Unbelievably friendly and warm staff who gladly gave expert travel advice and recommendations that only a Roman would normally be privy to. - Loic Diels
I LOVE this website and will gladly recommend it to anyone headed this way. Nothing disappointed us! - Mary-Iris Taylor
I have been using Cross-Pollinate for about 10 years now. The service is consistently great and I can always find just the kind of apartment we like, at the right price. - Hirani Himona
A really great idea - with a network of hand picked little rooms/guesthouses. If only we could have this in more city destinations! - Zoe Buck
I love Cross-Pollinate and every time we go to a new city I look to see whether they have some accommodations over there. - Arantza Aldea
The two places I have stayed at from Cross-Pollinate have been among the best across Europe. Highly recommended. - Nicholas Burn
Thanks a lot to Cross-Pollinate for the opportunity to experience a city as an insider! We really enjoyed our stay in Rome and Venice and look forward to more. - Tatiana Marchenko
Cross-Pollinate was very helpful when the owner of the B&B wanted to charge us for the baby under 2 y o. It would have been difficult without them since the owners did not speak any english. - Yulia Pichugina
This was our only stay with a C-P apartment and we were very pleased with the entire process. Will look to use them again on our next Europe trip! - Anthony Giglio
Great web site and quick response from the team a CP made the whole experience easy and hassle free. I have already recommended CP to quite of few of my airline industry colleagues and I'm sure they will make use of their excellent service. - Shane Pickles
Cross-Pollinate was extremely helpful! They found us a place to stay in our price range when many other places of business couldn't help us. - Sarah Seminutin
Cross-Pollinate was very easy to use, and it is so much better to stay in places like these than big corporate hotels; you get a much better feel for the place. - Kaspar Deane
Very straight forward. Well done. Definitely would use it again. Love these type of alternatives to hotels! - John White
Cross-Pollinate was fantastic and easy to use. We used Cross-Pollinate to book a room in Florence (the second leg of our trip), which was everything I thought it would be. We have recommended Cross-Pollinate to our friends. - Barbara Carlin
Cross-Pollinate are great - the descriptions are accurate and they are very responsive to questions. - Dominique Bayne
Cross Pollinate was just the best. I had tried a couple of places before coming upon them. As soon as I sent the first email I stopped looking for any more websites. I just wish they expanded to every city in Europe. Their knowledge, helpfulness, etc. was second to none. - Caroline Collis
Ally's Guesthouse II
Ally's Guesthouse II is a second guesthouse opened by Graciela, the owner of Ally's Guesthouse, also found on our website. It's located in the same building as the original Ally's and has a very similar style and amenities - but whereas Ally's has shared bathrooms, Ally's II has all rooms with private bathroom. The manager, Alejandra, lives there and is on hand in case of problems or questions. Like the original Ally's, Ally's II is a large, bright, comfortable apartment with a charming style based on early 19th-century Catalán modernism. There are 5 guestrooms with private bathroom, with each room being slightly different but all well-appointed and cozy. Three of the rooms have balcony access (sorry, the owner can't guarantee any particular room in advance!). Guests have air-conditioning, independent heating, hair dryer, and WiFi access in their rooms. In the spacious living room, guests also have access to a phone (calls to Spanish landlines are free), shared refrigerator, microwave, TV, stereo, and computer with Internet connection. Continental breakfast is served at the tables in the sunny common room, which includes things like homemade cakes and marmalade, fruit, cereal, yogurt, croissants, coffee, tea, and juice. It's located in the Eixample neighborhood, just a couple blocks from the Passeig de Gràcia and Gaudí's famous modernist apartment block "La Pedrera", and well-connected by metro (it is between the Verdaguer stop of the blue line and the Diagonal stop of the green line).
Amenities
  • breakfast included
  • WiFi
  • linen and towels provided
  • hair dryer
  • 2nd floor
  • with elevator
  • use of phone
  • calls in Spain free (to landline phones only)
  • computer with free Internet in common area
  • independent heating
  • ceiling fan
  • air-conditioning
  • use of refrigerator
  • use of microwave
  • TV in common room
  • stereo in common room
Reviews
on Sep 2016:

location adequate breakfast same every day; various options NOISY tho and some rooms without outside windows best feature is LOCATION
noisy
Jason Reeves on Apr 2015:


