Plaza de España Central - Apartamento coqueto al lado de Plaza España

If I wanted a short-term rental, I would have booked through a dedicated platform. But no, here I am. This is not a hotel—but they sure try. Apparently, fluffy pillows and a logo on a soap bottle make you one. Who knew? You must pay a deposit, but since there’s no reception, you’ll navigate a shady website, enter your details twice (because efficiency is for amateurs), upload your ID, and send money into the void. Scam? Who can say! At least mainstream platforms act as a trusted third party. The flat? Automated access, zero warmth. Inside, it somehow looks both new and falling apart. It’s a basement: dark, humid, with a stunning view of… a tiny courtyard. It’s also next to the wooden stairs, which turn every footstep into a percussive nightmare. The furniture? A child-safety hazard. A dangerous glass table, topped with fragile trinkets just waiting to be shattered. And the kitchen? Pure comedy. You get three knives. All serrated steak knives. Ever tried peeling a fruit with one? A survival challenge awaits. There’s an oven! Great—except there are no oven dishes. Unless, of course, you brought your own (because who doesn’t?). And then, the final insult: why isn’t this place on a mainstream platform? Because then they’d have to provide extravagant luxuries like salt, pepper, oil, or even paper towels. Instead, they offer a “generous” cleaning starter pack, featuring one (1) dishwasher tablet. Perfect for a five-day stay. Unless you enjoy suffering, avoid this place.

We didn't realise that we had to buzz the apartment number on the outside door to enter the building as this wasn't in the instructions. As it's a residential block, it felt a bit weird the first time, but we figured it out. There's signs of black mould on the bathroom ceiling, and slightly poor ventilation in the flat in general, but we didn't spend much time in the apartment itself so it wasn't a big deal. It would have been nice if they had provided a small supply of coffee pods in the price of the room as we didn't quite know what kind to buy to fit their machine, so we didn't risk buying pods that didn't fit.

However, it was in the basement (or in the Spanish way, it was in Planta zero?), which we did not expect, and to me, it was cold, and there was no dryer. Yes, the washer was there. There are a few mechanical things that did not work, like the door stopper was broken, and shower water spilled out, etc. There was no clothes dryer.