My friend and I visited Spain for the first time. We stayed for one week.
Good: Fernando is extremely helpful, especially for first time travelers to Spain. He provided many tips on places to eat and also provided a map with detailed instructions on how to get anywhere. He also provided plenty of water bottles everyday as well as these yummy crescent rolls for us to snack on throughout the day. He was very kind and even gave us small gifts throughout our stay. On our last day, we overslept and would have missed our flight without his help. Fernando assured us not to worry and called us a taxi and even walked us down stairs to make sure we got in ok. We were very grateful for all of his help.
Not so good: To be honest, Fernando rubbed us the wrong way at first. We came to the conclusion that it may be a cultural thing (We are americans) but what others may see as him being enthusiastic, we initially saw as him being very intrusive and somewhat overbearing. For example, he would wait up for us almost every night and insist that we sit down while he explained more things to us or asked what we did, ate, or saw that day. It was overwhelming because after a long day of seeing and walking the city, all we wanted to do was come back, shower, and retreat to our bedroom. Which brings me to the next con. Fernando informed us that we may not take a shower past 10:30 pm due to the water heater making a loud noise at night. However, at about the 3rd day of following this rule, I decided to break it because realistically speaking, who wants to get in their clean bed at night without first washing off all the dirt, sweat, and germs from traveling on the subway and walking in 100 degree weather all day?? I did not hear any noise from the shower, so not sure if this is just something he tells people just because.
Overall, although initially annoyed by some of his "quirks," we really grew to love and appreciate Fernando. He truly is passionate about hosting and was a tremendous help. We appreciated the clean and updated bathroom as well. I cannot stress how many ways he was helpful. I forgot to mention that he even went to the library to print out our boarding passes for us. Fernando's place is also very near to the train station so you have easy access to the city. If the above cons do not bother you, I would recommend. But if you prefer more privacy and a less "hands on" host then I would seek elsewhere. Thanks Fernando, we really enjoyed Spain and all of your help!
Vanessa, Christina.