DID Donna rent an apartment in Madrid in July? This thread is three months old, until today.

FWIW, Friendly Rentals got terrible reviews on TA, which is why I chose a different agency.

No. I decided not to. I didn't see any saving of money by renting an apartment, and I'm only staying in Madrid a week this time.

Instead I'll be staying at the Tryp Ambassador for 40 Euros a night. While this one wasn't on the list of Madrid hotels I'm dying to stay at, it seemed like a good deal to take advantage of with the exchange rate being what it is. Really good rate for a 4 star. How bad could it be! At least I'll have some money left over to eat.

I had been considering the Chueca IV apartment on Friendly Rentals, and I may rent that one someday when I have more time. For me, renting an apartment for less than a month doesn't make much sense with all that's involved.

I think most of the problems come from the owners rather than the rental agencies. Many owners are not always forthcoming with potential problems, and the agencies get caught in the middle when these things hit the fan.

By the way, striped shirt, I really enjoyed your rant on Tripadvisor about the Seville apartment. It was very entertaining.

Donna, Hi

Glad you found the TA stuff about the Seville apartment entertaining. There's some photos in the thread below this one. I had to put them up twice, I have no idea why.

TA refuse to publish these photos on bureaucratic grounds, so Saludos MadridMan for allowing them.

Don't get me started with Tripadvisor. A few years ago they removed a review of mine too. I was sent for training at a hotel in upstate New York by a travel agency I was working for at the time. Some of the rooms had bedbugs, and a coworker of mine had to be taken to the emergency room because she was bitten so badly. We had to go to another hotel who refused to let us in until all our luggage and clothing had been fumigated.

Tripadvisor sent me a statement to sign swearing that this was true, and I signed it because it was true. Even so, they removed my review.

I would hate to see other people go to that hotel and go through what we did.

Donna, Hi

Other people are going to that apartment and going through what I did. TA won't put the pictures up, so I've gone back to the Seville forum and posted a link to the relevant thread here. I doubt that MadridMan has a problem with this.

I'm actually going to Seville tomorrow, and I'll be dealing with your friends at Sevilla5. I'm staying for a week at their Arfe apartments. It's a cheap apartment, so I'm not expecting anything lavish. I'll let you know how it goes.