Brilliant! Our room in this antiques-stuffed bed and breakfast opened onto a terrace. We ate a good cereal, yoghurt, toast, cheeses and fruit in the company of caged finches and budgeriagars and potted begonias. Sergio and his assistant Muhammed speak good English. Both are attentive to their guests needs . The maids are efficient. In fact I doubt that I have stayed in such spick and span surroundings. Hostal l'antic espai is centrally located. If you are looking for an eccentric holiday experience, this comfortable boutique b&b has no equal. (I particularly loved the little red bows decorating my shower cap.)

Loved this hotel (and loved Barcelona). The hotel was very clean, friendly, safe and stylish - the attention to detail made it special. Very central - could walk everywhere. I stayed here with my 23 year old daughter and we would both highly recommend this hotel - maybe not for people with small children or people who don't like antiques and curios - but anyone who hates impersonal, chain hotels and likes individual style would love it. We felt at home straight away and appreciated the little touches, such as the china cups for morning coffee, the toiletries and bathrobes provided, the finger print entry doors, the beautiful terrace and the friendly staff. Can't wait to stay again.

The bottom line: for anyone looking for a reasonably priced, centrally located and clean place to stay in Barcelona, this place is hard to beat. However, it is not a hotel: the clue is in the name. There is no elevator, no 24 hour concierge and no bland uniformity in decor or service. If you want those things, look elsewhere and be prepared to pay more.

We arrived while the usual staff were out, but with a little Spanglish were able to explain ourselves to the maid, who showed us to our room and, moments later, surprised us with complimentary sangria.

While the antique ornaments and furniture aren't to my taste, the building itself has a real warmth and charm and gives you a real sense of the local architecture from the inside. While our room (and the others we saw) aren't very big, they're adequately large, comfortable and are well provided with towels, robes, very effective air conditioning, storage space and so on.

Though the staff aren't preset all the time, they seem to care about their guests. On our first day, the owner spent a good 10 minutes carefully annotating a map of the city for us, pointing out good cafes and restaurants, interesting places to visit, ideal public transport routes, tourist traps to avoid and so on.

As others note, there's no lift/elevator, but it's just a couple flights of steps - they're wide, not steep, and there's a good handrail. If you're not able-bodied, or you're taking very large or heavy luggage, you may wish to look elsewhere.

The room was spotlessly clean throughout our stay, constant supply of clean towels, and the simple but good breakfast of coffee, juice and croissants is served promptly every morning (they'll even surprise you with a cupcake, occasionally).

It's an easy 5 minute walk from the hostel to the bustling centre, and a pleasant 20-30 minute stroll to the beach, la Sagrada Familia, etc. The subway is at the end of the next block - couple of minutes' walk at most.

Within a radius of a couple of blocks, there're almost too many tempting restaurants and cafes, and plenty of convenience stores, pharmacies and suchlike too – all very handy after a long day wandering around.

In short, it's an eccentric little place staffed by very genuine, helpful people. It lacks – but, crucially, neither does it claim – the slick, polished convenience of a proper hotel, but in place of that you get, in my opinion, a much richer and more memorable experience of Barcelona.

Incidentally: some reviewers complain of having to "crawl" through the hostel's small door. It's just a slightly smaller than standard sized door set within a huge, heavy old door: I'm over 6ft tall and managed to use it without trouble. If you're not able-bodied, or have huge quantities of luggage, it might be awkward for you, but in that case the lack of an elevator/lift and relatively small rooms means that this isn't the right hostel for you anyway.

From the moment we were picked up at the airport in early August.... to 3 days later rumbling along in Abels's 1955 car to our cruiseship.....I still smile and my family still talks about this experience at Antic Espai. I look back months later with happy memories of this hotel and more importantly the people we met working here. Serge and Abel was professional, real and totally hot! When we walked thru the historic door to the building we were met and our luggage was carried up. I arrived with my teenage sons a night before my husband; we felt safe. The rooms were clean...breakfast was good...beds were comfortable...the decor was spectalor...and the cava bubbly was terrific! (I recommend you buy a bottle of the Antic Espai cava). A side note: Abel let me purchase one of his personal possessions from the hotel; I am so happy to own this and display it with pride! Thank you again. - You will not regret staying at this boutique hotel.