Wonderful hosts and beautiful apartment! Our family of 6 (from Seattle) visited Madrid for several days, and we really enjoyed our stay at Marta's apartment! I would strongly recommend this Airbnb rental if you are a group of 5-6 people--particularly if you are visiting outside of the hottest months (July-Aug) when the AC barely keeps up.
Great:
-Communication from Marta and Lisi (hosts) was authentic, and helpful from even before check-in. We did have some messaging issues, but Marta helped sort them out and was super helpful.
-Apartment is big, clean, modern, and beautiful, with all the amenities (except a clothes dryer).
-Location is terrific, close to restaurants, plazas and museums.
-Top floor location was surprisingly great. Even though we had to take a slow elevator to the 5th floor (it fits 3-4 people max), the sound proofing windows kept noise to a minimum, and we never heard our neighbors, which made for good sleep.
-The apartment complex had a locked door which meant it was nicely secure.
Not So Great:
-Smelled like dead fish. We assumed it was just chemicals because it had just been cleaned. But upon opening the refrigerator, we were overwhelmed with horrible dead fish smell. We notified Marta, and she had housekeeping come and clean it, but it took 2 days due to a communication issue with the Airbnb messaging system. I understand that this kind of thing happens, but the hosts or the cleaners should have detected the smell and cleaned this before we got there.
-The air conditioning was weak. It was over 100 F when we were there, and we had the AC on high with the coldest setting the entire time, and it never really got cool in the apartment. In fact, in a couple of rooms where there were no AC vents, the rooms were uncomfortably warm at night. If you are from the US and used to central air, you will be disappointed. If you are visiting outside the hottest months, the AC will probably be sufficient.
Ultimately all of us agreed that this Airbnb was a good find, and besides the smelly refrigerator and weak AC during a heat wave, it was a great place to stay for a good value. We travel frequently, and the next time we're in Madrid, we will not hesitate to book this venue with Marta and Lisi. Four stars given the small issues, but I fully expect a 5 star experience next time.