Thanks, Chapla, I appreciate your candor. I'm torn now, the reviews on AirBnB are uniformly excellent, so I'm a little confused.

auntieapple - what was your experience with garbage in the streets and the noise? I see the bedroom faces the back so reviews say it's okay for sleeping.

https://maps.google.com/maps?biw=967...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

You can see the playground and the residents lined up in the street protesting the level of noise!
I stayed in that great building on the fourth floor 8 times until it got unbearable.A pity because it used to be wonderful!
During the summer months when you need the A/C it's powered down by the wishes of the building association. Because of the noise, opening the windows just increased the noise level!
If the bedroom faces the inner courtyard it may indeed not be that bad a problem.I would ask the owner about the actual location/ floor.I think from the configuration of the building it may face C/Fucar which is not pedestrian and therfore traffic and it will face the bars!

I forgot to add,lots of goings on in Spain w/AirBnB-not good!

Chapla, I did not see the playground or residents protesting from the above link or did I misunderstand something?

Google acts up sometimes!
Go to google,type in the address Calle Jesus de Fucar 5 Madrid.
Play around with the street and acroos from the building, there's the playground.The people are lined up w/ barricades!

chapla, I did see the people and park. A noise protest? What happened? It must've been sometime in the wintertime, as people are all bundled up.

I still see many positive reviews of the apartment and the location on AirBnb & TA (not listed on booking.com), so it can't be that bad. We will be there in May, so the A/C issue being turned down at night could be an issue, though.

auntieapple, if you can add anything to this discussion, I'd appreciate it!

Paule

Paule, from personal experience,I know reviews can be misleading- I take reviews w/a pinch of salt! For example, noise is NOT an issue for many people.The buildingis a nice one and as mentioned I enjoyed staying there months at a time. I had many conversations w/residents and the part time doorman.The second floor is a business and the employees have a bad habit of propping open the entrance door to avoid buzzing each other in so there goes the security!I always threw away the brick and closed the door!
The playground is used pretty much all day/night.
If the noise is not an issue for you then go for it.Because the street is so busy you will feel "safe"t all hours but be careful when entering the building because the lobby is dark,the lights are on a timer and there maybe non residents sitting on the couches!
By the way, the apt is priced high-I paid 40 euros a night,1000 euros a month.There are 5 other apts that I know of that are rented by the day/week/month in the building.

Save your money for the moment. Tourism is down in Spain because of the ebola crisis. My daughter just wrote from Madrid and said "everyone is freaking out everywhere.". Saw the riots there on PBS today. Basically over the nurse's dog having been put down and the state of health care but ...

Those people appear to be waiting for a procession or parade of some sort. The picture is dated March 2014, I wonder if there was some sort of procession to Atocha station to remember the 2004 bombings.

Just hypothesizing.

Interesting rialtogirl. There doesn't seem to be anything that indicates what is going on, so that makes sense to me.

I'm going in May -- by that time, I hope, the Ebola scare will have calmed down. At least in Spain.

Makes NO sense rialtogirl!
Not even that close to Atocha station or even a procession.Follow the lines and you will see where they start/stop.If you know the area, people are constantly protesting the NOISE and the lack of GARBAGE collection and that's why they bring chairs and the police put up barriers!

I am in Madrid right now....full of tourists, no sales anywhere, restaurants and bars doing well.
Yes, traffic was bad today because of " dog demonstration" but have not seen any " freaking out" yet.
Actually, Spain 's economy has been improving( according to the Economist):
"In Brussels these days Spain is hailed as a prodigal son of the euro zone’s troubled southern periphery. The economy returned to growth in the third quarter of 2013, with rising exports compensating for weak consumer and public spending. The Madrid stockmarket is booming, foreign investors are back, the current account is in surplus, bond yields have hit eight-year lows and new jobs are being created. It adds up to big progress in a country that once threatened to break apart the euro."

I guess we just had a lucky week + in the rental on Huertas that I posted a link to. Never saw garbage piled up, this area was not full of bars and drinking, noise or riots. There was a very peaceful protest of sorts one afternoon at Puerta del Sol but nothing to make one uneasy. We enjoyed the cafes nearby to sit, have a drink or tapas and people watch. And we were there during a very hot week in Julne and found the AC worked well enough for us with no problem. Personally we don't need a scenic view, for us it usually equates to street noise in vital, living cities, would take a courtyard anytime. This is only my opinion.

Nepenthe, I hope you keep an open mind and find an apartment you enjoy. Have a great time.

Thank you so much, wunderbar. I truly appreciate all of the suggestions, and I realize that personal tastes do vary quite a bit when it comes to finding places to stay when traveling.

I really like the idea of being able to travel to and from the airport via the metro, though!

For what it's worth, I've been in touch with several folks that stayed in the apartment that auntieapple (above) recommends and they highly recommend it, too. I'm told the bedroom is away from the front and is quiet; they didn't experience any significant crowds or garbage; and found the owner of the apartment (1-bedroom, not studio) to be very helpful (and lives in the building, too).

Regarding the link to the street, calle de jesus, and the "noise protest" (see chapla's link above), I also suspect that this is a procession, not protest. There are no political signs, indicating protest; there are only older and younger people waiting, it appears, patiently; and if you do follow the barricades, they stop at the church at the intersection of Cervantes and Calle (or Plaza) de Jesus. Following Cervantes, there are some barricades set up and ribbons (ties) forming another boundary; and then there are a fair number of barricades set up along Paseo del Prado. Doesn't look like a protest to me.

Just my opinion. I've booked there for my stay in May.