FAQs

Here are the steps from start to finish:

1. Making your reservation

   Take a look at the pages of our apartments to find a property which you like. Enter your dates and details, and click on ‘book’, which will take you through to our booking form. You will see the full and final price of the reservation both at the top and at the bottom of the form. Just fill in all your details, including your payment details, and select ‘book now’ to complete your reservation.

2. Making the pre-payment

   When you book your apartment we’ll ask you to pay an initial amount, called the ‘pre-payment’. You can pay this by credit card or by PayPal.

3. Your booking confirmation

   We will send you an email confirming your booking, with all the details you need. In the GowithOh APP you will find all the booking details as well as a map with the location of the apartment.

4. Paying the outstanding balance

   In the majority of cases, you will need to pay the outstanding rental and the security deposit on arrival at the apartment and in cash (and in the local currency)
   
   . In some destinations where it is necessary to pay a tourist tax, it will also be indicated how to pay it too. In some cases, apartment owners require the full payment (the pre-payment and outstanding rental) in advance. If this is the case, we will request from you the outstanding amount 45 days before your arrival date at the apartment. You can pay this amount easily either by credit card or PayPal.
   
   . Please bear in mind that the amount of the security deposit will need to be handed at the time of the arrival at the apartment in cash and in the local currency.

5. Receiving the keys

   Please confirm your arrival time four days prior to your arrival at the apartment. Confirm this information directly to your contact person. You will find all contact details included in our booking confirmation. At the time of receiving the keys, you will be required to pay the remaining amount and/or the security deposit.

Yes, we send you an instant online confirmation of your reservation. In some cases, we will need to verify the availability, but we will also inform you of this immediately.

If you find that you need to change your reservation, you can do so by entering into your client area in the 'manage your booking' section or by using our contact form. When you contact us, please clearly indicate the required change (change of dates, of number of people or apartment, for example).

For reservations of apartments If you would like to cancel your apartment booking, please let us know by entering the client area directly or filling out our contact form. When we receive your message we will confirm that your booking has been cancelled (our office hours are 11am-8pm (CET) – Monday to Friday, 11am-4.30pm (CET) - Saturdays).

In terms of refunds, the amount that you will get back will depend on the specific terms and conditions of the apartment which you had booked. When you check the amount for an apartment, you will know which type of cancellation y applied to this apartment. By clicking on this link, we will explain the existing policies and the rules applied to them. Cancellation Policies. For reservation of hotels:

If you need to cancel your hotel booking, please get in touch with us and not the hotel itself, by entering the client area directly or filling out our contact form. When we receive your message we will confirm that your booking has been cancelled (our office hours are 11am-8pm (CET) – Monday to Friday, 11am-4.30pm (CET) - Saturdays).

The conditions concerning the refunds depend on the tariff that was on offer when you made your booking. You will always be able to see what amount would be refundable in the case of cancellation at the time of your booking. For reservations of apartments If you would like to cancel your apartment booking, please let us know by entering the client area directly or filling out our contact form. When we receive your message we will confirm that your booking has been cancelled (our office hours are 11am-8pm (CET) – Monday to Friday, 11am-4.30pm (CET) - Saturdays).

In terms of refunds, the amount that you will get back will depend on the specific terms and conditions of the apartment which you had booked. When you check the amount for an apartment, you will know which type of cancellation y applied to this apartment. By clicking on this link, we will explain the existing policies and the rules applied to them. Cancellation Policies. For reservation of hotels:

If you need to cancel your hotel booking, please get in touch with us and not the hotel itself, by entering the client area directly or filling out our contact form. When we receive your message we will confirm that your booking has been cancelled (our office hours are 11am-8pm (CET) – Monday to Friday, 11am-4.30pm (CET) - Saturdays).

The conditions concerning the refunds depend on the tariff that was on offer when you made your booking. You will always be able to see what amount would be refundable in the case of cancellation at the time of your booking.

If you’d prefer to make your booking over the phone, our customer services team will be happy to give you advice on how to choose the accommodation that will suit you best.

