First things first. Valeria’s apartment is beautiful, and the pictures are exactly as presented. It’s located in a convenient location, just a short walk to the city centre, close to restaurants, grocery stores and the central train station.
However, there were a couple of issues that occurred during our stay, but I think these are more likely put down to bad luck, rather than a genuine issue with the accomodation.
Firstly, it is worth pointing out that although the location is very central, it is in an area that appeared a little shady on our visit. The streets are dark and have minimal lighting in the evening, and there were groups of young people loitering around near the properly entrance, smoking and drinking in the alleyway. On multiple occasions we were approached and followed by people outside the property, and in one instance, two young men followed us down the dark street all the way to the entrance of the building. It was a little creepy.
Secondly, there appears to be an issue with the water service in the property. Valeria’s sister had to enter the property on one occasion to reset the water (which is fine), but on our final evening the water stopped working, completely. Not just the hot water, but all water. We messaged Valeria but it was late in the evening so impossible to repair. Unfortunately we weren’t able to have a shower before our flight, which was a little bit of a nuisance considering it was 35+ degrees and we were very hot and sweaty.
Thirdly, there was no air conditioning in the bedroom, which made it very hot and sweaty in the middle of summer. There is a small portable fan, but it doesn’t really cool the room. Valeria requested we keep the windows shut when we left the apartment, so we weren’t able to circulate much air through the room during the day either.
Fourthly, there are four levels of stairs, as outlined in the description. Not an issue for us as we only had backpacks but worth keeping in mind if you have a lot of luggage.
Please also note, there is a washing machine in the apartment but Valeria advised that she charges €5 each time you want to use it. So best to keep that in mind if you plan to stay in the apartment for more than a couple of days and want to wash the sheets or have fresh, washed towels. It also felt a little silly that we had to pay to wash our own towels - first time we’ve encountered this in an Airbnb.
These are not necessarily Valeria’s fault - she was kind and friendly, so I hope not taken as a personal critique but more of a general observation.
Like we said, the apartment was beautiful, but on our occasion I think we had a bit of bad luck.
Thanks to Valeria for having us.