Overall I felt there were some pros and cons to this AirBNB (see below), but I felt the negatives outweighed the pros for me, though I think some things could be improved upon. I’ve stayed in quite a few AirBNBs and usually try to write a fair and balanced review. I also understand that some things are out of the control of the hosts and try to also take this into consideration when reviewing, but I probably would not choose to stay here again when visiting Valencia, which I do often.
Pro’s:
Gracie (the person I communicated with) was very responsive and easy to get in touch with for any questions and correspondence. The location was also great. The flat was very well located for exploring Ruzafa and all of Valencia. The flat itself was also clean and had a very nice outdoor balcony.
Negatives:
The lobby to the building had a very unpleasant smell – it almost smelled like strong cat litter or sewage to me. Even though the hallway in the building was cleaned a few times when we were there, the smell persisted. It was unpleasant entering the building and leaving the apartment due to the smell. The apartment also smelled slightly of this, but we purchased some air freshener that helped with that a bit.
The apartment itself felt very low budget. It didn’t’ have any charm to it in my opinion, though the balcony was a nice feature. The couch was old and not very clean (it had multiple stains) and was not comfortable to sit on (it looked interesting in the photos). We really didn’t enjoy hanging out in the apartment. This part could be remedied with a newer and more functional couch and couple of comfortable chairs in the living room to make it more inviting. It appears that the building and apartment is essentially set up for all short-term rentals and so is very cheaply furnished. And so while I do believe Gracie owns the flat – and likely other apartments in the building – it did not feel like staying in someone’s home. It felt more like staying in a very basic hotel – though larger.
One of the biggest issues for me was the WIFI connection. The wifi worked horribly. It was very difficult to get on the WIFI network and stay connected. It would take a long time to connect and the signal was very weak once connected. Since the entire building seems to be set up for just AirBNB/short term rentals, there was not a dedicated WIFI router in the apartment, which I think contributes to the issue. If you are trying to get work done in the apartment that requires WIFI – or even just surf the internet - you may be frustrated. I had to go down to a café several times to use the internet – including one time when I was trying to connect for a work meeting. I’m guessing this can probably be remedied with a dedicated WIFI router or wifi booster in the apartment.
Lastly, while this is not a reflection on the host or apartment, there is a lot of construction going on in the Ruzaffa neighborhood these days, and so there was construction noise next door starting early in the morning almost every day. I still think it’s a great neighborhood to stay in, so just a note that if you are booking a place in Ruzaffa it might be worthwhile to ask the host if the flat you’re considering is impacted by construction noise and to what extent.