It’s not possible to make a reservation by email seeing as we will need the details of your credit card and communication via email is not a secure way of sending this information. You may send us an email and we will call you to help you make your reservation.

To help you find what you are looking for, we have created various categories of accommodation on our website. For example, you’ll find family-friendly apartments, pet-friendly apartments, luxurious apartments and more economical apartments.

When you’re searching for accommodation, you can also use the many filters available to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

For the purposes of the booking, adults are classed as everyone other than infants younger than two years’ old (who go for free). Please include the total number of people in the search box when you’re carrying out your initial search. You don’t have to account for any infants less than 2 years old at this stage, but we will ask you for the ages of everyone on the booking later, so that the property owner is aware of this information in advance.

No, there are no extra costs, nor do we charge for paying using a credit card.

You can see proof of this in our lowest price guarantee. If you find the same reservation cheaper elsewhere online, we will refund you double the difference for apartments and 20 euros plus the difference for hotels.

When you book your apartment we’ll ask you to pay an initial amount, called the ‘pre-payment’. Please see the question below for accepted payment methods.
In the majority of cases, you will then be required to pay the outstanding amount and security deposit in cash (and in local currency) when you check in to the apartment. A very small number of owners will accept credit card payments at this point - please check with your contact person beforehand to find out.

In a few cases, apartment owners require full payment (the pre-payment and outstanding amount) 45 days prior to the arrival date. In this case we’ll request the outstanding payment from you 45 days before you’re due to arrive, and this amount can be charged easily using either a credit card or PayPal.

Please bear in mind that you will always need to pay the security deposit on arrival at the apartment in cash and in the local currency.

We accept PayPal transfers, VISA, Eurocard/MasterCard and American Express credit card payments and some debit cards. We don’t charge you anything extra for using your credit card, nor do we charge a booking fee.

For reservations of apartments :

You can make the pre-payment by PayPal or any of the cards mentioned above.

In most cases you will then pay the outstanding amount and security deposit in cash directly to the owner when you arrive at the apartment (and in the local currency). In some destinations where it is necessary to pay a tourist tax, it will also be indicated how to pay it. Some owners also accept bank transfers beforehand or credit card payments on arriving at the apartment. If you prefer one of these options, please check with your contact person (full details will be provided in your booking confirmation email).

The confirmation email that we send you is also a receipt/invoice for the pre-payment you’ve been charged. In case you pay the remaining amount, it will be the same.

If you need a receipt for the payment you make on arrival at the apartment (regarding the outstanding rental and the security deposit), please request it in advance when you agree on a meeting time for the handover of the keys directly to your contact person.

We take every precaution to protect your information, both online and offline. Our website is certified by Thawte and VeriSign.

Sensitive information is encrypted and protected with the best encryption software in the industry – SSL (128 bit encryption). When you’re on a secure page of our site (the booking form, for example), you’ll see that the padlock icon in your browser’s status bar appears locked, as opposed to open when you’re merely browsing the site.

Offline user information is equally secure; all sensitive information is restricted in our offices, and all employees are kept up-to-date on our security and privacy practices. Find out more information on our security policies

So that you can get a clear idea of the location of the apartment, we include an interactive Google map within the description. You will also find there the name of the street and details of the floor the apartment is located on.

Once you have completed your booking we will send you an email confirming all the details about your stay, including the full address of the apartment.

Your apartment will be cleaned thoroughly before your arrival so that it’s in walk-in condition when you pick up the keys. It will also be cleaned after your departure, although please help us out by leaving it as clean as possible when you check out.

The vast majority of the apartments offer cleaning products and toilet articles which you can use on your arrival date if necessary. For the rest of your stay you will be able to purchase them in any shop of the city, or even bring them directly from home if you like.

Yes, all the apartments we offer have towels and bedding included.

All of the apartments we offer come with the pots, pans, dishes, cutlery and cooking equipment essential for preparing your meals. To find out more about what is included in the specific apartment you’re interested in, have a look at the detailed description of the apartment and inventory of its equipment.

No, we don’t own the apartments we offer on our webpage. We work very closely with the property owners to make sure we can offer our clients the best selection of accommodation in Barcelona - providing the possibility of online reservations and a dedicated customer service 365 days of the year.

