Pianel’s apartment is beautiful. It is a stylish space and the balcony is a little oasis in the city (the balcony was by far our favorite part). I liked the location because it’s close enough to walk to the major tourist sites, but far enough away that you aren’t always with all of the crowds. Plus, there is a brand new, beautiful train station and line that is right by her apartment and makes it very easy to get to the airport (do your research—I got on the wrong train when arriving from the airport! Totally my fault my fault, but I ended up taking 3 busses to get there 😂). Pianel is very responsive and it was easy to get the keys from a local store. Speaking of which, there was a little grocery just across the street so we were able to easily cook our own meals and save money.
The main downside to the apartment, as one person mentioned, is the shower. This may not be an issue for most travelers, but if you are coming from the US, you may find it uncomfortable. I’ve traveled quite a bit, but have never encountered one of these types of showers. Essentially, the tiny bathroom is the shower. So you are showering next to the toilet. There is a very small hand held shower head attached to the sink that you use to rinse off with. The problem is, this causes the entire bathroom floor to be wet for a while afterward. It’s not that big of a deal, but I do stay in air bnbs so I could have extra comforts that hotels don’t offer and showering here was just very uncomfortable. The other thing, which I’m sure will be fixed, is part of the bed was broken. It was really hard for my 6 foot tall husband to get on and off the bed because if you put weight toward the bottom, it crashed down.
I definitely would recommend Pianel’s place to other travelers, but I don’t feel right recommending it without mentioning the two things that were uncomfortable for us.