We stayed Paulo's place for four weeks in January. We were warmly welcomed and also provided with extra towels and lining. We have ten months old baby so it was great that Paulo was able to provide crib and highchair.

Warmth of the apartment was our concern as it was mid-winter. Heaters in living room and bedroom did their job well. Obviously as rooms are rather tall so heating up will take sometime if apartment is cold. But after that it was fine. Well bathroom is bit chilly because of stone floor.

Location was good for us. Old town is just there with museums, restaurants and shopping possibilities. There's small supermarket few blocks away but most of times we bought groceries from mercado in old town and bigger supermarkets which are mainly on other side of the river. Public transportation is not so close. For buses you need to walk other side of the old town and for train station about 30 mins by walking or 10 mins by taxi.

As said in other reviews and also in description the alley is noisy. There many bars, restaurant just next door and plenty of people even in January. I must amid that first it felt bit too much but after while you notice that it's just lot's of conversations taking place around. No fighting or drunken people yelling. So pretty soon it started to feel natural. Plus alley is washed every morning by the city.

We prepared many meals in apartment and kitchen was pretty well equipped for that. I did brought my own cooking and peeling knife but only latter was really needed as there is couple decent looking knifes. For eating out there's obviously plenty of options. There's mercado just around corner which is nice. Paulo recommended El Tapeo de Cervantes which is near by. We didn't have change to try that one but we did try Vineria Cervantes and Meson de Cervates which all three I believe share same owners and the menu. First two are small ones but previous one is good when you have small baby with you. Also try Los Gatos or take buss to El Paso and pick some restaurant by the beach.