SmartRental Puerta del Sol

The pull-out bed was broken, so we couldn’t set it up for one person to sleep on. It was an Ikea bed, so I don’t know whether that was an Ikea quality issue or poor maintenance by the hotel operator. The floor was also very dirty, despite their claim that the apartment had been cleaned that afternoon. We were told reception operated 24/7, but nobody answered the phone. I tried WhatsApp as well and got no reply. I’ve travelled around Spain without any issues, but this operator is bad. Poor service and maintenance. I highly do not recommend this place.

The apartment was clean, tidy, and easy to get around from, with an excellent location for walking to lots of places and getting a feel for the old city. Still, our four-day stay had some drawbacks: the hot water was only lukewarm, the bed was hard, there was no heating, and no cable TV. Those small things took away from the experience.

We were two adults and two teens, and the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen were all in excellent condition and worked out great for us. SmartRentals Puerta del sol sits right in the center of Madrid, next to Mercado de San Miguel and plaza Mayor. We walked to all the main attractions, including Puerta del sol, Gran via, El-retiro park, palace of cibeles, plaza Mayor, cathedral, Royal palace, and temple of debod. There are plenty of nearby restaurants, with veg and vegan food, desserts, and all kinds of tapas, plus a few grocery stores for anything you need. The only downsides were having to walk 10 minutes to pick up the keys at the Gran Via location and the customer service contact on WhatsApp being slow at times.

You can walk to most of Madrid’s attractions from this great place to stay. I did find it a bit hard to identify at first, since there wasn’t a sign or anything.