ShBarcelona Reviews 

Do not believe the reviews you see on other sites. Those are largely manipulated my friends and employees. I had a horrible experience, when I reserved an apartment online (I know - my fault for not doing my due diligence). I arrived at the apartment to see it filthy and with a roach infestation.

The company tried to blame it on 'covid' and a lack of cleaning staff. Then, they tried to avoid returning the nearly 5K euros I had paid them (first month's rent, 1 month agency fee, 2 month deposit).

Fortunately, I had used my own country's credit card so I was able to get the money back but good luck trying to do that if you use a Spanish bank.

Seriously, stay away. It's hard to avoid them as they have a large number of listings but it's not worth it.

The rental business is a shady one in Barcelona - do not book anything site unseen. There are so many people coming in to the city that landlords and agencies don't need to cater to clients. So they don't.

Go in person or have a friend visit for you. Or, get an Airbnb or hotel for a couple of weeks, etc. while you look when you arrive in the city.

And agencies - when you do wrong, be accountable. Be ethical. Own up and correct what you've done.

I nearly had to take legal action to sue this company, who owns ShMadrid, for scamming me. Wasn’t until I threatened with the law did I get my security deposit returned, 2 months after having moved out. ShMadrid violated the terms of our contract with a late return. Went back and forth claiming they “sent” the money for weeks. If I didn’t keep reminding them to uphold their terms of the contract, they would have tried to get away with stealing €2700+, since I live in the United States.

Further, ShMadrid does not accurately regulate their utilities. They took a large amount from my security deposit for gas using an “estimated” cost on the bills. Meanwhile, I was never in the apartment and was traveling so it is impossible that my gas
consumption was as high as the amount charged. Highly doubt that “utility” money is going to the actual owner of the apartment.

They have tried to suck as much money out of me as possible and have been unkind, irresponsible, dishonest, and aggressive. They will do whatever they can to gaslight and shift blame on to the customer.

Here are some horrors that happened during my stay:
- Loud construction right next to the apartment took place in the early hours every day. The agency NEVER disclosed that construction was taking place or that it would be a huge disruption.
- On the first days, there was no heat in the apartment in January. Agency is unresponsive. Claims they “shut their phone off”, even though WhatsApp messages were delivered. They also claim 24/7 support. (All lies).
- Locked out of the apartment multiple times due to faulty keys and refusing to change the locks on the door.
- Charged €100 for a door knob that broke off due to the apartment being incredibly old (wear and tear). All they did was glue the same door knob back on.
- High-speed wifi stopped working a couple months into our stay. Never fixed and still paid wifi bill.
- Called my roommate and I “unprofessional” and tells us we “are not a priority” when we ask for basic assistance, like returning our 2 month late security deposit. I can go on and on about the verbal abuse and lack of professionalism from this agency.
- Sneaked in extra “WiFi” charges that we already paid for. Luckily I had receipts of having paid prior. Constantly had to check if I was being charged correctly.
- Maryana and Augusto are the most rude and entitled “professionals” I have ever spoken to. They are undeserving of the huge agency fee they charge, as they don’t do any work at all except collect your rent on their own time. They are grossly incompetent and make every situation difficult for you, the customer.

Most of the reviews on here aren’t legitimate either. 90% of the positive reviews are from either 1.) people that work at the company (Nico, Ricardo, Luz, and Sofía to name a few fake reviews), 2.) friends of people that work at the company, or 3.) fake accounts (notice all the accounts with capital lettered names, 1 review, and no profile picture). This is against EU law “Unfair Commerce Practices Directive”, which requires websites to present truthful information to consumers to ensure an informed decision. Using fake reviews from people that have not actually used ShMadrid’s service is a conflict of interest and I hope this company suffers the consequences.

Had this agency treated me with respect and followed the terms of the contract, I would have been happy to refer a friend to rent the apartment right after my stay, as she expressed interest in the place. However, I would not wish renting from this agency on anyone.

Dishonest business. Overall, really disappointed. I hope this company gets shut down for all of the illegalities.

P.S.: As soon as I posted this review on Google Reviews, the Google Reviews page suddenly had 10 new 5 star reviews from fake accounts and friends of the company to try to drown out my negative review. BUYER BEWARE.

Taking care of clients in an exceptional way. Very kind, proactive in solving issues and they have also a designer who may help with home improvements. Highly recommended both for clients and customers.