We had an amazing visit to Madrid at Vittorio's apartment for our four night tourist visit. The place is in the Malasaña area, close to the city center. It's a very lively area packed with boutique shops, bars and restaurants that stay open til early morning hours especially on weekends. If you're looking to hang out at some local spots with relatively fewer tourists, you will find them all over in walking distance. It was so much fun!
If you're concerned about noise, Vittorio has thought of that and has a second sound-proof door on the balcony. From the bedroom, you really can't hear anything going on in the street. The neighbors in the building are also very quiet - we hardly saw or heard anyone else. We loved these things about the apartment.
It's also a great place to start adventures elsewhere in Madrid or Spain because the Tribunal metro stop is so close. It's a quick ride to Atocha station to catch a Renfe train if you plan to visit elsewhere.
Besides the location itself, we loved the apartment which was clean and comfortable when we arrived. Vittorio was also very accommodating for our check-in when we were delayed several hours due to flight changes.
We would definitely stay again should we return. Highly recommended!