2 Star Apartment Managed by a 1 Star Host
Unlike most posters, I stayed in the apartment for almost 4 weeks so I became quite familiar with the apartment and the host.
THE GOOD: The apartment is in a great location, right next to the Prado Museum, Atocha Station, and Retiro Park. There are a lot of restaurants and shops around, and I felt safe walking around the neighborhood at all hours.
THE BAD: When I first saw the posting for this apartment, the host had written that it was a “very quiet apartment.” That is a quote from the posting. I was in Madrid for work so I was looking for a place that wasn’t the typical, loud apartment. During my time in the apartment (almost 4 weeks) I learned that it is not a “very quiet” apartment. In fact, it’s the loudest apartment I have ever lived in. There are people yelling at each other during the night, talking loudly on their cellphones, and straight up STOMPING around on the floors above and coming down the main staircase which shares a wall with the apartment. Every bedroom window faces the window of another apartment.
The stomping would generally start around 10 p.m. at night and hit its peak around 2:00 a.m. in the morning. I was not able to get any sleep. I understand that there are going to be noises at night in all apartments. I have lived in noisy cities throughout my life. But to represent that this apartment is "very quiet" was a PRETTY BIG LIE. I informed the landlord of the situation but nothing improved. The situation was bad enough that Airbnb required the host to remove that language from the posting. I’m not sure if he complied, but that is what they told me.
Also, despite the pictures, be aware that this is super tiny apartment and no sunlight gets into the apartment. The apartment is a cave and you will have your lights on the entire time you are there.
THE UGLY: The host refused to make any accommodation despite the terrible evening noises and his misrepresentation in the posting (which was a big reason I picked the apartment in the first place). To make matters worse, after I left, he lied about lost and damaged items. He claimed I chipped an Ikea cup and stole some cheap Ikea cutlery. He claimed that I owed him $100 for his cheap Ikea crap that cost $10 and that I did not even take. He did not provide any specifics because he hadn’t done an inventory, he was just trying to squeeze something out of me after I told Airbnb about his false posting. Also, the bed was not clean when I arrived and he tried to blame that on me. Pretty outrageous.
BOTTOM LINE: This is a 2 star apartment managed by a dishonest 1 star host and there’s nothing wrong with that. But the host is charging as if this is a 5 star listing and it’s not. There are a bunch of better, quieter places in the area with windows that actually look out onto the city. Keep looking.