Great place to stay. Easy walk to main centre and very close to Segrada Familia. Comfortable bed and room. Bathroom clean. Hosts very helpful. Nice breakfast. Good price. Use of PC and printer a great help.
My only issue is the noise. I am a deep sleeper so it wasn't a problem for me, but my partner said that the traffic (especially scooters) woke her during the night. We were on the first floor so maybe higher up the building is quieter. The walls are also quite thin between the rooms. We could hear the shower, conversation and 'romance' of the couple next to us. Someone also returned to the guest house at 3am one morning and slammed the main door which was right next to our room. To be fair they may have tried to be quiet but the door is heavy and noisy anyway. A set of earplugs would probably have solved these problems. And having said this I would certainly still recommend the guest house and would stay again myself.
Fantastic. Used before for a trip to Rome. Will definitely use again.
Ajitha Joseph on Jul 2014:


Centrally located in a decent locality. Well connected to the subway, taxis etc. Clean and neat.
We stayed in a room with attached bathroom. However, the rooms were airless and had no fresh air at all. It turned out to be quite warm, luckily we were there only for 2 nights.
Very reliable website. What you see on the net is what you get. I have heard horrendous stories of people getting scammed. But not with Cross-Pollinate. Very pleasant experience.
Rhoda Rosenthal on Jul 2014:


I liked the location, the staff were friendly and helpful, and I liked homey feeling of the property.
The breakfast was ok.
It was efficient and easy. I would use it again.
Lynne McOran-Campbell on Jun 2014:
Great location, comfortable, perfect for us.
Laura H. on Dec 2013:


All the people associated with Ally's Guesthouse were extremely friendly and very helpful.
Information posted near the phone about how to contact someone after hours.
The location was really great, and we would stay there again.
Dick Sheehy on Jul 2013:


The location was great, the on-site staff/hostess was extremely helpful and friendly, and our room fit 5 of us well. If we are back in Barcelona we would certainly stay with Rosa again. I thought the room provided a great value.
The air conditioning was not working well at night when we first arrived. This was corrected by the time we left. The breakfast room was great and the pastries were adequate but there are so many great local "patesseries" (bakeries in the USA) that there would seem to be the opportunity to have a really good breakfast by using the patisseries rather than cellophane wrapped offerings from the grocery store. I would be very willing to pay a few extra euro for this offering if necessary.
A very efficient and pleasant experience.
Audra on Apr 2013:
Ally's Guesthouse is a comfortable and cozy home base when visiting Barcelona. I was very impressed by the cleanliness, availability of the staff, and delicious breakfast! It was very easy to get the metro or walk to many locations from here. I definitely recommend Ally's Guesthouse for a pleasant, restful place to stay.
Ratings
average score
4.5 / 5.0
Price/Value
4.1
Comfort
3.8
Cleanliness
4.8
Accuracy of listing
4.9
Location
4.8
Helpfulness of owner / staff / host
4.7
Helpfulness of Cross-Pollinate
4.8
Booking details
Booking details: guesthouse (owner lives on premises), 5 guestrooms, with private bathroom (ensuite)
Payment accepted: cash on arrival in euro
Minimum stay: minimum stay of 2 nights
Cancellations allowed up to: 5 days before arrival
Occupancy: double
Bed options: 1 queen (160 cm) or 2 singles
Policies & Extra Charges: check-out time is 11 am, room will be ready by 1 pm for check-in, luggage can be held before check-in, luggage can be left after check-out, smoking permitted on balcony only
Spoken Language(s):
Rates and Availability
Location
 Ally's Guesthouse II
A
Sagrada Familia
B
Poble Espanyol de Montjuic
C
La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
D
Picasso Museum
E
Casa Batlló
F
Parc Güell
G
Castell de Montjuïc
H
Barcelona Cathedral
I
Las Ramblas
J
Arc de Triomf
K
Boqueria market
L
Sants Estacio