We stayed at Raul's apartment last week when visiting Madrid. Raul had a family emergency shortly before we arrived but he was kind enough to arrange for a friend of his to give us access to the apartment and provide us with all the information we needed. We had a late flight out of Madrid and didn't want to carry our luggage around until our flight, so Raul allowed us to leave the luggage at the apartment even though he wanted to clean for the guests arriving after us. The apartment was spotless and looked exactly as it does in the photos. It was a short walk from the metro and about a 10-minute walk from Gran Via. The neighborhood is lively but we heard no noise when we were inside the apartment. There are several bars and restaurants nearby, and the neighborhood felt safe. There are many flights of stairs to get to the apartment, but overall we loved it and would recommend it.