Apartamento Diputacio

The apartment was clean, and a cleaning lady came every day. Its position near plaza España made it easy to get to pretty much anywhere in the city. Still, this didn’t feel like a five-star experience, and the worn-out condition of things was hard to overlook. The bedsheets had holes, both sides of the pillowcases were broken, the towels were so hard and worn they looked like they’d come from the trash, and the kitchenware, from pots and pans to the trash can, was old and damaged. We weren’t expecting hotel-level service for the price and type of place, but basic upkeep was lacking. Getting inside was confusing too. We arrived around 3pm without check-in instructions, found only a phone number on the reservation, and called two or three times with no answer. A WhatsApp message finally got a reply asking for our booking number and name. Then we got an automatic message requesting a bank card deposit through a link. It looked like a scam, so we were about to object when a woman came out and let us in. We said we’d paid on booking.com, and she was satisfied after taking a photo of the payment receipt. She showed us around briefly, using only single words to point out where to leave the keys at checkout. She gave us no other information about the city or anything else a host would normally share. With a few improvements, it could be a cool place where guests feel more welcome. Apparently we got an offer through a third party, so we can’t post a review on booking.com. Convenient, huh? So here it is!