Amazing! This hotel is in a prized location and the hotel staff are very friendly. Can speak little English but they will alway be willing to help. The metro is few yards away and very cheap

Would stay here again!!

This hotel is located in the center of Madrid, close the Gran Via and near the Royal Palace. We stayed in a triple room wich had a small kitchennet. The room was very clean and nice. The staff was helpful.
From Barajas airport, we have to take the metro to the Nuevos Ministerios station (line 8). At this station we have to change to metro line 10 toward Puerta del Sur and exit in Plaza de España station. The hotel is about 50-100m from this metro station.

When I arrived at this hotel to check-in, I found two of my fellow guests paying their bill in cash – and counting out coins to come up with an adequate sum. Now I have nothing against extreme budget travelers – I myself traveled this way on my first trip to Europe over 25 years ago. I have many happy memories of those salad days. If you find yourself in that category, I heartily recommend the Plaza de Espana, because it is a palace compared to some of the places I stayed back in the day. However, if, like me, somewhere over the years you "graduated" to the Marriott, Hilton or any of their international or boutique equivalents, you might want to consider staying at, um, one of those places.

Good points: The staff was very friendly and helpful, making themselves understood despite the language barrier. The public areas and the room were clean. Room service is available and the rooms have kitchenettes, so you can prepare modest meals yourself. The rooms have a lovely view of the Plaza de Espana, and if you don't mind traffic noise, you can get some fresh air as the windows do open. The bathroom had a built in hairdryer and there was a safe in the closet. The television offerings included numerous Spanish networks, CNN, RTL (German network) and a station I think was in French. There is a computer with internet access in the lobby that is coin-operated: the price is competitive and you only pay for what you need.

Downsides: The furnishings were quite modest – the bed was hard, the linens were cheap and somewhat worn (although clean). There was no clock, radio or combo thereof. I could not turn on the old, small television until an employee demonstrated the "trick" for getting it to work. The air conditioner wasn't working really well in my room (but see note above about the windows). In general, there was a rundown feeling about the place.

Security note: The hotel still uses actual keys for the room with a huge keyfob that has the hotel name and room number on it – unlike the more discreet unmarked key cards that are common today. Also, the hotel is only half a block from the Metro station, but a building between the station and the hotel is being renovated (as of July 2008). Pedestrians have to walk under a scaffolding that is dark and isolated – fine during the day, but security-minded patrons may want to take care after dark.

Note: The hotel is now part of the Espahotel chain, which has five or six hotels in Madrid.

Location: okay, but not great. Not so close to many sites but close to public transportation and city sightseeing buses.

Room: the first room we were showed to reeked of smoke. We had asked for non-smoking so we switched. This room had a funny smell but after leaving the window open for a while the smell wore off. The room was nice sized, and had a little kitchenette. A/c worked well--important, as it was really, really hot in Madrid. The beds weren't so comfortable and the furniture was a bit run-down. But wasn't so surprised because the hotel was pretty cheap.

Our only real problem was the reception. They were very nice and accommodating but they didn't know English. When we arrived, there was one person there who didn't know English, but the next morning there was one woman who did. Later when we returned, no one who knew English. A little annoying when we needed directions and other help, but they tried. Also, we saw a cockroach in the lobby. Was quite funny actually because the receptionist said, "Cucaracha!!" We all thought that was pretty humorous.

Overall, would I stay there again? Probably not but I wouldn't rule it out completely.