We were met in the street by Miguel Angel. He showed us how to get through the four sets of locks and doors some of which are locked during the day and all of which are locked on weekends and at night. The apartment was sparkling clean. There was a bottle of red wine, crackers, twenty coffee pods, sugar, a liter of milk, and a six-pack of liquid yogurt awaiting us in the kitchen. That was all we needed as we ate no meals there except cold cereal and fruit in the morning.
The location is steps from the very heart of central Madrid, Puerta del Sol, a huge plaza with nonstop action. There are performers posing for tips, union rallies, tour groups, and tourists from all over the world. We watched Mickey and Minnie Mouse change into their costumes in the square below the living room windows before they went out to pose for tips. There are 3 El Corte Ingles stores across the Puerta del Sol, the largest of them sells everything including groceries at a fairly reasonable price.
A short walk from the apartment are Plaza Mayor and Mercado de San Miguel. The Mercado has many food booths selling a mouth watering variety of treats from full meals to little bites. There are countless numbers of restaurants within a 5 minute walk of the apartment including, 2 right next door. We had dinner at one the first night and it was very good with great service. Major attractions are within a 15 minute walk if you can concentrate long enough to walk undistracted. There is so much to see and do.
I wouldn’t plan on doing much cooking here as there is just a single burner hot plate and microwave. I doubt you’ll want to though with all the great restaurants nearby.