The location is second-to-none. It is the best of both worlds. You are in a quiet Plaza (Plaza del Cordon), but simply walk out the door and around the block is Mercado de San Miguel and the Plaza Mayor. You can walk to most of the top 10 sites to see. Very safe area. I brought my two boys ages 13 and 16, and we all felt very secure. There was a quaint little shop at the bottom called El Jardin del Convento that sold jellies, chocolates and wine from the Spanish monasteries.
The views: Six balconies overlook the inspiring city scape where you can see the rooftops, spires, and crooked streets of Madrid. This apartment was on a higher floor than the surrounding buildings, thus affording it a broad sweeping view. Keep all the windows open and a breeze will run through the apartment. We went in late June/early July when there was a five-day African heat wave. Temperatures reached 104 on the daily. The air conditioning is only in the living room, so we had to shut all shutters and close the room off. The AC had a tough time keeping the room cool, but again it was a heat wave.
Javier was nice enough to accommodate us a bit early, so understanding this, the bathrooms needed a bit of extra cleaning, which we did. The apartment was so ideal that we were okay with that.
The two bedrooms are ample size and very comfortable. There is plenty of space! Having two bathrooms with showers is great in the mornings so everyone can get out quickly to enjoy the city.
We were very impressed with Javier's response time. We used WhatsApp to send any questions throughout our stay and he always got back to us quickly.
There is a washing machine and a drying rack. If you are from the US, a drying rack sounds a bit old-school, but the heat in Spain is so dry that your clothes are ready in a snap.
Overall we think this apartment is exceptional in terms of the views, location, price and ease in working with Javier.