My husband and I only had time to stay in Valencia for two nights, one full day, while we visited a friend from home (Canada). In that short time however, we had a really nice time and Ivan's apartment was a large part of it. El Carmen is a great area and we often saw people walking to work, walking their dog, or taking their children to school just outside either of the two north and east facing windows. From the shared rooftop we could see old cathedrals and towers and other patios. Like those buildings, the apartment is 150+ years old and has all the charm/character that goes with it - a narrow stairway (no elevator), brick walls, wood beams on the ceiling, tiny patios, and long, beautiful wood framed windows. Inside the apartment Ivan and Carmina do a wonderful job to grace us travelers with modern amenities like a shower, air conditioner, TV and Nespresso machine. Half of which we didn't use because great cafes and entertainment in the larger plazas were all within a 10-15 min walk. Ivan was such a kind host right from our first in-person meeting. Though he claims his English isn't great, he did a fine job showing us around the apartment and explaining the neighbourhood in detail. He evened showed us the rooftop patio and a shared laundry room upstairs (huge plus!). Then he provided us with a map of the old city and surrounding neighbourhoods which included metro and bus stations, restaurants, bike rental locations, etc. Then after we settled in and he had left, he followed up with an email of his favourite restaurants in the city. We really appreciated those recommendations for our short stay. It helped us make the most of our limited time. Overall Valencia was a wonderful city to visit and made that much better because of this incredibly quaint, well-located apartment :)