Which reviews are worth anything
A verifiable review is one where you can establish who wrote it, which job it describes and when the work took place. Testimonials on the company's own website almost never meet that bar: they are a selection made by the very party you are trying to check.
Independent platforms, above all Google, and a real conversation with a former client deserve more trust. Fakes exist there too, though, so below are the specific signs that give them away and the questions worth asking.
How to read Google reviews
Open the reviewer's profile. A real person has usually reviewed cafés, shops or doctors in different places at different times. A profile with a single review, created the same month, is a reason to be wary.
Look at the dates. Twenty reviews in two weeks after a year of silence look like a campaign, not a normal flow of clients.
Read the content. A genuine renovation review mentions details: the neighbourhood, what was done, how long it took, what went wrong and how it was fixed. "Excellent company, highly recommend" with nothing else lets you verify nothing.
Watch how the company answers criticism. A calm, specific reply tells you more than ten five-star ratings.
Is it the same company that will sign the contract?
It happens often: the brand has good reviews, but the contract comes from a different company or a sole trader. Compare the name on Google, on the website, on the quote and on the contract, and check the NIF. How to verify the NIF and whether the company really exists is covered in a separate article.
If the names do not match, ask why. Sometimes it is a normal structure, for example a separate company for design work. Sometimes one contractor collected the reviews and another will do the job.
Project photos: whose are they?
Beautiful interiors in a portfolio can be lifted from another website or a magazine. Checking takes a minute: run the photo through a reverse image search such as Google Lens and see where else it appears. If the same living room shows up on a Milan studio's site, the question is settled.
Process photos are more reliable: strip-out, first-fix wiring, screed, a site wrapped in protective sheeting. They are hard to borrow and show how the company works, not just how it finishes. Ask to see the process on a project similar to yours.
Talking to a former client
Ask for the contact of a client with a similar project: the same floor area, the same type of work, ideally finished a year or two ago so you know how it looks after the first winter and summer. A ten-minute call with specific questions:
Did they stay on schedule and on budget, and if not, why? How were changes approved? Who did you talk to during the works and how quickly did they reply? What went wrong and how was it fixed? Did anything show up after handover, and did they come back to repair it? Would you hire them again?
If the company cannot give you a single contact, that is an answer too.
Recommendations from friends and group chats
Group chats and friends are a common source of contacts in Barcelona, and there is nothing wrong with that. But "they did mine and it was fine" refers to one specific job. Painting two rooms and a full renovation with new services need different organisation, different people and a different level of responsibility.
Ask whoever recommends them what exactly was done, for how much, how long it took and whether there was a contract. If it was only the tiling in a bathroom, the recommendation speaks for the tiler, not for a company you are about to trust with the whole flat.
The best check: a live site
A finished interior shows the result; a site in progress shows how the company works every day. Are the lift and entrance protected, are finished surfaces covered, are materials kept in order, who is in charge on site and can they explain what is being done right now?
You can ask any specific question you like about our projects: the Urgel flat in Eixample, 109.80 m²; the 250 m² child psychology centre in Eixample, which we built between January and June 2026; the private house with a pool from 2022–2024. Each project has one person in charge, in Russian or Spanish, and we reply to enquiries within an hour.