Maria lives close to the Atocha train station in Madrid. She also is close to the metro line so getting around is easy. Get a little pocket map and that is your ticket to getting around Madrid. Maria lives on the 3rd floor of an apartment building that has elevator access and a secured entrance. This apartment has 4 rooms of which she boards college kids. There are two bathrooms , a kitchen and a small living room. When someone says it is hot in Madrid in July they were not kidding. It was 3 digits when I first got there. People from Madrid are use to the extreme temperatures so they close up the house by day and open it up in the late evening. Unfortunately this provided no relief from the heat for me. We tried the air conditioner but it hardly made a dent when the temperature was 102 degrees. I was given a fan and that helped much more. Then the temperature got bearable in the low 90's and the winds kicked up to 16 mph. Now I was getting comfortable in Madrid. Maria speaks little English so we depended on some of her students who spoke English to communicate. I think she was familiar with boarding students so when a retired senior came along, that was more of a challenge for her. Students get up early on school days, leave for classes. Return in the afternoon, study and go to sleep. I would get up late because I went to bed late. I would have coffee and some fruit at 11 am then I would leave the house around 3 pm to go sightseeing . I would return after 9 pm. Her daughter Maria who lives there also was off on holiday so when she returned she could interpret for us. As the days went in Margarita and I started communicating by using paper, google translate and charades. I think it got easier as time went on. If you are looking for a clean, comfortable place to stay in Madrid near the metro system I would recommend Margarita's house. If you understand Spanish or French better yet. She works hard and is always cleaning her house and washing the clothes.