Madrid City holiday apartment: BARCELONA, 2 - 28012 - MADRID

very good located small apartment for two persons in the heart of Madrid.

Having been to Madrid before, i was looking for for a base that had easy access around the whole city.
And i found it! The location of the apartment is the biggest selling point. Extremely near a Metro Stop (Sol), and in the literal centre of the city with all routes in each direction heading out from there, making walking and Metro anywhere for both sightseeing and dining, drinking pretty straight forward and quick. We managed to go to nearly all the "barrios" within 10 minutes.
The apartment is also in the midst of some small pedestrianised streets full of cafes, bars and restaurants with tables so if you are feeling lazy you need only stumble downstairs to find sustenance night or day.

The apartment itself is compact, but not tiny, there is plenty of room for 2 adults to spend a decent amount of time without going crazy. It is comfortable and very clean and pretty nicely decorated. The kitchen had everything you need to cook basic food, there is effective aircon, and enough hanging and drawer space.
Unless you are spanish speaking you wont find the TV useful- its all spanish programmes, but there is a DVD player so you can take your own DVDs if you want some extra entertainment.
The bathroom is very small, but nicely done, and the shower istall is also small, but effective, but the shower head is quite low, so if you are taller than about 5ft 11, you will have to stoop to get your head under!

There is no safe in the apartment, but their is good security on the outer door downstairs and a 5 barrel (at least!) lock on the flats lobby door and internal door, and good double glazing on the (2nd Floor) windows, so we did feel very safe.

The only people who i would NOT recommend the apartment for, are a) people who have problems with stairs (its second floor,no lift, and pretty worn, uneven and slippy wooden stairs) or b) people who are light sleeper and cant sleep with any noise - there is street noise from downstairs until 3-4am. its not too loud, but it is there.

The only other thing to be aware of is that whilst the booking was done in English, we had to do the check in - inlcluding calling from the airport to arrange meeting time, and check out time, with Juan who speaks only spanish. I speak enough to get by, but if you understand none, its a little more tricky!!
For us, it was a perfect choise and well recommended.

I found this apartment a perfect location to discover Madrid in. It is very central, in the heart of Sol and walking distance to the majority of Madrid's attractions, such as El Retiro, El Palacio Real, Reina Sofia and Atocha train station. The metro has many lines that stop at Sol which also made it an excellent location. The street is full of tapas bars, some of which are excellent. The apartment itself was very clean and comfortable. It is small, but has everything you need, including a well-equiped kitchen and washing machine. Free internet access was also useful (wireless). As I stayed for a whole month in August, having air conditioning was excellent. The street noise can get very loud and go on until early in the morning, but this is typically Spanish. I really enjoyed my stay in this apartment.