When you check in to your apartment, the owner will ask you to pay the security deposit, which is held as a guarantee in the event that any damage is done to the property during your stay. The amount may vary from one apartment to another. You’ll find this exact amount clearly indicated in the breakdown of costs once you have entered your dates and other details.

Please be aware that in most cases, you will be required to pay the deposit in cash. In some cases, the owner may ask you to provide your credit card details instead. What happens then is that this amount will be “blocked” on your credit card rather than actually charged.

At the time of leaving the apartment, and after having checked the apartment and found that everything is OK, the owner will return the security deposit back to you. If you’ve given your credit card details for the deposit, the ‘block’ previously applied to it will be removed, so no actual money needs to be refunded to your card.

As a general rule, check- in to the apartment happens between 4pm and 8pm, and check-out is no later than 11am. If there are any exceptions to this for specific apartments, it will be indicated in ‘Extra’ in the description of the apartment.

Please remember that you need to confirm your exact arrival time with your contact person four days before your arrival date. You will find all contact details included in the reservation confirmation.

In most cases, the owner or contact person will hand over the keys to you when you arrive at the apartment. Sometimes, however, they might ask you to go to a central location such as an office to pick up the keys rather than straight at the apartment. All of these steps will be outlined clearly for you when you get in touch with your contact person directly to agree on a meeting time.

Normally guests will be asked to leave the keys in the apartment, although in some cases you might be required to return them to the owner’s office within the city center. Once you’ve made your booking, you can get in touch with your contact person and confirm the procedure for your specific apartment.

Unfortunately this isn’t possible. Our apartments have a very high occupancy rate, and therefore it is understandable that we cannot show the apartment when it is occupied by other customers.

We want you to have every detail you might possibly need to help choose the holiday rental which best suits your needs. To help you in your decision we include detailed descriptions with texts, photos, a floor plan, an interactive Google map, an inventory of the equipment and previous guests' reviews of the property.

If you have still got a question about a specific property, you can ask us through the webpage or by contacting us by calling us or by email at any time.

As a leading company, we work to provide our customers with the best product, and in order to ensure this, we maintain a relationship of trust with the property owners that allows us to be able to give them advise to make your stay unforgettable.

Our Commercial Department selects only apartments that meet certain quality requirements and which allow us to guarantee our product as a leading product in the market. We also perform periodic quality checks of the apartments that appear on our website with the stamp of exclusivity.

On the other hand, all client comments which we receive are transferred to the owners so that they can take action on the improvements suggested by customers and improve the quality of our product which increases on a day to day basis.

For all of these reasons, our customers have valued us with a 9 out of 10 for the overall quality of our service. As a leading company, we work to provide our customers with the best product, and in order to ensure this, we maintain a relationship of trust with the property owners that allows us to be able to give them advise to make your stay unforgettable.

Our Commercial Department selects only apartments that meet certain quality requirements and which allow us to guarantee our product as a leading product in the market. We also perform periodic quality checks of the apartments that appear on our website with the stamp of exclusivity.

On the other hand, all client comments which we receive are transferred to the owners so that they can take action on the improvements suggested by customers and improve the quality of our product which increases on a day to day basis.

For all of these reasons, our customers have valued us with a 9 out of 10 for the overall quality of our service.

In case of any incident during the stay, it is of great importance that you contact the contact person within a period of 24 hours maximum from the occurrence of any incident and always during the stay. .

If you are unable to contact that person, you must contact our Customer Service Department, always during your stay, in order to assist you as an intermediate, as soon as possible.

These are comments which come directly from our clients. The first-hand insights they provide are useful both for future clients and also for companies. The customers will receive information on how to choose their accommodation and we will be able to identify and correct and issues.

Through these comments we can also demonstrate the care we take with the selection and management of the properties which are published on our website. Please note that if a property's review score consistently falls below a certain standard, we will remove it from our site altogether. That's why it's unlikely that you will ever find a property with a truly poor score.

The customers who have made a booking of one of our apartments are the only ones who can leave a review. False reviews are therefore not possible.

