Hosts like Alfonso make Airbnb a great, much more superior experience than staying at a hotel. The room and the apartment are just as advertised. Your room, as well as the living room and the bedroom, are spacious, comfortable, clean, and stylish. The apartment is looking over the south of Madrid without any obstructions, so it is sunny (unless you close the blackout shades). At the same time, it is not directly looking over the street, so it is always silent (this is actually rare in Madrid). It is very centrally located. From the apartment, you can easily walk to many major museums and attractions in addition to restaurants, bars, and markets. If walking is not your thing, it is only a few hundred meters away from several metro lines and the Atocha station (good for both metro lines and trains to travel to other cities in Spain).
Alfonso is by far the best Airbnb host I have ever gotten. Not only is he helpful, professional, and accommodating as a host, he is also a really nice and interesting person to talk to and hang out with. I stayed in the apartment for about three weeks (this was my interim apartment while I was relocating to Madrid). He speaks perfect English (which is not very common in Madrid) and several other languages. Meeting him to get in to the apartment was very easy. He is from Madrid, so he is very knowledgeable about touristic and local stuff. So the tips and recommendations he provided me with places to go and things to do were always great. There were a few times during my visit in which he was not busy with his work, so he even offered to give me a short tour of the city and the neighborhood, which were really informative. He also helped me a lot with dealing with bureaucratic stuff and finding a permanent apartment, which would have been so much more difficult (considering I do not speak Spanish) if I tried to do it alone. This is probably a special case for me since I was staying with him when I was moving to Madrid, but you can see that if he has the time and ability, he is willing to help you as much as he can as your host. However, he was also very professional as a host. Communications with him were always clear and positive before and during my stay. When he wasn’t busy with his own life he was there to hang out with, and when I needed to work, he provided me with space and conditions for that.
In summary, no matter if you are visiting the city or traveling for work, this room and Alfonso have my strongest recommendation.