Stars for apartments like hotels
The apartments are starting to steal the hotel sector role in Barcelona. Every day there are more who prefer this deal to conventional hotels or pensions, representing the 11% of the accommodation offer of the city, according to the Association of Tourist Apartments in Barcelona (Apartur).
Due to dramatic growth of this form of tourism, sometimes irregularly shaped, the City has been forced to deal with the situation by approving a measure of the Government and has been welcomed by industry.
Now, after a regulation that should stop the illegal apartments, the industry suggests a step further. In this sense, the administration asked to establish some kind of classification or nomenclature, enabling the customer to be situated, just as the stars of a hotel guide as the category of the establishment.
"There are no categories and we would like to define the tourist housing with the help of the Administration because it helps to be situated for the customers," says Franck Granados, vice president and spokesperson of Apartur.
Right now, the only customer orientation is the pictures and list of services that are advertised on the Internet for each apartment in Barcelona that is relatively reliable, but is not official like a stars hotels.
Aside from this demand, Franck Granados appreciates regulation undertaken by the City which allows a very significant industry professional: "By regulating the activity we have professionals to manage their businesses in a more respectful society, sometimes has complained of such apartments and "excessive tourism" in the city.