Day 1. On arrival, there was construction on the stairway of the apartment, which was not disclosed and consisted of the machine sanding of the stair and hallway areas of the building, including our floor. We had to literally walk through a cloud of dust. Elevator was not working, so we had to go up the stairs with the bags of 5 people. At the apartment everything was clean and just the dust probably from when we got in. Dust would come every time we opened the door to get in & out and from the dust in shoes etc. I reported the situation as unbearable to the management company and they said that they would investigate. They returned the call and said that no further work was going to be made on Day 2. This was inconsistent with the workers perception of what the schedule was. I told FITENI that, and that if there was any work on Day 2, I would request that the reservation be cancelled, which they agreed to. They offered to get the apartment cleaned which I agreed to.
On Day 2, at 4pm, sanding work resumed, this time closer to our floor. Dust makes its way to the apartment. At 6pm a cleaning person shows at home unannounced. At this point I call FITENI and tell them that per our agreement I am cancelling the reservation, that I would secure a place to move and requested a full refund. They agreed to cancel but they did not agree to any refund and said that they could not do anything about that because that was out of their reach and that they had no responsibility for the work in the common areas. FITENI then moved to "remind" me that checkout was at 11am on Day 3. I complained and they agreed to make an "exception" due to the circumstances until 2pm.
On Day 3 work continued now in our floor at 9am. Dust and noise were so bad that we had to change plans and vacate the apartment right away, and we were out by 12, had to take the luggage to a storage. In the rush to get out, we left a bag in the apartment which we then coordinated with FITENI to pick up with no problems.
In my opinion, the common areas are part of the building and indeed the responsibility of FITENI. FITENI as the management company should be able to make relevant decisions such as the most reasonable which would have been a refund. It was confusing to work with this company, there was always someone different contacting me. I have worked with owners directly and the experience has been much better.
Assuming that the work outside finishes someday and that FITENI the apartment is nice, but too small for 5 people. It is at most 40m2 or 400sqft. It feels cramped. It could work for maximum a young couple with two small kids who would not plan to stay much in that place. Pictures are misleading as the apartment looks larger. The apartment has no view but to an interior patio which was really like having no view at all. The area is coming up. My favorite was el mercado de La Cebada, but I just want to forget the whole thing.