Pablo is an excellent host--thoughtful, responsible, patient, helpful, discreet and friendly. He's knowledgeable about art, and has great suggestions about what galleries and museums to visit, other sights to see, places to eat and how to get around.

The apartment is in a quiet, elegant neighborhood filled with galleries, restaurants and shops. It's in the center, a 5-10 minute walk to the Biblioteca Nacional--one of Spain's treasures, with the wonderful Museo Archaeologico in the same building, and about 20 minutes walk to the Prado and the Thyssen Collection. Metro stops are convenient, near the apartment, and it's efficient system to navigate. It was really easy to take the Metro to and from the airport, and we used it frequently to get to other parts of the city we wanted to explore.

The apartment has a great layout with large windows and high ceilings so it feels roomy. It's comfortably furnished and artfully decorated. There really are two bedrooms--one has a sleeping loft with a double mattress, plenty of closet space and a desk, the other has a comfortable double bed, plenty more closet space, and its own shower and WC, which makes it nice and private. There's also a full bathroom with a tub and a washing machine off the kitchen, and the living room has full-size sofa bed, as well as a matching love-seat. We shared it with one other couple which was perfect, but there's definitely enough room for three couples who don't mind being a bit cozy, or a family with children.

We prefer not to stay in hotels because we like to feel at home and relaxed when we travel. We especially appreciated the well-appointed, and modern kitchen--it's for cooks! We enjoyed being able to prepare dinner in our first night, and breakfast the next morning as Pablo had all the makings on hand with teas and coffee, condiments, fresh fruit, and eggs and milk in the frig.

We loved Madrid, enjoyed staying in the apartment very much, and would definitely return.