My husband and I booked a room a year in advance and confirmed the reservation before we arrived, asking for a room with a balcony and noting that we were two people but would pay for whatever size room it took to have a balcony. When we arrived we were given a cramped, expensive room for four with no balcony and told that one could not reserve specific types of rooms! They did move us after the first night (although we were charged as if we spent the week in the larger room we did not want), but we had to vacate the first room by eleven and were not allowed into the new room until mid-afternoon. The rooftop pool area was not a terrible place to wait with our luggage, but we went to Barcelona to see the city, not the inside of the hotel, Also, although the balcony we finally got was lovely (with an amazing view), the shutters were closed by the maid -- although we asked in Spanish, English, and using the card one puts on one's door that the balcony door not be shuttered -- and got stuck. So we spent another half day waiting for someone to come fix the shutter allowing us to sit on the balcony. Finally, the stove did not work (using it tripped the circuit breaker). Oh yes: the maid came in daily and turned off the electricity, which meant the refrigerator in which we kept food was endangered. Again, repeated efforts to have this stop yielded nothing.
The little grocery store downstairs was nice, as was the location and access to the metro; it was also quiet. However, we would not stay at the Aparthotel Bertran again, simply because we spent so much time dealing with getting a room, a balcony, and a working stove (eventually we did get one of two burners to work) -- time we would rather have spent seeing the city.

In general, the other reviews of this hotel are pretty accurate. I stayed there because it was close to where I needed to be and also because of the reasonable cost. I found all of the staff to be very friendly and helpful and, as an English-speaking person, was grateful that all staff could speak enough English for me to find out what I needed.

The room I had was quite basic with not much in the way of outlook but, it was kept clean, had generous space and fulfilled the requirements of my visit. It is probably best to cater for yourself and there is a local mini-supermarket store about 5 minutes walk away. The room had a double hob for cooking, a slightly noisy refrigerator, and cutlery, pans, cork screw, plates, etc., provided - although unusually, not a kettle.

There is close access to a few shops and the L7 Metro line is the most convenient way to get quickly into the main city areas. (During my visit, a 10-trip Metro ticket for zone 1 was about 8 Euros but, be aware if you have children and/or buggies or wheelchairs, that some Metro stations have a lot of steps and some do not appear to have lifts).

About 15 to 20 minutes walk from the hotel is the superb Cosmocaixa Science Museum - great for everyone, with plenty for children and adults to look at and try out with dinosaurs and interactive displays. It also has a good restaurant area. Across the road from the museum, you can set off for a trek up hill to the Collserola park towards the Collserola Tower (designed by Norman Foster and covered in ariels - and easily seen from the air if you fly into Barcelona) quite a steep walk up hill but, then a flat winding path for as many miles as you care to walk - also popular with cyclists.

The hotel is ideal if you do not want to be in too much of a tourist environment but, with all the benefits to reach the busier areas when you want to. Initially, it can be a bit daunting to find your way around Barcelona but, after a couple of days you find it is actually quite easy.

We loved this place- it's literally 20 min door to door to downtown, 15 min walk to Park Guell, etc. the rooms are big and have large balcony spaces and mini-kitchens, and the staff was extremely nice and helpful. When our flight got cancelled last minute, they waived our first night's payment without any second thought--
for the money, this has to be one of the best value hotels in the city