Note: People adverse to smoking, read to the end.
Juan Pablo’s place is a good starting point if you’re a new comer to Madrid. It is within walking distance to central Madrid. Madrid itself is quite walkable and my fiancée and I found ourselves going everywhere pretty much on foot. We probably used the train like 2-3 times max. Juan Pablo’s place definitely facilitated that.
His place is clean and spacious. Very tasteful decor and looked very modern. It is on street level, so no need to worry about lugging your stuff up flights of narrow stairs. If you’re expecting a “local”, “old-school” building and feel, then look elsewhere. Polished wood flooring, flat screen TV, and all the modern amenities.
No shoes in the house! Take them off once you enter! He keeps the place clean, my fiancée and I caught him mopping one evening after he arrived back from work. We observe this rule even in our own home, so it wasn’t foreign to us. But still respect the no-shoes-in-the-house rule. Juan Pablo never explicitly told us, but “when in Rome”… We’ve never seem him with outside shoes in his home.
The living room is the first space you enter from the outside. It is fairly large and has a high ceiling. There is a small flight of stairs - a couple of steps - from the living room to the kitchen. He told us we have access to the kitchen. The washing machine for clothes was also there. Drying machines are not a thing in Spain. They hang dry their clothes, and Juan Pablo has a drying rack for your clothes. The drying rack is foldable and kept indoors.
The bathroom is quite spacious. He provides all the amenities you’d need - towels, hair drier, etc. I’d personally recommend using your own toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, and body wash. The shower is a standing shower only. Best.shower.head.ever. Jet stream of water was great 👍
Our bedroom was modest. The bed was roughly a double twin to maybe a queen size approximately. Definitely two people can sleep on it. The bed took up most of the space of the room. You have two windows with access to the outside, and you get an electric fan. You have partial access to the closet space, but we ended up keeping our clothes in our luggage and maybe kept a handful of items hanging in what little closet space was provisioned to us.
There is one other room left and that is where Juan Pablo is. You share his house with him! This felt more like a homestay experience than a hotel one. He’s always ready and willing to help out, but keep in mind he does have a day job. There will be times when he’s working either at home or heads out to his office. He seems to work off a hybrid working arrangement.
—“Cons”—
Now for some things to keep in mind…
If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke, take this into consideration. This is a smoking household. He has a “smoking nook” in the living room; complete with a window, curtains to separate it from the rest of the living room, and a fan. Juan Pablo does make efforts to ventilate his house after smoking, but when we were there, it wasn’t enough and the lingering cigarette smoke smell covered the entire house. It can get pretty serious. We are very sensitive to smoke.
Before booking his place we did reach out to him and told him about our situation when it comes to cigarette smoke. He assured us that he ventilates his place after he smokes, and we just took his word for it. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for us. My fiancée and I used a face towel under our bedroom door to prevent the smoke from finding it’s way into our bedroom.
If you have an issue with smoking or cigarette smoke, seriously reconsider this place. If you smoke or don’t mind cigarette smoke, disregard what I’ve recently said.
This other thing might not be an issue really but something just to keep in mind. Juan Pablo only houses one guest because he has only one other bedroom available in his home. This in of itself is no issue, but during our stay one other person ended up living in the house for a few days while we were there. My fiancée and I were confused at first, but we didn’t want to ask who this other person was. We eventually assumed this person was either a family member or friend of sorts. We would like a little transparency on that since we assumed we would be sharing the space only with Juan Pablo. The other person was cordial, polite, and kept to themselves, so in the end it was no issue really. Just a little awkward and worrying initially. Not sure how frequent this is, nor am I against him having friends or family over. Just want some heads up, so I don’t have to be on guard with my valuables.
—Summary—
Great place - very modern and clean
Great location - Madrid is walkable and Juan Pablo’s place makes this all the more convenient
Amenities of home - he has all you need
Homestay experience - you live with Juan Pablo, take advantage of your access to a local!
Smoking - can be an issue for some; so consider wisely
Friends/Family over - you might not be the only guests in his home