Even at the booking stage Maria was great - I am new to AirBnB and had some problems with the website but Maria helped and held the booking for us.
We are just back from 2 weeks holiday in Majorca and spent 3 days of it at Maria's apartment in Alaro. We arrived an hour earlier than we expected and Maria, who was 30 min away, arranged for us to get access straight away and met us in the apartment soon after. As we arrived at the weekend we were able to park right outside the house and during the week there was free parking available in a car park a short walk away. Maria was really welcoming and helpful pointing us to the local supermarket, Central Square, pharmacy, a fantastic bakery on the same street, etc.
The house is a lovely traditional building, the shared kitchen is well equipped and spotless. We had a kitchen area in the apartment but were welcome to use any of the shared kitchen kit/equipment if we had wanted. We ate out two nights and cooked in the apartment on our last night. The outside shared area is lovely - there's a small pool that we didn't use in the end.
The apartment is on the second/top floor in the eaves of the building so the ceilings slope down towards the windows but the rooms are spacious so no problems with headroom. We were touring round with our teenage sons and were out and about a lot of the time but the apartment had everything we needed. There is a small step into the twin room and the living area that I kept forgetting about so watch out for those. The bed in the double room is the most comfortable bed I've slept in in years!
We arrived on a Saturday and had great pizzas and paella at Hotel Traffic in the Central Square this was followed by the Saturday night Fiesta in the Square which was really lovely - all generations from this lovely town meeting up in the Square to listen to a guy singing and playing some tunes on a keyboard. Lovely family atmosphere and a great ice cream shop!
We walked part of the way up to the Castle d'Alaro with some great views. We took the main roads up to Soller using the tunnel which was great and traveled back on the smaller road via Orient. The views are spectacular but probably not the best choice for nervous drivers or if you get travel sick. The guide book we had described Alaro as 'delivering to those who linger' - I think this really captures it. If you want to experience a bit of real Majorca - with easy access to Palma and the spectacular mountains of the west - Alaro is great and Maria couldn't have been more welcoming or helpful. A great first AirBnB experience.