The Oscar Mate is supremely fashionable, design from tip to bottom, near the Gran Via in a popular and gay quarter.

The rooms are spacious and pleasing to look at, cool in more than one sense of the word. As with many modern hip hotel rooms, some items are designed more to be admired than to be used. Also, privacy can be an issue if you're sharing and don't happen to be intimate. But it's pretty, certainly.

Apparently, no foreign travellers are expected, because there are only 12 channels and those are all Spanish. As far as I could tell, these covered light entertainment, Discovery and National Geographic. Don't hip people watch the news ?

There is free Wifi. However, given the absence of a desk and services, the place is not very convenient for the business traveller. However, I found it quite comfortable otherwise. The breakfast is allright for the price, at less than 7 Euro.

So I'd say that this hotel is good for a few days of leisure. The historic sights and bars are in walking distance. And the coolness of the design hasn't rubbed off on the staff, I'm happy to say. It's all quite friendly.