We have noticed that there are quite a few houses where the upstairs are not connected internally to the downstairs. Often either the upstairs or the downstairs is rented out to tourists and is a self contained flat. The upstairs is usually connected to the bottom via external stairs.
Has any one had any experience connecting the upstairs and downstairs internally? If so were you happy with the result and what type of stairs did you put in i.e. spiral?

What type of house do you have? Concrete, wooden, etc. Making internal stairs is not possible in all cases. You have to know the reinforcement in the plate and the process of drilling a hole is very complicated.

Avoid the spiral stairs. They are good looking but are pain in the ass when are used. The best are with 1 or 2 wings. If you send me some plans of the house with measures, I can propose you something. I am civil engineer

You will find it very hard to get permission for a spiral staircase in Spain

The reason given to me by the college of architects is "it's difficult to get dead people out" - says it all really!!!!

We didn't bother connecting the two here in the end. Its only a nuisance when it rains really, but we mainly live upstairs anyway.

True, but it feels more like 1 house instead of 2 when it's connected. Just a psychological thing really.

No, it feels like one house really. We just need to walk down the steps at the front of the house.

Sling 'em out the window.

It might be possible to enclose the existing external stairs and make them an integral part of your house?

We thought about that but the ouside stairs add a lot of character to the house as well.

And you would need a building licence I guess

You need a licence to put stairs inside the house anyway. AND it's "obra major" not minor!