What apartment owners want to know

Get all the answers here

Working with us

• Who are Oh-Barcelona.com?

Oh-Barcelona.com belongs to Open House Group, which we founded in 1997. Today it’s one of the leading companies in the field of online apartment rentals. Our various websites include:

• Oh-Barcelona.com
• Oh-Berlin.com (Oh-Berlin.com)
• All-Paris-Apartments.com (Oh-Paris.com)
• Oh-Rome.com
• Oh-Venice.com
• Oh-Florence.com
• Oh-London-com
• Oh-Prague.com
• Oh-Dublin.com
• Oh-Vienna.com
• Oh-Holidays.com
• Why work with Oh-Barcelona.com?
We have over 14 years’ experience in offering online accommodation to clients, which means when you work with us you are gaining a seasoned industry hand. We offer our clients a choice of over 800 apartments, hotels and hostels in Barcelona, guaranteeing the lowest price available in the marketplace and customer care 365 days of the year in a choice of five languages.
• How does your service to owners work?

Our company is made up of five departments in total, whose responsibilities include customer service, a service dedicated to owners, promotion of apartments and commercial management.

When an owner first gets in touch with us, we ask for some basic details about the apartment before visiting it in person. The service we offer you throughout is completely free – from sending an interior designer and photographer to your apartment to publishing all of its details online. We handle all client requests, emails and phone calls, and we only send you confirmed bookings.

When the client confirms their booking online, they pay an initial down payment, which is a percentage of the rental the owner receives. This means that if there are no bookings, we don’t receive any payments. So you can see why it’s as much in our interest as yours to secure the maximum number of bookings for your apartment.

The only responsibility you have, after your apartment details go live, is to update the availability dates in the calendar, organise check-in and check-out and, of course, maintain the apartment. We can also look after this aspect for you if you’d prefer – please get in touch with us for more details.

At every stage of the process, from the initial publication of your apartment’s details to its ongoing promotion, we are focused on achieving optimal profitability.

• Will I have somebody to contact at Oh-Barcelona.com?
Yes, you will be given the details of a dedicated contact person from our product management department. This person will speak your native language and will be available to sort out any issues you may have.
• What is your lowest price guarantee?
To remain competitive and successful it is absolutely essential that the apartment prices published on our website are the lowest in the marketplace, and this is our guarantee to our clients. This includes the publication of the property on other websites, the owner’s own website or within the accommodation itself, including last-minute offers.

Getting ready to advertise your apartment

• What information do you need from me to be able to advertise my apartment on Oh-Barcelona.com?
Before we come out to visit the apartment, we’ll ask you for some basic details about it (things like whether it’s licensed, where it’s located, floor space and an idea of prices). We don’t expect you to have photos or a description of the apartment, as we will handle all of that for you at a later stage.
• How do I register my apartment with Oh-Barcelona.com?
You simply have to fill out our online registration form or if you prefer, give us a call.
• How much does it cost to publish my apartment on the website?
We don’t charge you anything for this – the whole process is free.
• Who writes the description of my apartment?

Don’t worry. We know not everyone is Shakespeare.

We employ a team of professional copywriters whose responsibility it is to write the apartments’ descriptions, to make sure your property is portrayed in the best possible light.

• Who can advise me on the apartment’s features and furnishing?

We work with an interior designer whose role it is to advise owners about the features and furnishing of their apartments.

We’ll give you the designer’s contact details before we publish your apartment online, so that you can consult them about any queries you might have about décor and presentation. They will be able to advise you on how to make improvements so that your property is as attractive as possible.

• Who prepares the floor plan of my apartment?
When the apartment’s details are published online, we’ll ask you to send us a simple sketch of the layout (roughly showing where the kitchen is in relation to the bathroom, and so on). We’ll then send this drawing to a professional artworker who will draw up a more detailed floor plan before uploading it. There’s no charge for this process.
• What should I do if I don’t have any photos of my apartment?
It’s no problem if you don’t have recent or decent photos - we employ a professional photographer who will come to take some great shots of your property so that it’s really showed off to its best online.