We are eager to know what you thought of your holiday accommodation, so after your stay we’ll send you a follow-up email asking for your review. Under our policy we publish ALL client reviews of our accommodation - good, bad, unfounded, outdated, incorrect or excellent. The only exclusions will be for the rare use of swear words or insults.

Open House Spain was established in 1997 by Claudia Eleuterio, with the aim of giving her family and friends a reliable way of finding accommodation in Barcelona. What started as a pioneering idea quickly grew into a leading online booking enterprise, and today offers accommodation in destinations all across Europe. For detailed information about who we are and what we can offer you, take a look at our "about us" webpage.

Our headquarters are in Barcelona city center, at the following address:

Open House Spain S.L.U. Pelayo 42, 3, 3 08001 Barcelona, Spain

Please have a look at the “Contact” section of our webpage for full information on the different ways to get in touch with us.

It is an exclusive and free App which will allow you to make the very most of your escapade: information about the apartment and your reservation, offline maps, places of interest, touristic routes, local discounts… Everything you need to enjoy even more your trip.

It is very easy. When your reservation has been confirmed you will be able to go to Play Store or Apple Store and download the GowithOh APP. Following this, you will only need to introduce your reservation number and the email used to complete your reservation. At this stage, you will need to be connected in order to download the contents of the APP. Once it has been downloaded, you will be able to access the information at any place and without the need of an internet access.

Our Customer Care Department is at your entire disposal 365 days a year. You may call us between 11h and 20h (GMT +1) or send us an email through our contact form.

It is a property rental which will not be considered a habitual residence of the tenant, which is occupied for a determined purpose and for a specified duration which is determined by the contract and lasts from 32 days to 11 months.

It is very easy; all you will need to do is follow the instructions which you will find on the webpage and the ones which we will go along providing for you in our emails.

Very briefly, these are the lines to follow:

• Find an apartment and get in contact with us through the contact form which you will find on the webpage.
• In no more than 24 hours, you will receive an email in which you will be informed of the availability of the apartment and we will respond to the questions which you have asked.
• If the apartment is available and you are interested in reserving it, you will need to send all the documents which we indicate on the webpage in the following 48 hours.
• Once the reservation request has been accepted, you will have a maximum of 24 hours to complete the payment.
• As soon as the payment has been received, we will send you a final confirmation email for your reservation, with the contact details of the property owner in order for you to be able to contact this person and organize the arrival at the apartment and the payment of the remaining amounts.

Once the property owner has confirmed to us that the apartment which you have selected is available on your requested dates, we will send you an email confirming the availability and requesting the documents which you will find clearly detailed in the section “How to reserve”. You will need to send us these documents as soon as possible because they are required in order to sign the rental contract and this has to be done previous to the payment. Once it has been verified that the documents are genuine and authentic, you will receive an email which will confirm that you may proceed with the payment.

Once the availability of the apartment has been confirmed and the documents which are necessary to confirm the reservation have been accepted, you will have a maximum of 24 hours to complete the payment. This payment will be the Oh-Barcelona fee and the amount corresponding to the rent of the first month. Payment of the other amounts related to the lease will be done in the manner determined by the property owner. This information will be communicated once the availability of the apartment has been confirmed.

You will be able to complete the payment by bank transfer to the following account:

• Bank Name: CaixaBank
• Address: Via Laietana, 56 (08003 Barcelona)
• Name of the Account Holder: Open House Spain, SL
• IBAN: ES72 2100 2895 7502 0007 9905
• BIC/SWIFT: CAIXESBBXXX
• Account Number: 2100 2895 7502 0007 9905

At the time of completing the reservation it is not necessary to have a Spanish bank account, however it is necessary from the time the contract of the lease has been signed. From that point you will have 10 working days to open an account and communicate its details to the property owner.

Once the payment has been completed and your reservation has been confirmed, you will be able to request the invoice corresponding to the Oh-Barcelona fee, and a receipt of the payment made to the owner corresponding to the rent of the first month and the security deposit. For the rest of the monthly payments, you may contact the property owner and request the receipts corresponding to the remaining monthly rental payments.

