The Charming Concept - Gestión de Alojamientos Turísticos — Hotel in Madrid

While the apartment we stayed in, in Chueca/ Malasaña was superficially attractive, there were a number of fundamental problems both with how the apartment was advertised, what the quality of it was, and ultimately with our experience of The Charming Concept and their customer communication and customer service. First, we were told prior to booking the apartment that it came with a parking space, which was important to our decision to choose it above other choices. Very close to the date we moved in, we were then informed that in fact a parking space would not be available and no other workable alternatives were seriously presented as options. We were advertised an apartment with a sun terrace exposed to the sun (when of course the weather is sunny). It turned out the apartment we selected was not the one advertised, but two apartments away, further down the corridor and its terrace was obscured by industrial vents and air vents which meant the terrace got no sun, even on a very sunny day. We felt The Charming Concept deliberately advertised their best apartment to secure custom, only to then give us an inferior option. We asked whether we could be moved to the apartment that was advertised, but were informed this was not an option. We partly decided to select the apartment we chose because it had a bath, which can be rare for an apartment in Madrid. The bath was not useable, however. There was first of all no plug. Secondly, the hot water was not sufficient to have anything other than a tepid bath. We were informed by The Charming Concept that must be because we were using hot water/having hot showers just before the bath, but this was not the case. This was a problem even if no one had a shower all day. We asked for solutions but a man came around three weeks later and said this was not a job he could help with and plumbing must be the issue. We asked for some compensation for these minor, but important, details and did not receive a positive response. We found small items often broke such as towel rails and light bulbs would blow. The apartment is designed to be attractive but it does not feel other than the artworks and sofa and the cosmetic things, that it has seriously been invested in for the money we paid. We were then left waiting a month for our deposit to be returned, and while some of this was owing to our bank's processes, there could have been more proactivity by The Charming Concept to find quicker alternative solutions. When we criticised some of these details, we were accused of being unfair. The apartment overlooked a very busy street and while the location is central and convenient, there are parties/loud music 6pm to 11pm every single day just underneath the apartment because it's located above a market/store with food stalls. We found 'The Charming Concept' quick to dismiss our concerns and at the end they said they found our complaints "unfair" We did not find their service...

The apartment itself was relatively clean, quiet and well equiped, but The Charming Concept, the organization administering the apartment, will make you jump through all sorts of bureaucratic hoops before you arrive, with unclear instructions about things like exactly when you need to pay the security deposit and when you will receive the code for entering the apartment. They also are very bad at communicating with guests. I sent them two different messages because I was concerned that I had not yet received the key code (despite their saying that you will receive it after paying the security deposit) and I am waiting until today to receive a response. (In reality they only send the code after the checkin time, but nothing in their instructions informs guests of this.) In emergency situations it is only possible to communicate with them by a regular telephone call, which is a big problem for travelers from outside the EU because the great majority of sim cards sold to such travelers are data only, and do not permit phone calls. At a minimum, The Charming Concept should make a Whatsapp number available for communication 24 hours. This is particularly important because the system for entering the apartment (and I assume a number of other apartments they administer) is absurdly complicated and prone to failure. Every time we came back to the building we had to try about ten time to push a little slider on their website to gain access to the building before it finally worked. Once we were outside trying to activate the system along with another unrelated guest who was attempting without success to do the same thing. Then on our last day we got locked out of the apartment. The key code stopped working at about 9 am, a full two hours before the official checkout time. We were only able to communicate with them by borrowing a phone, and then it took about 15 minutes of talking to convince them that the code really was not working, all of our luggage was in the apartment, and we were in danger of missing our flight before they finally opened the doors. All in all, I have never seen such an incompetent and difficult administrator of short term rentals and I will never stay in property administered...

We stayed for a week in a 2-bedroom apartment on the ground floor 11 calle de San Pedro Martir in Madrid. Overall it was a pleasant stay and we would choose this apartment again for the same size group (2-3 people). It deserves four stars for:

the location, very close to the metro and in a great neighborhood cleanliness nice decor, minimalist and modern with exposed brick and some pretty wooden sliding doors as accents equipment: all kitchen utensils (except a whisk, and both larger cutting knives were damaged or dull, but I always travel with my own knife) and enough dishes for 2-3 people, toaster, kettle, 2 burner electric stove, dish washer, washing machine excellent wifi comfortably heated even during a cold week

I can't give the 5th star for a few reasons: The shower could do boiling or tepid. We couldn't get anything in between, even with tiny fiddly movements, so had to alternate. Made shower time a little stressful trying to avoid being scalded. ground floor apartments are dark and this was no exception. There was plenty of artificial light so there's not much more to be done. reception: I was pressured into leaving a review upon arrival in exchange for my keys. I left a terrible review to call their attention to that bad practice and they handled it thoughtfully. This is the updated review to...