Don't stay there unless you plan to stay for one night to wash your clothes, are short, thin, and sleep really heavy between 10 pm and 9 am, and/or plan to spend all of your time away from the room.
I reserved the room for 7 days, PAID $307.50, and stayed for ONE night. I trusted all of the previous reviews and thought it looks small, but can't be THAT bad bc of all of the great reviews, right?!? Wrong! Sadly, the previous reviewers were being really nice and didn't share the whole truth. Here's the whole truth:
I ARRIVED starving after a very early 5 hour train ride from Granada. I came directly after my train ride, as Rob stated Sundays are usually family lunch days and my estimated 2 hour window of 1-3pm was too broad for him. It appeared that he was essentially working around my arrival since I was coming a couple of days later than I had planned. I chatted with him for a bit upon arrival and learned that his 3 children were actually away in boarding school and that he needed to go pick up Lola from the hospital where she was visiting her brother. ***How do you have family lunch if family is away in boarding school?? ***Also, why are photos of his children in the ad if they don't actually live there year round??
When I asked if I could have a BANANA, (remember I was starving) I was quickly told: no, he counts them, that I could go to the market, which is closed on Sundays, and to just go out to eat. ***Why are there photos of fruit on the ad, if guests can't eat them?? ***And seriously, you can't loan me a banana, I am good for it lol.
The ROOM is teeny tiny, OMG, so small. The bed is short. So, if you are tall, heavy set, and like to sleep on your back forget about being comfortable there. I am 5'7, and I had an afro that night, which probably made me 5'10, and my heels were literally cold, hanging over the edge of the bed. I had to pull my knees up and sleep on my sides to fall asleep.
The "WINDOW" is not a window in the sense that if you open it, you will receive fresh air, air flow or sunlight, instead, you simply see the...kitchen. I'm pretty sure lack of actual access to the elements is illegal (at least in the USA).
The BATHROOM is also quite small, and has a faint sewage smell in it. The "window" in the bathroom also leads to the kitchen. There's no air flow, and no fan for hot showers or smelly number 2. I washed my hair for some time, and I nearly flooded the left half of the bathroom because there isn't adequate drainage in the shower (this never happens at home and I regularly turned off the water for conservation purposes). In addition, the toilet flusher (big white porcelain chamber attached to the wall north and adjacent to the toilet with a chain attached) dripped all over the toilet paper, floor, and trash can for hours because of the condensation and lack of air flow.
Besides being able to lock your door, there's NO REAL PRIVACY. I went to bed very early that night around 8 pm, put my earplugs in, and quickly awoke to the sounds of conversations in the kitchen, twice. ***Remember, the room shares a wall and "windows" with the kitchen. Also, when I did number 2 the next day, I could hearthe host on the other side of the wall making coffee as I was actively doing number 2! ***How mortifying, because I am certain he could hear and smell what I was doing too. In addition, while sitting in the room, you can hear other sounds coming from other residents in the building.
POSITIVES:
*I washed and dried my clothes there (but I think the washer ruined the sleeve on one of my sweaters).
*Rob provides a lot of information on stuff to do in Spain (and videos on how to open the front door, use the elevator, and use the laundry, smh).
*The house is clean, except for the faint sewage smell in your bathroom.
FINALLY, this was my first time in Madrid. Although I paid $307.50 to stay in Rob & Lola's place for 7 days, but only spent 1 night there, I am so glad I had the means to reserve another room for $187 and go stay somewhere else. The place I stayed in had fabulous accommodations, fresh air, sunlight, normal plumbing, a huge shower, lots of privacy and a great welcoming family who offered their food regularly mind you :)
***AIRBNB, please give me my money back. I have stayed at at least 10 other locations and I have never had such a terrible experience with accommodations before.