We had a lovely stay in Carlos' flat. We needed to tie the trip in with the available flights and Carlos was happy to arrange a near midnight check-in for us. Almost instant responses from Cecilia (on Carlos' behalf) to pre-booking inquiries.
We liked the mixture of an old property with modern new Ikea furniture. I haven't found the date of construction of the block but suspect 18th or 19th century? The flat is located on the top of the block, almost in the attic but doesn't have any restricted height. No views to speak of but that didn't really bother us; we were there for sightseeing outside of the flat. Inside we pulled the curtains shut and used the lovely air conditioning. There is one unit covering the main space and two out of the four possible bedrooms also had units. The flat was very comfortable on days when it was 33C outside and sunny all day in mid August.
We were a UK family of four (2 kids aged 7 and 9) and the space suited us really well. The kitchen suited my style of cooking very well. Chop chop chop and the cooker and sink were both one foot away from me; feet barely moved other than to go to the fridge. There is no main oven but there is a little one available if your kids need nuggets etc.
There is a DIA supermarket less than 400 yards away (albeit uphill on the way). Turn left out of the flat and bear slightly left a couple of times and you are there. A well priced and well stocked place; about the size of a big UK coop shop. There is a smaller DIA about 50 yards away! But we never went to that one. Couldn't find butter, cream or any squashes/cordial but made up for it with melons and tomatoes!
For all British visitors used to recycling there is a recycling drop-off point 30 yards away and general rubbish goes in the orange bins along the street.
One of the best things about the flat was probably the location. 500 yards from one end of Gran Vie, 400 yards from the palace (800 from the entrance) and half a mile from Plaza Mayor and a mile from Plaza Cibeles, at the northern end of the parade of art museums. Make sure to visit the old looking but very new cathedral opposite the royal palace.
We found the flat very quiet at night and day. We were only there Sunday to Wednesday night so can't vouch for other days. We had one minor problem whilst there and our nominated contact Victor was instantly available and sorted the problem for us. English unlikely to be the main language so go easy, but the attitude was spot-on throughout.
We used a tourist travel card incorporating metro and bus, including the trip from the airport terminal 4 (a fantastic airport). It's a protracted route from the terminal but all other bus and metro experiences were fine. On the way home we caught a 147 bus to Nuevos Ministerios, having previously used the 147 for a trip to the Bernabeu stadium tour (our big spend). and then it was just 7 stops on one metro line.
A lovely holiday in Madrid and Carlos' flat played a major part in making the experience so good. Many thanks to Carlos and team.