Apartamentos Líbere Bilbao La Vieja

The Studio works well if you don't mind the sofa bed's mattress being extra soft and thin. For a better night's sleep, a room with two twin beds is best. The apartment is very clean and well furnished, with a fridge, washer, induction cooktop, microwave, dishes, pots and pans, hot water and coffee maker, plenty of white towels, and a wooden floor. The streets outside are clean, people are friendly, and restaurants and markets are close by for meals and shopping. Prices are extremely affordable, at least 30% cheaper than in North America.

The neighborhood felt especially uncomfortable after dark, with many homeless people and sex workers on the street. Inside, our room was spacious, but the walls and windows did little to block noise, and construction started early the next morning. We were a group of five staying one night, and they did accommodate us. Getting in was a frustrating process, though. Online registration had errors that delayed the access codes, and our room code failed. Support replied fairly quickly and sent a replacement, but we still needed separate codes for the building entrance and our room. I wouldn't recommend staying here.

I wouldn't recommend this place. The room was cramped and had only an uncomfortable sofa bed, with no proper bed. That hadn't been mentioned while booking. We also paid in advance for parking, but it was more than a 20-minute walk away, not the 15 minutes we were told. Staff weren't helpful or flexible. Check-out was at 11, and a 1 hour 15 minute extension cost another 25 euros. The area didn't feel safe at night, either.

The neighborhood felt unsafe and unclean, and the night was frightening both inside and outside the building. In the room, noise and cigarette smoke from next door carried through for hours, including screaming and banging. The sound and odor insulation were terrible for a residence hotel. The flat-style layout puts rooms very close together, facing one another, and the doors were poorly fitted with large gaps. Customer service kept saying they were “working on it” and had a “very strict policy,” but nothing happened for over an hour. I finally said I was going to call the police, and only then did they act.