How a Barking Dog at Airbnb in Alcabon, Spain Changed Me

By Kate | June 20, 2019

Have you ever heard of Alcabon? No? I never heard of Alcabon, Spain either. This is the land of Don Quixote. Don Quixote is a classic tale about a man who made everyone go up the wall, put a barber’s bowl on his head, but made life better for everyone he met. In this part of Spain, castles dot the landscape, making this region a romantic destination. My little family of five decided to stay outside of Madrid and Toledo to save money. Alcabon had Airbnb units, so we booked one. In addition to renting the apartment, a barking dog came with this remote Airbnb for free. I learned it’s not worth cutting corners on lodging when traveling.

The bottom line is – sometimes Airbnb isn’t as advertised. There is nothing anyone can do once the unit is paid. We were stuck at this remote Airbnb in Alcabon with a barking dog and a stray cat.

Remote Airbnb Location – Alcabon, Spain

Alcabon is outside Madrid, and the highlight of the location was the local restaurant, one of only two in the town. We saw ads on TV for the restaurant, La Almazara de Alcabon. The food looked delicious. We can’t wait to eat the local dishes. The local dish is meat and beans.

Arriving, we found the woman owner at her restaurant, La Almazara de Alcabon, and our Airbnb. The lady seemed very sweet. She gave us a tour of the restaurant located in an ancient olive oil factory.  After taking the tour, we realized the woman couldn’t speak a word of English and used Google Translate to communicate with us.

As you can see from the photo below, the ancient olive press took up a lot of room in the restaurant. The tables are set lovely, and it is a beautiful location. The old wine vats are huge. I believe the restaurant fills up every night and is a happy place as long as you stick to the fixed menu. You don’t order from the menu; you order what is served. It is a set menu or the meal of the day.

Check-in at the Airbnb

At check-in, the restaurant owner brought us to our second-floor apartment using the small elevator. When we left the apartment, we used the stairwell. We found dog poo all over the landing and all the way down the stairwell. This is the first indication that dogs were on site. Oh, and by the way, the poo stayed there for our whole visit. I hope this place is off Airbnb by now!

Back at the restaurant, whiffs of delicious food filled the underground parking area. La Almazara de Alcabon is open for lunch and dinner. Lunch in Spain is from 2:00 – 4:00 pm. Dinner is from 8:00 – 12:00 am. We wanted to go to lunch between  2:00 and 4:00.

Missed Lunch

Unfortunately, we missed lunch because, for some reason in Toledo, where we went sightseeing, the mother in our group decided her boys had to eat breakfast again at McDonald’s. They needed a cheeseburger fix or something. The dad and I waited outside patiently.

Later that day, she decided the boys had to go back to McDonald’s, and they did. The dad and I waited patiently. We reminded everyone we were trying to have a late lunch at La Almazara de Alcabon by 4:00. We sat in the square waiting for them for two hours.

Restaurant Review

As I said, the town has two restaurants. At 6:00 pm, the mom wanted the kids to have dinner. The fixed menu wasn’t available because it wasn’t dinner, so we ordered from a menu. It ended up being basic bar food, not what we saw on the T.V. ads. It seemed like they served us leftover soup from lunch, which looked like old Top Ramen. If you ever make it to Alcabon, Spain, I would try the other restaurant in town.

Other Restaurant

Go to the other restaurant shown below, but don’t go early. In Spain, people go to dinner at 8:00 pm. Your meal will be better if you eat at Spanish dinner time at the posted serving times.

Double Trouble After Dinner

Sometimes, a little trouble comes with travel. Having a bad meal happens. However, we had some problems when we got to the Airbnb as well. The first little bit of trouble is a stray cat. Seems the cat wants to sleep, eat, and play with us. The cat put a siege on our apartment. Desperately seeking attention from us, she made every attempt to break in.

Cats are wild in Spain. We learned from walking the Camino de Santiago – don’t pet the kitty! Why? Because stray cats carry lots and lots of fleas. Pet a cat, and you will get the worst case of fleas you have ever had.

Dog Driven Wild by Stray Cat

The cat taunted us, trying to break in at every chance. Finally, on one of our few sunny days, we closed the blinds to stop the cat from crying at the windowsill. There are dogs next door. Boy, Kitty got the dogs barking.

One night, it started at dark around 8:00 pm and carried on until around 12:30. According to some in our house, it went longer than 12:30. Regardless, the dogs barked all night long.

Barking Dogs

The dogs knocked over water bowls and made loud crashing noises, waking everyone. But worse, the dogs (there are two) terrified one of the kids, sleeping alone in an upstairs room. He got very scared of the dogs. The dogs are tied up and try jumping to escape, which causes noise against his wall. It was between scary and ridiculous. One of the kids thought the home was haunted and started crying.

The child trying to sleep upstairs thought the empty unfinished room next to his was haunted. Then he thought it was someone breaking into his room. I’m upset by the noise, but he is scared to death.

We talked to neighbors about the dogs. Everyone knows about the barking dogs; this wasn’t the first time it happened. The dogs are a neighborhood nuisance and hazard. This AirBnB isn’t listed as one of the best apartments we stayed at. You are going to have some perfect places to stay, so try not to let it ruin the experience.

Why Share This Information?

Since I’m writing a travel blog, I want to share the good and the bad on my trips. I’m sharing because I think when it comes to travel, you get what you pay for, in all cases. If most rooms are one price and you find a much lower place – it’s because that’s what the place is worth.

Airbnb Experience

Because of my Airbnb experience in Spain, I will never rent from Airbnb again. For me, Airbnb is not worth the money or risk. Why do I feel like this?  I feel like this because good communication can fix any travel problem. Not being able to communicate with a host makes the rental problematic. Once you are in a rental, it’s hard to move out if you don’t like the location. It’s not like a hotel, where you can ask for a different room. If an Airbnb is advertised ya might want to pass. Because once you have paid, it’s yours. It’s over, and you are stuck there.

Travel Tip: I don’t want to ruin my travel adventure by saving money, cheaping out, and not sleeping. Staying in a cold, dirty, noisy room makes it impossible to sleep. You will have some good places and bad. It comes with traveling solo without a guide or agent.

Here are some other posts about great food and travel you might enjoy. At these locations, we had great meals and lodging.

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