Eurkea! The Perfect Apartment is Discovered...With a Fatal Flaw

When I found my apartment, it seemed to good to be true.  Now, as the construction workers surround our building in scaffolding, I wonder if it was. 

At first glance it seemed perfect.  I could not find a better location – a corner apartment overlooking the most picturesque plaza in San Sebastian – Plaza de Guipuzcoa.  A sandstone building built in the Parisian ‘Belle Epoque’ style of the late 19th century, complete with a bustling boutique-lined arcade on the ground level. Two blocks to the beach, 4 minutes to the surf break in Gros and one block to the bars and restaurants in the Parte Vieja.  A central pad nestled in a pocket of serenity between a park and a pedestrian street.  Perfect.

Furthermore, all eight rooms were enormous.  During the summer the place is a hostel, so the rooms are designed to hold 5 people each.  Each room has a balcony with a view of the plaza, the ocean, or the statue of Jesús Cristo atop the nearby Mount Urgull.  To top it off, all the utilities and internet were included – all for 350€.  A steal for San Sebastian.

I saw potential.  With the right roommates, we could turn this apartment into a social center of San Sebastian ex-pat crew.  It could be a couchsurfing hub of northern Spain. 

So I quit my apartment search, told the property manager that I would find the other 7 tenants and put up an ad looking for cool roommates to spent an incredible year in an incredible apartment.  In just a few hours I’d switched from frustrated apartment seeker to the organizer of a dream apartment – after two weeks of searching, I’d finally found my Alberge Espagnol. 

But something was amiss.  The property manager wouldn’t look me in the eyes when she promised me it was a great deal, and I felt like she was hiding something from me.  She said the heating had to be replaced and the bathrooms needed renovation.  I asked her for her word that the heating would be repaired before winter and signed the contract. 

The next day, the construction began.   I woke up from a siesta to find a construction worker erecting scaffolding around my corner room.   My view of the ocean – gone.  I leaned over and asked him how much time it would take.

Cuatro meses, he laughed, Mas o menos.

Four months, more or less.  In Spain, that almost always means more rather than less. 

I felt as if I’d been duped.  I went to the landlord’s office and asked her if she knew about the construction.  She denied it, said she would not be interrogated by me, and threatened to cancel my contract and let me find another apartment. 

My dream of the perfect apartment seems in jeopardy. 

I am unsure what to do, so for now I will just keep searching for roommates and hope it all works out well.

The Search for the Perfect Apartment

This year I am looking for the Perfect Apartment. 

Last year’s living situation fell short of the mark – I arrived in Arevalo with few choices and no choice but to live with four random guys, two of whom left within the first month, another who never showed up (he lived in another city) and the last of whom rarely talked to me until he moved out in March, leaving me alone in Arevalo.

This year is going to be different.  I’ve been here for a week, using Olga’s Place as a temporary base of operations (highly recommended hostel).  While all the other hostel guests are passing through San Sebastian on vacation, I am spending my days checking out apartments in every side of San Sebastian. 

Last year my crumby apartment was sandwiched between farmland, a boarding school for Madrid’s banished miscreant youth, and a mental institution.  This year I want better neighbors. 

A year ago I saw my apartment as little more than a hostel bed – a cheap place to leave your things while you embark upon other adventures.  Nine months later, I’d learned that with whom and where you live is one of the largest determinants of happiness. 

My ideal living situation will be a mixture of people from around Europe with all of us speaking Spanish.  Have you seen the hilarious Spanish/French film L'Augberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)?  It's about a French college student who goes to Barcelona for a year abroad and moves into a wild apartment filled with people from every culture in Europe.  The multitude of cultures multures mix, clash, and ultimately enrich the lives of each of the roommates.  Check the movie out and you will see what I mean. 

I want to live in the Centro area so I can be close to anything, ideally next to the Plaza de Guipuzcoa.  I’m looking for an old building with character, lower rent, and a balcony of some type.

But after a week of sifting through the classifieds, I’m realizing this Perfect Apartment is more elusive than I thought.