Legal matters

• What is a tourist license?
In the City of Barcelona every owner who wants to rent out their apartment to tourists needs to have a licence, which is provided by the Ayuntamiento of Barcelona. Without this license, the owner doesn’t have the legal right to rent out the apartment to tourists. We’re only interested in offering fully licensed apartments to our clients.
• How do I apply for a tourist license?

Assuming your property is located outside of the Ciudad Vella district (where it hasn’t been possible to apply for a licence since 2007) you can apply through the Oficina de Ayuntamiento of your district.

As you might imagine, this isn’t an easy process. However, if you’re working exclusively with us, we can do all the donkey work for you. Our product management team will keep you informed about the different steps involved and what’s required.

• What’s the duration of the contract and how can I cancel it?
The contract is valid for one year and it’s automatically renewed after this time. Having said that, if for some reason you would like to cancel your contract with us, you can do this at any time (while honouring confirmed bookings, of course). We don’t want to hold anyone hostage!
• Who decides the price at which my apartment will be rented out?

If you have a non-exclusive partnership with us, you will work with our commercial and product management departments to decide on the price that will achieve the most bookings for your apartment.

If you’re working with us exclusively, (with or without full management) we’ll advise you on the prices we think will achieve optimal profitability for your property.

• How do I receive my income?

Our clients pay the rental price of the apartment to the owner when they check in to the accommodation. You decide which method of payment you will accept - cash or credit card.

Only in the case of an exclusive partnership does the client pay the rent directly to us before arrival. In this case, we will pay you the full total from your monthly bookings at the start of the following month, directly into your bank account.

• Is there any charge for the commercial monitoring of my apartment?
Our commercial department is constantly working to achieve optimal performance from your apartment; advising you on sales, prices and every other aspect of its success. We offer this service free of charge to apartment owners.

Once your apartment’s online

• If I don’t have time to take care of clients and maintain the apartment, what do I do?

You have the choice of setting up an exclusive arrangement with us when it comes to managing your apartment. This means that you don’t have to worry about check-ins, check-outs, cleaning services, bookings or any potential problems with clients – we’ll look after everything.

All you have to do is make sure the apartment is suitably presentable to be included on our site.

• How do I update my apartment’s availability dates?

When we upload details of your property, we’ll send you a username and password so that you can access your own secure area of the website. You’ll be able to update the apartment’s availability dates in this area.

The process is very simple and you’ll be walked through it by your dedicated contact person in our product management department.

• I have several registered properties and it’s hard to keep track of them all in one calendar. Can I synchronise my flat’s availability dates with your online system?
We realise that having to update all your apartments’ availability dates manually is a huge hassle. We work with various companies to address this. If you’d like more details on the IT solutions we can provide, please contact us.
• Can I apply special offers to my apartment? If so, how?

Yes, every owner can apply special offers (last-minute offers) from within the secure area of the Oh-Barcelona.com website. Once you’re logged in to this secure area, you’ll see an option that allows you to apply or remove last-minute offers at any time. We will explain this to you in more detail once the property is online.

You might also be interested in our automated service, which is ideal if you’re short of time.

• How can I contribute to the success of my apartment?

We want to have a successful working partnership with apartment owners – one that’s based on commitment and professionalism.

You can play your part by regularly updating your apartment’s availability, confirming reservations quickly and offering last-minute discounts on your property. We would also ask you to make sure that your contact person and guests can always get in touch with you. Maintaining your flat to a high standard and being willing to adapt your prices in line with market demand are also essential.

• What should I do if a problem comes up with my client?
You can phone our customer support and product management teams to talk over any problem or incident that may arise. Our customer support team can be reached 365 days a year, providing you with maximum assurance and assistance.
Simply fill out our online registration form or if you prefer, give us a call . We look forward to hearing from you.