Be Mate Gran Vía Suites — Local services in Madrid

This apartment is on the third floor in an old residential building with no lift and no desk or up-to-date automatic check-in as is usual in other accommodations of this type. When I booked this apartment the terms stated that the check-in service was free of charged till 19.00 hrs. I shared my travel itinerary with them via email and message days in advance, asking them about the check-in process as I was traveling with an older lady and a young child. The only reply I got was the reminder of all the surcharges (room cleaning, deposit, extra charge for late check-in, etc). No information at all on how to even access the apartment or building. At arrival in Madrid I called them from the airport to inquire how to get there, and how to access the apartment. The reply blew my mind: I was expected to go to their office (far out from the apartment) and get the key, then go to the apartment, or pay a surcharge of 45€ just for the entrance code, even if my arrival was before 19 hrs. No explanations, very unfriendly and unhelpful service, insisting about the charges and no reassurance. I calculated the costs of taxi and decided the extra cost for the code was cheaper. Upon arrival (in a heavy rain shower) the alley looked grim, the building old and run down, neighbours walking in and out giving us nasty looks, etc. The check-in could not be arranged until I actually paid up front 145€ through a bank app - this without even being inside the apartment! When I finally received the codes, they were wrong, the code for the door to the apartment didn't work either. Finally, at 20 hrs we managed to get inside. What a disappointment!! The "fully equipped" kitchen had NO stove to cook on, a microwave hidden in one of the cupboards, and a couple of old nescafé envelopes. Cheap Ikea furniture and low end appliances, windows looking into an ugly light well, uncomfortable stools and chairs, etc. The sofa bed was awful to sleep on, very cheap and low quality sheets and bedlinen, no door to the bedroom, etc. Not at all what I had expected from the photos, from the reviews, and especially from the price! On the first morning, I ran into the cleaning lady who without even greeting me asked straight away at what time we would be checking out (two days ahead!) - reminding me in a very impolite way that check-out time was 11.00 hrs. I felt like they were actually doing me a favour letting me stay in the apartment. I tried calling them on the phone number provided in the apartment about the possibility of leaving our luggage somewhere after check-out but the only person I got on the phone was a lady who clearly had had problems with the company, saying she no longer worked for them and to please not call her again. Nowhere to leave the luggage, so we had to tow it all the way to the train station and pay for the locker service. It was a very expensive backpacking experience.||After MANY phone calls (on my charge) with unfriendly personnel (luckily I am a native Spanish speaker...), towing luggage up and down the terrible staircase, footing added costs, etc. I counted the minutes left to leave the place. ||On our return to Madrid two weeks later, we stayed at a different self-service apartment in the area. What a difference! Very clear arrival instructions, no extra costs for codes, lift, and with much better rates for two fully furnished bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen with washing machine and dishwasher, oven, huge fridge, nespresso, complimentary cookies and water, great bathroom, and a wonderful view. ||For the fares and the quality this apartment goes for, but especially for the lack of service, I definitively would recommend to look for something else, as this is an area packed with much better options. Bad experience all over. Will certainly never stay...

O Birds é um conjuntos de apartamentos no terceiro andar de um prédio antigo sem elevador no burburinho de Madrid. Ficamos no apartamento 2, composto de um quarto com cama de casal, uma poltrona e uma arara para pendurar roupas, uma sala com um mesa e duas cadeiras e um sofá de até 3 lugares, no mesmo espaço uma mini cozinha composta de microondas e uma pia (faz muita falta um cooktop), com alguns ítens de cozinha e também uma pequena TV. O banheiro logo na entrada é dividido, de um lado o vaso sanitário e de outro o box com chuveiro e pia, ambos sem ventilação natural o que em alguns momentos gera um certo odor. Nós gostamos da decoração moderna, o apartamento estava limpo, porém os lances altos de escadas com malas, carrinho e bebê foi bem difícil, chegar com compras do mercado idem. Mas como ficamos apenas 4 dias foi contornável. O que nos desagradou bastante foi o fato de, o atendimento ser bem mediano, não nos responderam as várias msgs e e-mails mesmo com tanta antecedência, dificultaram a alteração de data para o check in (mesmo via telefone) e queriam nos forçar ir até o escritório para pegar as chaves, sendo que estas “chaves” nada mais são do que as senhas para acessar o prédio, ou seja, três códigos distintos para abrir a porta principal, a porta do andar e a porta do apartamento, o que foi nos enviado por WhatsApp depois de certa insistência (eles cobram 20 euros por esse serviço), outra coisa que achamos muito caro, foi o valor de 40 euros para disponibilizarem um berço portátil, e também ficamos chateados pois ao fazer a reserva tínhamos ciência da falta de elevador, mas ao questionar o andar (até então não sabíamos que era apenas no terceiro andar), o senhor Micael nos disse “it has elevador”, o que achamos estranho e questionamos mas nunca foi respondido, claro que não tinha e não gostamos da “brincadeira” se foi o caso. Apesar de ficar no burburinho e ter sim um pouco de barulho, nada incomoda para dormir, a localização é excelente, há poucos metros da Gran via e das principais lojas, como Zara, Primark, H&M (para quem quer fazer compras sem depender de transporte público é excelente). Bem na frente tb tem uma loja de locação de bikes, qual utilizamos e foi ótimo. Na mesma rua tem dois supermercados, o Dia e o Carrefour Express (Dia com preços melhores ao final da rua). Ao lado do dia, tem uma tratoria excelente, o Bresca. Se vc não liga em subir muitas escadas recomendo o...

This place is not real all the pictures that you see online are FAKE!!! When I arrive to the property it was totally different than what you see online everything old and dirty.... Old building and the size of the apartment is even smaller than a hotel room..... when I requested a refund to them because of this SCAM they told me that it was not refundable so I had to leave this place inmediatelly and they kept my money.... I strongly suggest all the websites to stop promoting this place because they are just SCAMMERS..... After I told them that was not the place I rented online they wanted to charge extra 400€ to change the apartment...... if you do not want a really bad experience traveling AVOID...