The apartment is very conveniently located, close to bus routes. The first impression is that it is modern and a little minimalist needing a few personal touches to soften the stark black and white impression that one gets on entering, but it was not hard to make it feel like home. Unusually, there were no local maps, guide books and leaflets, which would have been useful.
The handover was speedy, done by Juan Manuel’s girlfriend who had been waiting a while because we had been trying to make sense of the buses! (see below) We later messaged Juan Manuel and he gave us some recommendations for bars and restaurants. Later in the week we tracked him down at Bar Visco where he works.
The terrace overlooks busy Alameda de Hercules but it is very private, and not overlooked. It has a large table, chairs and sun shade as shown in the pictures. A couple of plants would have been a nice touch. There is a lot of noise from the pavement cafes in the late evening / early morning. The bed was comfortable, the shower was large and powerful, the fridge/freezer was a good size and the air conditioning excellent. However, the floor to ceiling sliding wardrobe doors in the bedroom need attention. The effort required to open and close them was worthy of the labours of Hercules and we ended up leaving one half permanently open and just using that. The only drawers available were fixed inside the wardrobe and a chest of drawers under the mirror on the opposite wall would be a welcome addition. A few more hooks and a towel rail in the shower room would be a good idea.
The journey there got things off to a bad start because Juan Manuel's directions for arriving by airport bus are wrong! We arrived via the airport bus which stops inside the cavernous bus station at Plaza de Armas. (Do not be tempted to buy the 6 euro return ticket that is mentioned because this is only for same day return!). We eventually realised that the local buses go from outside the bus station, not inside, so you have to go up the ramp to the exit and cross over the dual carriageway. We then looked for the C-4 bus stop as directed, but after some deliberation and trying to interpret the map at the only bus stop we could see, we deduced that the circular bus routes are arranged so that C-1 and C-3 travel clockwise and C-2 and C-4 anti-clockwise. We therefore needed to take the C-3 bus, not C-4. This is not what you want to be working out in the dark after a long and tiring journey. Furthermore, the instructions had obviously been translated literally, including the names of the bus stops, so the bus stop was given as 'Tournament Boat'. No good asking the bus driver for this because the correct name for the stop, the last one along Calle Torneo at the Barqueta bridge, is 'Torneo (Barqueta)'. The return journey is on the anti-clockwise route and so requires the C-4 bus. You can get a Tarjeta Multiviaje bus pass from the Estancos which gives you local bus journeys at half the price. It works a bit like a London Oyster card in that you can keep topping it up, except that it can be used for more than one person, you just tap it the appropriate number of times when you board. There is also an app to check your card balance. Details (in English) on the Tussam web site.
Note that as at October 2022 face masks are mandatory on all public transport, including the airport bus, and you will not be allowed to board without one.
The apartment is near to the Mercado de Feria, which has good fruit & veg, meat and fish stalls and also stalls which open up to serve tapas if you can figure out what their opening hours are!
There are obviously lots of places to choose from to eat and drink but a favourite of ours is in a street off to the side of the church next to the Feria market. It is a very local tapas bar, Bodega Mateo Ruiz, which among other things has delicious nuggets of fried cod. If you fancy an evening at home on the terrace we recommend the chicken and chips from the Alameda Asador round the corner in Calle Lumbreras.
You can walk to the centre the old town (Alameda and Cathedral) in about half an hour, but to save your legs for sightseeing take the C-4 bus there and C-3 back, getting off at the Bull Ring. Café Bar Taquilla round the back of the Bull Ring has the best coffee that we found. There are lots of small food shops and Carrefour mini markets but if you want a big supermarket shop there are large food halls in the two branches of Corte Ingles in the centre of town.
All in all we had an enjoyable time and the apartment was perfect for the break we needed.