Fabulous apartment, great location, amazing terrace!

We had a lovely three night stay at Rafael's apartment and would wholeheartedly recommend it!
Rafael was out of town so his sister, Chelo, checked us in. She speaks French but hasn't much English so Rafael kindly offered to send someone with her to translate, though this wasn't necessary as we had a friend who lives in the area collect us from the airport so he could communicate. She was very welcoming and at the apartment when we arrived which was great, no waiting around!

The apartment is as shown in the photos. It's not a polished 'show apartment' but a homely space and spotlessly clean. Even often missed places like oven and fridge! There were towels, toilet rolls, soap etc left for us and some food items there like butter, jam, pasta, coffee etc. There is an elevator in the building which is great, many of these old buildings don't have one. You only need to walk the last 8 steps or so.

The terrace is simply stunning. We spent a lot of time on it, enjoying the views over the Madrid skyline and it probably saved us money as we were more inclined to go back there for lunch or a drink rather than going to cafes all the time: why go out when you have such a lovely, private space all to yourself?!

Malasana is a great base. It's a vibrant, fun area with lots of great shops, bars, restaurants and walking distance of all the main sites. We didn't use the metro once! Gumbo, at the bottom of the street is a lovely Creole restaurant we enjoyed. There is a little pizza place at the other end of the street that is handy for quick bites.
There are supermarkets and concenience stores about a 2 minute walk from the apartment which was brilliant.
Even though it's such a buzzing area, the street that the apartment on is surprisingly quiet and there is very little noise within the building even, we were surprised at how quiet it was for sleeping.

I would definitely stay here again. The only possible issue could be heat in warmer months as the apartment is at the top of the building and there is only air conditioning in the living room but there are fans provided in the bedroom and curtains to keep out the midday sun so I'm sure it would be fine.

Thank you Rafael and Chelo for a wonderful stay!