I am booking a place in or near Barcelona for 8 people. We are willing to take a quick a transit trip to the inner city. We are balancing budget and location. We don't want to spend more than $30 per night per person, but we also don't want to be more than 15 minutes away from downtown Barcelona every morning. I am looking at the surrounding areas and I can't seem to get a good idea of exactly how long it will take to commute from what areas to the center of the city. Here is an example of one place that I am considering. Google maps tells me it's 54 minutes to Barcelona, but the host swears it's 15 minutes using public transpo. Are any of you guys familiar with the areas? If so, is this place closer to 52 or 15 minutes from Barcelona? What surrounding places have fast public transpo into Barcelona?
Another question regarding Airbnb is what happens in the situation that a property is not as described or not available upon arrival. I am concerned with a place I am looking at. The host doesn't have any reviews and has a shoddy response record. I am not completely ignoring the post because there are plenty of reserved dates for the next few months. It leads me to believe that other people have been able to communicate and develop enough trust with the host to complete the booking process. Thanks so much for any help you guys can offer.