I originally read poor reviews for this hotel and stayed at Novotel Naciones in Madrid. That hotel reeked of smoke and the rooms were dingy. Ended up staying here and was pleasantly surprised. The place is very clean--the cleaning staff works until 2000 every day. The rooms are modern, you don't have to pay for tv, there's free breakfast, the staff is amazingly helpful, and there's a nice bar. For dinner, there are no nearby restaurants save a steakhouse. The steakhouse is good, not great. The portions are small and the prices hefty. If you need to eat, order from the Chinese take-out place; wholly moley, it was surprisingly good. For transportation, you can walk to the bus stop and take a bus to Avenue of the Americas and then catch the metro from there to see all of Madrid. A taxi to the airport varies since the cab drivers seem to have a button they push that suddenly adds additional costs onto any ride. We went to the airport several times and noticed the best fares were subjectively applied when we talked nicely to the driver. We were stuck in Marid after the volcano and enjoyed our time at HI Express; if you really want to be closer to the cultural sites, this is not the place to stay.

The staff were friendly and helpful during our stay, yes it is a fare way out of madrid but the nearby rivas centro (shopping centre) is ideal for a nice meal and a few beers after a long day sightseeing in the city. Best tip i can give is- a working knowledge of spanish is essential and to use bus no. 333 to get to the metro station : Rivas-Urbanizaciones as it is too far to walk.

This was our first visit to Madrid, we stayed 2 days. The hotel is way out from city center. Holiday Inn had free parking for our car, which was its only plus. It is run down, really showing the wear and tear. The room was very small - only one person could walk around the room at a time. There was only room for one piece of our luggage to be accessible at a time. The only view is from the breakfast area on the main floor, the desk staff were not overly helpful in telling us what amenities were in the area, laguage barrier. There is a small mall a couple blocks away, but in driving around on our own found a major mall about 2 km away that had restaurants open late. The driving directions to get to the hotel were confusing.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Rivas Vaciamadrid in August of 2008. This hotel is good on location, nearly to Rivas Centro which is there the mini mall situated in that area.

This hotel was chosen mainly because we were visiting our family who live in the area. The hotel is not recommended for those who are wanting to stay in the “real” Madrid, you would need to stay in either Puerta Del Sol, which is the city’s main area, full of shops, & entertainment places.

They include a free continental breakfast that consists of bread & rolls, 3 types of cereal, juices, coffee, milk, hot chocolate, cakes/donuts, tinned fruit. Room are comfy and a good enough size. Sheets changed every 2 day or whenever you want.

Be warned, staff do not speak English that well. Only the front desk staff speak slight English, people around the area don’t speak English as well, so make sure you know your phrases.

Overall good hotel if you need to be in Rivas.