Elena’s place is exactly as described. She clearly takes great pride in her home! As noted in the listing (I missed it) there are cameras inside the unit. Two of the cameras are inactive and one is not (it’s in the host’s closed bedroom and only goes off if you attempt to open the door)
All the cabinets and doors are clearly marked with which ones you can access and which are off-limits. There are some basic cooking essentials in those cabinets, plenty of pots, pans and utensils and a couple of plates and bowls.There is also beautiful espresso machine - just remember to bring your own coffee. Elena wasn’t able to greet us but her parents welcomed us with a bottle of cava which was very thoughtful.
There is AC in the living room but it does have a hard time keeping up with the summer Madrid heat, even if you leave the shutters down through the hottest part of the day. The AC in the bedrooms works great. There was a bit of drama when one of the AC units stopped working and Elena graciously had it fixed on a Sunday. The only problem was that the power box was in the locked and alarmed bedroom so the poor repairman kept shocking himself while trying to wire it hot! Eventually, they told him where the key was and he was able to go into the locked bedroom to throw the power switch and finish the job safely.
The bed and shower are both great quality. Both bedrooms are very quiet despite the flat being in a very busy area. There are travel size toiletries available - but I would recommend bringing your own shampoo and body wash if you are staying for more than a day or two.
Since the host does live there, there wasn’t much room to unpack – we ended up leaving our clothes on the bed in the second bedroom which wasn’t a problem since we didn’t need the extra space for sleeping. Same deal with food storage, you have access to 2/3 of the fridge, but seemingly not the freezer.
Again, I think Elena’s flat would be a great choice for a shorter stay!