ValentineHowest Kortrijk → CEU San Pablo · Automne 2025“Over the past months, I have had the opportunity to study abroad and live in a shared apartment in Madrid. I booked my accommodation through Spotahome, a platform widely used by international students. While the experience was enriching overall, I believe it’s important, especially for other international students and young professionals, to be aware of some of the challenges I encountered along the way.
Here are a few key issues I faced during my stay:
🔹 Check-in penalties: applied only one way
Upon arrival, I was told that tenants were not allowed to arrive more than 20 minutes later than their scheduled check-in time. Any delay would incur a €25 fee per 20 minutes. Ironically, the person responsible for giving me access arrived one hour late, without any form of compensation or apology.
🔹 Cash payments for administrative fees and deposit
Both the €300 security deposit and the €650 administrative fee had to be paid in cash. This felt unusual and uncomfortable, especially for an international rental, and raised questions about transparency and compliance with standard rental practices.
🔹 Unexpected charges for hosting friends
Although my rental agreement did not include any restrictions or fees regarding guest overnight stays, I was later informed that having friends sleep over was not allowed unless I paid an additional cash fee, again, without any official documentation. This created unnecessary stress and confusion.
🔹 Shared household products and threatened penalties
Toward the end of my stay, tenants received a message stating that we could be charged €25 each if cleaning products such as detergent, trash bags or toilet paper were missing. Even though, the contract did not mention this cost structure. This created friction and uncertainty among housemates.
Despite these challenges, I want to highlight that my overall experience was made incredibly positive thanks to my amazing flatmates. They turned the flat into a real home and made the entire stay unforgettable.
If I had to choose again, I would definitely pick a different place and book through a different organization.”
💶 Payé ≈ 650 €📍 In Malasaña, a 42 minute walk from CEU San Pablo, Facultad de Humandides
EvaKULeuven → ESDmadrid · Automne 2025“Unfortunately, my experience with this school has not been positive. The organization is quite poor — it took more than a month and a half before I finally got access to my student profile. There’s also very little flexibility. For example, in Belgium, during an Erasmus program, classes are often held in English to accommodate international students, but here that’s hardly the case. On top of that, there are no Spanish lessons offered, which makes integration even more difficult.
I also find the mandatory attendance policy unnecessary. At the age of 22, students should be responsible for managing their own attendance rather than being constantly monitored.
Overall, I would not recommend this school, especially for international students.”
📍 In Salamanca, next to park retiro. 30 minutes with metro to school
PaulineUniversité Catholique de Lyon → CEU San Pablo · Automne 2025“I studied psychology, so I was in the new building 10 mins away from the Monteprincipe campus. It is very nice, but also the cafeteria is incredibly expensive (10 euros for main dish, extra payment for dessert). I would not pick the same Uni because the students are very cold towards erasmus students. The students come from wealthy backrounds. However, the taching staff is very helpful, patient and sweet.The psychology coordinator from CEU San Pablo is the absolute best, she is very reactive and always there to help. Finally, I greatly appreciated the number of students per class, because we have lectures in big amphitheatres, we are never more than 30 in theory classes and never more than 15 in practical classes. ”
📍 In Chamberí, next to the metro station Argüelles
TimCEU San Pablo → Ceu San Pablo · Automne 2025“The room was okay, kinda cold and noisy because the windows were so thin. But the landlord lives in the same appartement and he made the living experience here so shit. He was always whistling and singing loudly, watching his tv shows full volume. He charged us extra for everything and everyone we wanted to have over. And when i wanted to go into a discussion he just couldn't speak any english despite singinn to Fleetwood Mac earlier in the morning! If i had to choose again i would choose a different place cause we also missed a common living room which sucked.”
📍 Malasana
