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Review 3813: Sevilla5.com, Santa Cruz B

www.sevilla5.com

Recommended. Review by jillb from Australia

2bed/1bath apartment in Seville, Andalusia

When

September 2008, One week

Location

Plaza Santa Cruz is near the centre of town, in the old Jewish quarter of Seville. The actual plaza and the cross in its centre are on the tourist route, and numerous solo travellers and groups visit during the day. The Real Alcazar is a few minutes walk away, and the Murillo gardens border the plaza. The apartment is in a private and gated courtyard off the plaza. The plaza has a restaurant and flamenco venue in it. Both are mentioned in just about every tourist guide of Seville and get good reviews. The area is wonderful.

Nearby Amenities

Restaurants and bars abound in the area. Within a five minute walk of the property would be 100 places to eat and drink. The closest grocery store was about five minutes walk away (called Mas) on Calle Menendez Pelayo. It was quite small and the staff rather surly (one made me wait five minutes while he sent a text on his phone, rather than put my groceries through!), but it's adequate. There are two more not much further along the street. My advice to anyone staying in Seville is don't drive if you want to retain your sanity.

The House/Apartment

I'm not sure how old the building was, but it is in traditional southern Spanish style and is lovely. It has marble floors, shuttered windows and it overlooks the courtyard. There is a large living area with a dining table and a single bed concealed in an attractive antique cupboard (at daytime, you would not even know it was in there). One bedroom is near the entrance and the other off the living room. Both have double beds.

In total, there would probably be about 12-15 apartments in the complex. There is a smaller apartment (Santa Cruz A) next door, also let by Sevilla5. The apartment was generally very quiet (although the downstairs neighbour came home pretty late on Friday and Saturday nights and banged about a bit).

Garden

The courtyard (which is shared by all apartments) is full of orange trees (the Seville trademark). It was quite nice to sit outside. There's no pool.

Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

The furniture was in very good shape and the apartments very clean. The table seated six and the living room had a large comfy couch and an armchair. The kitchen had a small breakfast table to seat two people. The apartment is air-conditioned.

Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The beds were very comfortable and the bedrooms nicely decorated. The bathroom was modern and had a bath with shower over, loo and handbasin. With five people, we had some queueing to get into the bathroom, but that's to be expected.

Kitchen

The kitchen had just about everything you could want for cooking and eating almost any meal you can name. It was clean and large enough for our purposes. There is a washing machine in the kitchen.

Problems or Bonuses

When we arrived at the airport in Seville, I phoned the owner (Mariano) to let him know we'd arrived. He said, "I will meet you in the airport coffee shop in five minutes." And he did! He took us to the apartment in his car, saving us a quite considerable amount on taxi fares. I was stunned. Our flight out of Seville was a 6am, and he arranged for his son to take us back to the airport for a negotiated amount, which was also a lot less than a taxi would cost.

The apartment exceeded our expectations, in terms of presentation and comfort.

One surprise is that the rental had to be paid in cash (which seems to be a Spanish norm). We didn't have €750 on our person when we arrived, but Mariano was very kind and said he'd call around a few days later to collect it.

Agency and Representatives (and price)

The agency was good. Its website is informative and the staff speak excellent English. We paid €150 per night for five people.

Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

Absolutely.

Things to do in this area

The Real Alcazar is a must-see. The cathedral is also very interesting and the bull fighting arena conducts interesting and informative tours (although I still don't quite understand what the locals enjoy about seeing bulls killed). For families, there is a theme park in Seville, which my children enjoyed. Otherwise, just soak up the atmosphere of the Santa Cruz district, which is brilliant.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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