Centrum Apartments

I have a family of six (two adults and four children) and thus hotels are not ideal because we almost always need two rooms. We had an Easter break planned for Kosice and wanted a place which was not too expensive, centrally located and which fit us comfortably. I found the Centrum Apartments website via a google search and emailed our dates and family size. Mario (I don't know if he's the owner or manager) emailed me back within 2 minutes. In fact one of the best aspects of staying at the apartments was just how accessible Mario was. We didn't have Slovakian sim cards, so the ability to send an email and have a reply in 2 minutes or less was extremely helpful. He's a man of few words, but always happy to reply. I realise I left something at the flat after checking out and he agreed to post it to me, so he's also helpful. We paid a deposit via paypal and the rest was in Euros cash on arrival. Check in at 2pm and check out at 11am. We were in apartment 3, which is a loft conversion. It was perfect for us. A double bed in one room, another double plus a single in the next room, and a cozy, comfortable single bed in the main room. The bathroom has an easy to use washing machine, and there are drying racks (clothes dry very quickly compared to England!) and a hair dryer. In the kitchen there's a hob and microwave but no oven (at least that I could find). The look of the flat is very unique, with wooden beams and bricks and even the table in the kitchen was a converted sewing machine table. There's satellite TV (although we could only find BBC World in English) so we watched stuff using my laptop connected to the TV via an hdmi cable. Good internet in the main room - a bit weaker signal in the bedrooms. There are toys and games for the children and a few books donated by past guests (I left one too). There's even another bed accessible by ladder that would be suitable for an older teenager. My kids all really loved the apartment. The location is great - only a few minutes walk to the central square. There is parking right outside the apartment although here I give a BIG WARNING: the parking is paid for between 7:30am and 18:00 (one euro per hour, max 8 euros) and then free, but between 17:00 and 7:30 there are certain spots (from the meter southwards) which are resident reserved only. We parked in one of these and got clamped. It was a 15 euro fine so it wasn't a big deal, but now you've been warned (the sign is there, but obviously it's in Slovak). In my experience of the Czech and Slovak Republic, locals place emphasis on beautifying the interior of properties and less so the exteriors and common areas. I say this because your first impression could be one of alarm. My guess is that this is an older building which has been refurbished, starting with the interiors. It's a work in progress. Final thing is that the loft flat requires going up two sets of stairs so I wouldn't recommend for someone who has difficulty with stairs. We would happily stay here again.