I never actually had any contact with Vincent as I dealt only with Julio.
Getting stuck in Valencia due to the Covid-19, I was very grateful to Julio for accepting my booking with only a few hours’ notice. He was very communicative and helpful and extremely professional. I can highly reccomend Julio but the flat was not a good fit for me and I would not recommend it to guests who are looking for a quiet space. The flat is definitely better suited to young people or to families who can give as good as they take as far as noise levels are concerned.
Contrary to some of the points made in previous guest reviews, I did not find the flat to be in a nice, quiet area. In fact, it is in one of the less salubrious areas of Valencia, albeit a safe one. The flat is unusual in that it is one of a few duplex flats in a building of mainly single floor flats. This means that the flat ‘interfaces’ with 3 sets of neighbours. I was lucky that two sets of neighbours were acceptably noisy and kept normal hours. I was not so lucky with the tenants in the flat above, who made it difficult for me to sleep at night, in either bedroom. During the day, I confined myself to the ground floor, but due to the layout and the open staircase, the flat is like an echo-chamber and so there was little chance to relax.
It is not unusual in a typical Valencian flat to hear the comings and goings of neighbours as walls, floors and ceilings seem to be paper thin. But based on other experiences I have had before and since, the level of antisocial behaviour and excessive noise from the tenants in the flat above was unreasonable and stressful.
I got fed up trying to reason with unreasonable and inconsiderate neighbours at 3 a.m. and gave up complaining as each time they ramped up the noise. Instead I turned to Julio, who quickly intervened. Sadly, he was not supported by the owner of the flat above or the tenants. He offered solutions in the form of either me calling the police when things got bad in the middle of the night or possibly moving to one of his other properties. In the end, I was not prepared for the extreme solution of having to get involved with Spanish police and none of Julio’s other properties were suitable/available.
Focusing on the positive aspects of the flat, and there are many, I stayed for the full 7 weeks I had booked. The flat is a first and second floor duplex and is very spacious and very light and bright. It is well presented and very clean. The kitchen is well-equipped and well-stocked and the bottle of water and Cava in the fridge was a nice touch. The bathroom and WC are also well-stocked with soaps, shampoo and loo rolls. The internet speed and quality was also good. There are 3 small and narrow balconies, perfect for getting some fresh air or for smoking, but sadly the sun does not reach them until late in the day. The flat is in easy walking distance to local shops and several good supermarkets. It is only a 10-15 minute walk to the metro and the superb Turia park.
I think the photos currently on the website are old and are not totally representative of the flat. A small point, but sadly for me, there was no coffee pot! However, the bedding I found was much more attractive and contemporary from a design point of view than shown in the photos. In fact, the quality and cleanliness of pillows, bedding and towels was very good indeed. The sofa is NOT new; in fact, it was the one thing that fell well below the quality of the rest of the flat. It was very comfortable and clearly expensive, but it was horribly stained and smelled of stale sweat. When I left, I sent Julio photos to flag this up and within days and to his credit he sent me back photos of a sofa that had been cleaned.