work with agencies who are connected to reliable tourist associations like APARTUR.

• If looking for long term lets, see if you can find any references on google as such to see if the company does in deed exist.

• Never accept keys being sent to your address in exchange for a small deposit, they are NOT serious. Our owners would never do or offer such a service.

• Make sure it is possible to pay a large part of the amount on arrival at the apartment. This for your own safety and that of the owner.

• Never believe adds that seem too good to be true. Accommodation in Barcelona is quite expansive.

• Search trough the websites for possible feedback from other clients.

We are proud of our received feedback from our clients and will definitely put it on our website