If you wish to increase the dates of your stay, you will need to send an email to info@gowithoh.com , indicating your reservation number and the new dates of stay. We will then indicate if the apartment is available for the dates which you request, and if so, which is the new amount of the reservation and how to complete the payment. If you wish to reduce the dates of your stay, you may do so of course. However you will not be refunded of the proportionate part of the already charged amounts. If you wish to change apartment, you will need to cancel your reservation and complete a new one, implying the loss of all amounts corresponding to the first reservation.

If you need to cancel an existing reservation, you will need to formulate it by writing to Info@gowithoh.com , indicating the reservation number. We will not accept any cancellations which will not have been formulated by writing. If the client cancels the reservations 6 months or less prior to the arrival date at the apartment, the total amount which will have been paid to confirm the reservation will be lost. If the cancellation of the reservation is done more than 6 months prior to the arrival date at the apartment, the client will receive the refund of the total amount charged at the time of completing the reservation, except 150€ as an administrative fee.

Our Customer Care department will assist you on any of the telephone numbers which you will find published on the webpage, 365 days a year and from 11h to 20h (Barcelona local time), and we are here to solve any of your doubts and provide you with advice. In any case, if you are really interested in a rental, the best thing to do is to fill in the contact form in order for us have all the necessary details and be able to contact you as soon as possible.

In the contact form you have an option called “Advanced search”, which will help you to filter out the apartments according to the different characteristics. In any case, we are at your entire disposal to solve any of your doubts.

The complete apartment address will be included in the confirmation email of your reservation. On the webpage, you will also be able to see the exact location of the apartment on the map and find a lot of information about the part of town where the apartment is located and the city.

The final cleaning and apartment supplies are always at the expense of the tenant. Every property owner establishes a cost and a payment method for both concepts. All the information regarding the amount and the payment will be completely detailed for each apartment in the email confirming the availability of the apartment which you have chosen. The costs related to the community of owners and the taxes related to the property will be at the expense of the property owner.

All the apartments are equipped to ensure that your stay is perfect. If you want to find out in detail the equipment of each apartment, you may take a look at the “Equipment” section. If you have any doubts or need any further information, our Customer Care department is at your entire disposal to respond to your questions.

No, Oh-Barcelona is not the property owner of the apartments, but works together with the property owners in order to offer the best apartments with the best conditions.

The amount corresponding to the security deposit serves as a guarantee for the property owner in case there is any damage done to the apartment during the tenants stay. Generally the amount corresponding to the security deposit is equal to two months’ rent, and will need to be charged by bank transfer together with the Oh-Barcelona fee and the payment of the first months’ rent, in order for the reservation to be confirmed. In any case, if the property owner requests to receive the security deposit in a different way, we will inform you at the time of confirming the availability of the apartment and prior to completing your payment. At the time of leaving the apartment, after having checked it and confirmed that everything is in good condition, the property owner will return the security deposit.

This will depend on each of the property owners and the availability of the apartments as they may be occupied by other tenants. In the contact form, you will have the possibility to request a visit prior to completing your reservation. We will provide you with the response to your request in a maximum of 24 hours.

If something goes wrong during your stay, you will need to contact the property owner as soon as possible and always in the first 24 hours from the moment you have noticed the issue, seeing as this way, the property owner will be able to solve the problem. If for any particular reason you could not contact the owner, we are here to help you 365 days a year from 11h to 20h.

Claudia Eleuterio founded the Open House Group in 1997, with the idea of finding accommodation in Barcelona for her family and friends. What started out as being a pioneer idea, very quickly converted itself into a leading company for online bookings and today offers touristic accommodation in the whole of Europe and seasonal rentals in Barcelona. For more detailed information about who we are and what we can offer, take a look at the “About Us” section on our webpage.

Our offices are in the center of Barcelona:

• Open House Spain, S.L.
• Carrer Pelai 42, 3º 3ª
• 08007 Barcelona, Spain

Our Customer Care department is at your entire disposal 365 days a year and from 11h to 20h (local time in Barcelona), through any of the contact telephone numbers published on the webpage and you may also contact us through the contact form.