Convenient location in a historic, charming and well-maintained building within easy walking distance to Sainz de Baranda Metro Station and the many cafes of neighborhood east of El Retiro. The five bedrooms are each well-suited for individual privacy, with separate locks on the doors. The apartment is in fact arranged like a shared college cooperative.
We experienced some language barrier issues with the host (only my young daughter spoke Spanish), and some nuanced communication may have been misinterpreted or lost in translation. The host keeps the apartment exceptionally clean, which can be a benefit and a curse. While we appreciated the attention to cleanliness, the bare and undecorated white walls throughout the apartment felt sterile and unwelcoming, and my wife and I both felt the distinct impression that we were somehow intruding by living in the apartment. Maybe our host was unaccustomed to children visitors...?
Shortly before the end of our stay, we were told to have all our luggage and personal effects packed out of the bedrooms by 9AM so that the apartment could be cleaned for the incoming guests. Our stated Airbnb checkout time was 11AM, however, which we were relying on for the transition to our next apartment in a nearby neighborhood of Madrid. As international long-term visitors with two young children, we had no other place to go during the cleaning, so the reduced access to the apartment posed an unnecessary burden for us to coordinate and manage. I will note that we compromised for a 10AM cleaning start, however, and that the host kindly allowed us to keep our bags secured in the apartment for a short while beyond 11AM while we shuttled baggage to our new apartment.
For the most part, the apartment worked out great for our needs. Our English-speaking family with two children just might not have been the typical visitor profile that the host was most comfortable with.