Overall, we had a good experience in the airbnb and Malaga in general. The neighborhood is great; it’s a quiet family neighborhood with many great (and cheap) restaurants in the area. It is a 10 minute walk to the ‘Centro historico’ with the more touristy restaurants and activities. If you are interested in going to the beach, we recommend renting a shared scooter (for example a Yego or cabify-scooter) to drive to the Baños del Carmen or Pedregalejo beach. This will take about 15 minutes and is around 4 euros. These beaches are a lot more beautiful and local than the malagueta beach. We would also recommend going to the botanical garden (a 15 minute car ride). Fede is a nice host. He gave recommendations for restaurants and activities and allowed us to arrive earlier than 15:00 and he proposed a later check out time than 11:00.
Although the appartement is beautiful and in a great neighborhood, we do have some comments. We found that the maintenance could be improved. The cleanliness should be better (for example, there were spots in the shower of calcium buildup, rust and dirt, the fridge was not clean, there were spots on the walls and we found bugs/suspected cockroaches on three different occasions in the bathroom) and some things did not work properly (for example, the light in the toilet did only occasionally turn on, the temperature of the shower was almost impossible to adjust and the water in the shower and sink did not drain properly). The biggest con, however, was that there was very little privacy. The kitchen that connects the living room to the bed- and bathroom has 3 meter high glass windows connecting to the shared 5m2 patio. There are no curtains. At the other side of the patio (at a 2.5 m distance) there is another apartment that has the same high windows. We could see right into the other apartment and they could see right into ours. We asked Fede what we could do and he responded that we should hang a bedsheet between to hooks on both sides of the windows. However, the hooks are placed 1.20 m above the ground so it did not help much. Fede also did not respond when we texted him that hanging the bed sheet was not a proper solution. I saw in another review that the same problem was addressed earlier already and I don’t understand why nothing was done. Curtains would have prevented any issues. The room is not cheap so I think this adjustment can be made fairly easily, and that you can expect curtains when you pay this price for your stay.
In conclusion, the apartment has a lot of potential but the maintenance and communication can be improved.