Hotel Recommendations
Here are a couple of reviews of hotels in Madrid to readers of an English newspaper. Do you agree with the description of hotels in Madrid?
Hotel El Prado (a wine-themed retreat in Madrid's Bohemian literary quarter):
Location
In Madrid’s buzzy and Bohemian literary quarter, close to the Thyssen and a short walk from Atocha station for high-speed trains to Seville.
Character
Not its strong point, despite the owners’ decision to give this 48-room hotel a wine theme (their second, marginally more upscale hotel, Lope de Vega, has a literary motif).
Rooms
Spotless and functional, with compact bathrooms. Some rooms have balconies, small plasma TVs and wifi connection. Room quality does vary. Room 407 is more attractive than most.
Food
Skip the hotel breakfast and go to a local bar for a café solo con churros.
We like
The young and perky all-female staff. The fun location, with endless tapas bars on the doorstep and tempting boutiques.
Not so keen
The cramped lobby, with its deluge of tacky tourist leaflets; the noisy tiled corridors.
Hotel AC Recoletos (smart design and peaceful surroundings in Madrid's museum triangle):
Location
On a quiet residential street off the Paseo de Recoletos, north of the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia.
Character
Sharp, shiny and geared to the business traveller, with black-shirted staff and high-tech design. There’s a tiny but well-equipped gym and a small mezzanine bar serving reassuringly peppy G&Ts.
Rooms
The 62 rooms of this four-star hotel are slick, well-equipped and immaculate, with very good beds.
Food
No restaurant, but 24-hour room service, a free (modestly stocked) minibar, and an excellent breakfast in the hotel’s basement (Nespresso coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, pastries, cheese, fruit) overseen by the wonderful Rafael.
We like
The unbeatable location on a surprisingly quiet street packed with enticing restaurants that offer everything from Moroccan tagines and sushi to wood-fired pizzas and Mexican tequilas. Good touches in the rooms include proper bedside reading lights.
Not so keen
The frosted-glass bathrooms lack privacy and the parquet floors mean light sleepers may be disturbed by the sharp clickety-clack of high heels above.
Hotels in Madrid
Surprisingly for a country renowned for its rich individuality, many of Madrid’s hotels are modern chains, rather than beguiling one-offs, and this is especially true of the areas close to the city’s museum triangle. This is not as depressing as it sounds: standards tend to be high and pricing fair. But the lack of character and personal touches can make the experience feel a little anonymous and bland. But does it matter? Madrid is a city that never sleeps and life is out there on its streets. Spain’s capital is a very walkable city. The key thing is to find a bed in an area you like, dump your luggage in your room and head out into the city.
Write a review of a hotel which you have stayed in recently.
Hotel El Prado (a wine-themed retreat in Madrid's Bohemian literary quarter):
Location
In Madrid’s buzzy and Bohemian literary quarter, close to the Thyssen and a short walk from Atocha station for high-speed trains to Seville.
Character
Not its strong point, despite the owners’ decision to give this 48-room hotel a wine theme (their second, marginally more upscale hotel, Lope de Vega, has a literary motif).
Rooms
Spotless and functional, with compact bathrooms. Some rooms have balconies, small plasma TVs and wifi connection. Room quality does vary. Room 407 is more attractive than most.
Food
Skip the hotel breakfast and go to a local bar for a café solo con churros.
We like
The young and perky all-female staff. The fun location, with endless tapas bars on the doorstep and tempting boutiques.
Not so keen
The cramped lobby, with its deluge of tacky tourist leaflets; the noisy tiled corridors.
Hotel AC Recoletos (smart design and peaceful surroundings in Madrid's museum triangle):
Location
On a quiet residential street off the Paseo de Recoletos, north of the Prado, Thyssen and Reina Sofia.
Character
Sharp, shiny and geared to the business traveller, with black-shirted staff and high-tech design. There’s a tiny but well-equipped gym and a small mezzanine bar serving reassuringly peppy G&Ts.
Rooms
The 62 rooms of this four-star hotel are slick, well-equipped and immaculate, with very good beds.
