The good: The shower is great, the apartment was clean and the location is very good.
The condition of the apartment: The host notified us the day before we arrived that the sofa was broken. In addition to the broken sofa, upon our arrival there was a puddle on the bathroom floor that appeared to be coming from the toilet; the frame of the bathroom door was very damaged near the toilet and one of the bathroom floor tiles was loose; there was a large and decorative spoonrest broken in half in a kitchen drawer; and, the kitchen table was damaged and had nail polish stains. We notified the host about everything, so we would not be accused of breaking anything as we had no actual local contact. Once we were using the apartment, we found that one of the air-conditioners kept shutting off and we had to take out all of the batteries to reset the remotes. There was some coffee for us to use, but no salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, etc.
The host: I cannot recommend this apartment because the host was a nightmare to deal with. At no time did she welcome us or provide us with any information. There is no written information in the apartment -other than subway maps available at the tourist info. We were not provided with information about the use of the induction stovetop and had to look them up on the internet. We were not told that the extra toilet paper was stored in the kitchen at the back of the top shelf. We were not told that the lock to the street door is quite difficult to open (on one occasion another tenant could not get in and I opened the door for him). Our stay would have been much easier if we had written instructions in the apartment about how to use the internet and the appliances – figuring everything out in each place you stay should not be part of travel.
Communication with the host was an ordeal. After booking, I messaged her to request early check-in as our flight from the U.S. arrived at 6:30 am and had no reply. After a week I messaged again and she responded that the apartment was booked the day before our arrival but if the guests left early we might be able to get in earlier and she would let us know the day before our check-in. In fact, that booking cancelled before we arrived but we heard nothing further from her about our request for early check-in. She also told us there was a baggage drop at the Atocha station right near the apartment and she had used it often. Three days before arrival, we got the check-in instructions made available from Airbnb and it said we would be met at the apartment – no time provided, no request for our arrival time. Two days before we arrived I messaged again to remind her that we wanted to check-in early, but she did not respond. The day before we arrived I messaged that if we did not hear from her we would be at the apartment at 4pm. Upon arrival at the Atocha station we learned the baggage drop had been closed due to Covid – so it had been closed for over a year! Saddled with our luggage we went to have breakfast and heard from the host that we could check in at 1:30pm by going to a closed real estate office and getting the keys from a lock box which was inside a locked gate. Once we were in the apartment, we did not know the wifi network or password. The location was on Airbnb but we had missed it and the host did not respond quickly to our inquiry about the information. We were provided with one washcloth for 2 people for a 5 night stay and when I messaged the host for more washcloths her response was -this is not the United States! At no time did she express any concern for our enjoyment of our stay. When I inquired about check-out and exiting the building after leaving the keys, she told us there was a button that opened the door and most people figure that out for themselves! Having responded negatively or not at all to our inquiries and requests, when she asked us to send pictures of the leak on the bathroom floor we suggested she have her local person come take a look at it because we were having problems with our phone. The host does not live in Madrid and when we phoned her number in the U.S. she did not respond. Finally, she is now asking us for more money, claiming there must have been a third person because we used both bedrooms! Yes, we did – as there are no closets or dressers for clothes – we used a bed for our belongings.
Based on our experience we cannot understand why this host is a “superhost.” We are happily in Seville now where our host met us at the apartment; gave us instructions on how to use everything (stove, oven, washer, dishwasher, air-conditioner); showed us where everything is (iron, ironing board); provided written lists of sights to see, nearby restaurants he recommends, wifi information; and left us milk, muffins, salt, pepper, oil & vinegar, and a bottle of wine. Now that is a superhost.