El Patio De La Piscina

Pool was basically a stagnant pond. Unusable. Key collection from a hotel some distance away. Dirty marks on the walls. One blind not functioning. No plug for the kitchen sink. One long pillow - two normal ones would be better. Very austere, bland, unloved. Some outdoor plants and colour would help.

It would be useful to have a bowl or plug for the sink, WiFi would be good. Also separate pillows for the bed, not one long one. Unfortunately the pool wasn’t open during our stay, but the pool man was busy trying to clean it out when we were leaving . The outside space could do with a little bit of tidying up, even a few plant would be nice. All of this and it could almost be a 10.

It was presented as a one-bedroom apartment with a sofa-bed, but it's a small 1-room studio/trastero. Every aspect of the furnishings, fittings and decor has been selected to be as cheap and minimal as absolutely possible, to the point that it is uncomfortable, thoroughly depressing and inspires negative feelings towards the owner. Apart from the harsh overhead lights, there is only 1 lamp with a miserable cold bulb. No wine glasses, no sharp knife, only 2 mugs for 4 people, nowhere in the bathroom to put anything, broken blinds, a hideous scaffolding construction in the middle that forms a sort of divider/hanging device. The fake leather trim on the sofa bed was peeling everywhere, and there were 3 dead cockroaches behind it when we opened it up. The pool was not only not functional (which was fine in early May), but it was also not covered so had become a giant swamp/insect breeder, full of writhing black larvae (see picture!) which meant we couldn't keep the door open to bring in air/light. The weakest 1-bar wifi signal (stated only available in the common area outside) and somehow barely any network signal in the apartment either. The fridge buzzed all night. All this cost us €700 for 3 nights. We recognise it was high season, but this is still outrageous and we agreed that we would still have hated it (and whoever owns it) even at €30 a night. Overall, it was so bad - but Cordoba is still beautiful.

There is really nothing special in the flat and I wouldn't stay there for a longer time.

The parking, which was 50 metres away was €21 per day. When we arrived the apartment, which was spotless, had a smell of floor washing product and something else. The something else was presumably bug spray. At night they would come out and die from the spray! We didn't see any live ones and as we lived in Australia we're not put off by them, but I'm sure some people will shudder. The pickup and drop off for the keys is ridiculous. You have to go to the Hotel Marissa in the old town and then you have a good 10 minute walk to get to the apartment, along cobblestone streets. If you are collecting the keys by car, beware that the old town is traffic restricted for cars. If you use Google you will be directed to a street with a boomgate. You have to call security on the intercom to let you through the barrier. Once you get to the hotel you need to be quick as there are regular police patrols and they move you on. When you get your keys, they only provide you with one set, which means you're stuck with going out together as we couldn't get a signal to ring each other. This was a problem for us as my husband likes to walk the streets in the early morning, whereas I like a lie in. The door to the apartment can only be locked with a key. We found a hardware shop 50m from the apartment and got another set of keys cut, for €5, which solved the problem, so if you do stay, ask the hotel for the second set of keys! The only slight gripe I have about the kitchen is it didn't contain a sharp knife and chopping board, so we had to get ours from our picnic basket in the car.