Food
No restaurant, but 24-hour room service, a free (modestly stocked) minibar, and an excellent breakfast in the hotel’s basement (Nespresso coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, pastries, cheese, fruit) overseen by the wonderful Rafael.
We like
The unbeatable location on a surprisingly quiet street packed with enticing restaurants that offer everything from Moroccan tagines and sushi to wood-fired pizzas and Mexican tequilas. Good touches in the rooms include proper bedside reading lights.
Not so keen
The frosted-glass bathrooms lack privacy and the parquet floors mean light sleepers may be disturbed by the sharp clickety-clack of high heels above.
Hotels in Madrid
Surprisingly for a country renowned for its rich individuality, many of Madrid’s hotels are modern chains, rather than beguiling one-offs, and this is especially true of the areas close to the city’s museum triangle. This is not as depressing as it sounds: standards tend to be high and pricing fair. But the lack of character and personal touches can make the experience feel a little anonymous and bland. But does it matter? Madrid is a city that never sleeps and life is out there on its streets. Spain’s capital is a very walkable city. The key thing is to find a bed in an area you like, dump your luggage in your room and head out into the city.
Write a review of a hotel which you have stayed in recently.
Comments
Roseen Inn at Pointe Orlando.
Location
Although this hotel is on the outskirts of Orlando, it is equipped with all the necesary things for intertaining, such as museums, boulling alleys and restauants. Furthermore, the main tourist attractions are so close to the hotel which provides a bus to arrive there.
Rooms
I can't be more satisfied about the room and it's service. I stayed in the room 3307 for 3 whole months and my experience there was amazing. The room is wide enought for 2 persons and has all the necesary items for day-to-day use.
One of the advantages is the service. There's cleaning service everyday,so the room is always spotless.
But with no hesitation the best thing about the rooms is the lack of noise, all rooms are
soundproofed so it is almoust impossible to hear any noise from the neighbourds.
Food
Breakfast is served between 6am to 9am, and dinner between 5pm to 9pm. Both are stocked with variety food, but I mostly recommend the breakfast. It's a buffet packed of pastries and eclays, some fuits, eggs, bread... And on top of this, there's an ice cream machine!
Facilities
The extension of the hotel is huge and it is packed with places to have a rest or have fun. There are three swimming pools, one tiny gym, some terraces and a broad lobby. Also the hotel is buzzy at any time of the day, full of families enjoying their holidays.
Not so keen
The restrictions about the air conditioning. Everyday the room has to be around 17º in order to prevent the mould growth. Not only the rooms are always cold, but also the lobby and the restaurant are freezing.
I had a look at this hotel on Tripadvisor and as is often the case, there is a mixture of reviews. On balance, it would seem that most contributors rate it positively. Mind you, they are probably the same people who enjoyed the burgers you gave them. You should read their reviews to pick up a few new words and expressions.
Location
Although this hotel is on the outskirts of Orlando, it is equipped with all the necessary things for entertainment such as museums, bowling alleys and restaurants. In addition, (furthermore is very formal) the main tourist attractions are so close to the hotel, which even provides a bus to arrive/get there.
Rooms
I couldn't have been more satisfied with the room and it's service. I stayed in room 3307 for 3 whole months and my experience there was amazing. The room is wide enough for 2 people and has all the necessary items for day-to-day use.
One of the advantages is the service. There's a cleaning service everyday so the room is always spotless.
But without a doubt the best thing about the rooms is the lack of noise. All rooms are soundproofed so it is almost impossible to hear any noise from the neighbours.
Food
Breakfast is served between 6am to 9am, and dinner between 5pm to 9pm. Both are stocked with a variety of food, but I mostly recommend the breakfast. It's a buffet packed with pastries and eclairs, some fruit, eggs, bread... And on top of this, there's an ice cream machine!
Facilities
The extension is huge and it is packed with places to have a rest or have fun. There are three swimming pools, one tiny gym, some terraces and a spacious lobby. The hotel is also buzzy at any time of the day, full of families enjoying their holidays.
Not so keen
The restrictions about the air conditioning. Every day the room has to be around 17º in order to prevent the spread of mould. Not only are the rooms always cold, but the lobby and the restaurant are also freezing.