A++++ Wow!!!!! Where do I even begin this review? Maria is so wonderful and her place is so incredibly awesome! My husband and I felt very lucky to be able to stay there during our week in Madrid. We had originally booked a different accommodation and then ended up booking with Maria and we were so happy we made the change. Breakdown below is our feedback and why you should DEFINETLY stay here! Do not even bother looking elsewhere, you will not be disappointed staying at Maria's place :)
The Host:
Maria is quite honestly one of the nicest and sweetest hosts I have ever interacted with. She is so helpful and was always available if we had a question. She met us the day we arrived and walked us through the apartment and provided us with some information about the neighborhood and places that she recommended. We so appreciated this, especially since it was our first time in Madrid. Her communication is excellent. She is an A++ host!
The Apartment:
Her apartment is beautiful, unique, and so COZY. There are so many interesting pieces of art decorated around the apartment. I was also totally in love with her light fixtures - gorgeous chandeliers. The style of the condo is so fun and we honestly felt like we were living in an Architectural Digest magazine for the week! In addition to this, Maria's condo is EXTREMELY clean and well maintained. Another one of our favorite parts about the condo were the beautiful floor to ceiling balcony windows/doors. There are three that let in so much natural light. The condo is (in our opinion) very large, especially for two people. My husband and I always felt that we had ample room. The living room area is a very very good size and the couch is super long, comfy and is AWESOME for a cozy night in. One of our absolute favorite features of the apartment was the projector. This was unique and different than having a boring old TV! The bedroom was also a good size, as were the bathroom and kitchen. The thoughtfulness of the décor is carried over in all of the spaces in the unit which adds to the overall ambiance. In terms of other amenities which we found important - the unit has air conditioning which was excellent! I know that one review noted that the bedroom didn't have good air circulation, however, we did NOT find this to be true at all. We thought the bedroom was always a comfortable temperature and we were in Madrid in August. It is important to read Maria's tips that detail a "secret" window/panel that can be opened to help with the airflow to the bedroom. We followed these directions and found the bedroom temperature to be perfect. The unit also has a clothing washer (no dryer - or at least I don't believe there is one). We line dried some of our clothes which was no big deal for us. It is very common in Europe to hang dry clothes and is the norm for many Airbnbs. Maria provides you with little hangers to use for line drying your clothes. Importantly, the kitchen was also a FULL kitchen with a true full size fridge, oven, and microwave etc. Of all the apartments we stayed at during our trip to Spain, Maria's was the only one with an actual full size fridge/freezer.
The Neighborhood:
We had never been to Madrid before and had no idea what to expect. The Malasaña neighborhood, that this apartment is located in, was totally awesome. It was fun, young, and lively. We always felt safe walking around any time of the day. One thing I wanted to note is DO NOT be put off by the graffiti in the neighborhood - there is actually very important historical context for the graffiti found in Malasaña (be sure to look this up!). There are countless coffee shops, restaurants, and bars within walking distance. There are so many great places to choose from that it is hard to decide! We also personally loved that the apartment was very close to the Salamanca neighborhood. There are many great restaurants there as well which we thoroughly enjoyed. The apartment is very conveniently located to two metro stations and is very walkable to Centro, gran via etc. We personally were so happy that we ended up not staying at an Airbnb in Centro during our trip. There is so much charm and authenticity when staying in Malasaña and we felt that we would have definitely missed out on that kind of experience if we had stayed in Centro or the more "touristy" areas.
Overall, we were so thrilled with our experience staying at Maria's place. We were sad to leave Madrid as her apartment really did end up feeling like our "home" away from home. 100% recommend with no hesitation!