Having never been to Madrid before I was eager to see eveything. I took my boyfriend for his birthday and found this hotel on last minute.com. The hotel was all we needed, and in such a good location for the price, id most definatly stay here again. Just off the gran via, it was surrounded by shops and eateries and right in the middle of all the sights. It had a spanish lcd tv on the wall, we just used to put the radio channels on while we were getting ready though. The bathroom was.spacious with a big double shower and there was also a fridge in the room. Even though it was right off the gran via it was quiet inside and no noise came through the windows. Would definatly stay again, great base to get a good nights sleep for a day of sightseeing ahead.
5 top Madrid tips:
1. Take the bus from the airport into town. Only 2 euros to the centre.
2. Row a boat in the parc del retiro, we had a lovely sunny time.
3. Use the supermarkets.
4. Dont just stay in the centre. We walked to the bernabau and didnt take the metro once. Its a small city with beautiful apartments to look at in the suburbs.
5. Visit the glass cafe on Recolectos. Epitomises the old school glamour of Madrid with chandeliers and red velvet sofas. Great views to sip your martini rosso with!

We booked this hotel last minute through air miles so did not cost very much as mostly used up air miles we had. We picked this hotel because of other reviews that stated that the hotel was central and that you could walk to most things from there.

We took the metro to the hotel getting off at Gran Via and then walking down towards Zara on the right and then turning left and the hotel was there on the left - cost of the metro was 2.5 euro although we did have to change twice and there was quite a lot of walking from line to line and stairs to go up and down so be careful if you have lots of luggage it may be better to take the airport bus and then make your way from there.

You are right in the heart of the all the shops and you can walk quickly to the Puerta Sol, Plaza Mayor and the Palace. If you want to walk to the museums/botanical gardens/park etc. this is a longer walk so you may want to take either the metro or use the sightseeing red double decker bus and keep getting on and off at the appropriate stops.

We found the room to be clean although not the one in the picture. Don't let the orangey yellow bedspread and curtains put you off it is fine and adequate for your needs. It even has a mini fride which you can stock with your own items (none provided) and if you require a safe key you pay a deposit of 10 euros which is returned at the end of your stay when you return the key.

The bathroom had a shower which was very good and all looked quite new.

We had the air conditioning explained to us - apparently you turn the knob next to the bed to operate you don't touch the control near the door and you can have it low, high or off in our case to sleep although it was 34 degrees outside it was a little cool when sleeping. We used to turn it on when we came in and off before we went to sleep.

The only major issue with the hotel when we stayed (9th - 13th Sept) was that they were refurbishing the staircase which meant there was no fire escape available. This was very worrying as we were on the 4th Floor and the lift which would not be in use I am sure if there was a fire only held 4 people it was tiny. There was also a lot of dust from the building work which of course was in the corridor and in the lift which they were using to transport plaster etc. to the upper floors. Hopefully this will be rectified in a few weeks but a bit worrying if you want to travel now.

There are lots of restaurants within a short walk from the hotel - we did not bother with breakfast as it was 9 euros + in the hotel as we are not big breakfast fans but did find the Mac Cafe at the Puerto Sol had a special offer of a cappacino and croissant for 2 euros which was half the price of the other Mac Cafe and very pleasant atmosphere. For lunch we like the Cafe de Jambon again near the Puerto Sol where you could get a beer, wine, coke, water or coffee for 1 euro and also a sandwich for 1 euro. Eating here was round a bar type area in the middle of the shop with the locals stood up but a great experience. We also found some great tapas restaurants and the Argentina Steak Restaurant near the Opera was fantastic and very very reasonable compared with the UK. Overall we found the food and drink to be less than the restaurants in the UK and much better food.

The hotel is easy to get to and once here we walked to all the major sights. There was some stains on the spare pillows and when we asked for new ones we were told there weren't any and to wait until tomorrow- pretty frustrating considering my husband snoares unless his head is up high. A few minutes later the reception lady appeared at the door with spare pillows.
The lift is tiny but that wasn't a big deal- we were happy to save on transport by staying so centrally.

This is a reasonably priced hotel. The rooms are clean and medium size. However, you cannot keep the window open while you sleep since it is very noisy outside but the windows are double paned, and will keep out the noise. The hotel is centrally located, close to Puerta Sol, and to a Metro