We made contact with Blanca from Madrid airport to let her know we had landed and she greeted us at the apartment, made us feel very welcome and showed us around the apartment, pointing out the facilities, explaining arrangements for disposal of bin waste etc.
She was very pleasant and helpful and explained that the exceptional buzz in Madrid was due to the election due to be held on the day after our arrival.
We enjoyed the complimentary fruit and bread, tea, coffee, milk provided. A nice touch.
The apartment was exactly as shown in the many photos shown on the listing and we were delighted everything was as we expected, very clean and in good condition.
It was ideal for us, a family party of 6 adults with plenty of space in the main lounge/kitchen area to relax after walking the Madrid streets and sightseeing.
The neighbourhood was what we were looking for, quiet in the morning before all the tapas bars and restaurants start to open and getting busier throughout the day and pretty lively at night, although with the apartment windows closed, it's almost silent.
The location is good, close to various little squares, Plaza Mayor, the royal palace and gardens, shops, a market, a supermarket and La Latina metro station. We found the metro system easy to use and very cheap when we used it to go to the football match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
This apartment was our first Airbnb experience and I think we'll have to be very lucky to find a place this good again.