2 nights in Madrid- location question
 

My husband, teen daughter and I will be spending 2 nights in Madrid. A friend who has been quite a few times highly recommends the Salamanca Barrio for location. We are looking for something luxurious, but also something in the heart of the city since we will be there for such a short time. Any thoughts or advice on the Salamanca and other areas are welcome!

Salamanca is a good size area., it is the most elegant part of the city, north of park Retiro :
leafy street, upscale shops, many excellent restaurants , beautiful buildings ..etc
We always stay in Salamanca , (closer to the park )we have been to Madrid ten times and
know the city well.
If your focus is the famous art museum ,and you only have a short, time someplace closer to Prado might be
more convenient. In any case, taxis in Madrid are inexpensive and the metro is excellent.

danon, are there a lot of steps involved with the metro?
metro?

Depends on the station...usually it is not very deep.
On the last couple of visits we used taxis and buses more than metro.

Thanks, I usually like to use bus, so will probably do more of that.

In my opinion, Recoletos (the west side of Salamanca) is the best for being the most central.

agree...not too far north is mor e convenient to museums
We like Jardin de Recoletos...4* big rooms, pretty garden, quiet small street

We stayed at friends’ apt in Acacias a couple of times ,never spent more than 10 euros
for taxi to get to Mayor ,Cibeles , Goya etc If there is two or more people , taxi makes sense

We are looking at Villa Magna- how is that location? Too far north?Thank you

The location is .,one block to Serrano and other leafy streets with designer stores, restaurants and
an elegant vibe .
One can stroll
south to other parts of Salamanca and even to the park (20 or so min)
Prado is about two kilometres to the south ..a short taxi ride .
Madrid is a big city.....the very centre - Sol , Plaza Mayor, Santa Ana .. is touristy and
closer to the Palace and the Opera.. Again, it would be about 15 euros by taxi to Plaza Mayor
.there are several luxury hotels near Prado if museums are your focus.
It depends on your taste ...stay in the most upscale area of the city but not really in the middle of all tourist
atracctions and taxi to museums, the Palace, etc..
Or not.

Something luxurious in Madrid
 

If you want to stay somewhere luxurious in the Salamanca quarter, then check out the Hotel Wellington (Hotel Wellington Madrid Luxury Hotel Madrid Spain), Tótem Madrid (www.totem-madrid.com), Hotel Hospes Puerta Alcalá (www.hospes.com/puerta-alcala/) and the newly opened Bless Hotel Madrid (www.blesscollectionhotels.com) at Calle de Velázquez, 62. It's where chef Martin Berasategui will be overseeing the restaurant. The Villa Magna is too far north for some people, but it's fine.

Just outside of the Salamanca, at the Retiro Park, is the Hotel AC Palacio del Retiro. The classic Hotel Ritz is closed for renovation and the Westen Palace is okay.

There are several others, but these are some of the best located luxury properties.

Thank you all- Robert2016, Westin Palace was on my list since it seems very very central and I could get a much bigger room for less $$ than Magna. But it's just OK?

Are the hotels you list in the same category as Magna, they are significantly more reasonably priced?

We stayed only once at Wellington and found it a bit “ tired” looking inside.
A great location though.

Robert is the expert here when it comes to Spain.

Thanks Danon (and Robert!). the ones listed are about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of the magna. The Westin is about 2/3 of the magna.

Luxury in Madrid
 

I would go with the new Bless Hotel Madrid. Good location and the fact that Berasategui is involved in the restaurant. The price will be going up later this year. The Tótem Madrid would be my second choice as it's in our favorite neighborhood, close to our favorite restaurants, but you have to go with a corner room or suite for size. It you want something close to the Westin Palace, then the DoubleTree by Hilton Madrid - Prado would be a good bet.

The Westin Palace is just okay because of its size and the crush of traffic it receives. And now with the Ritz closed for renovation, it can be very busy.

I go to Madrid often and have never stayed in the Salamanca area. Maybe I should branch out, but for me Las Cortes/ Barrio Las Letras neighborhood its the best location. There I stay at Westin Palace , or at smaller hotel Catalonia Las Cortes, almost in front of Plaza Santa Ana. Good luck, I love Madrid!

Thank you everyone! You've given me some great options. I will let you know what we decide.

any thoughts on the Principal Madrid? Thoughts on that neighborhood. I would like to be in a good location since we are there such a short time, but i dont want to be in Madrid version of Times Square... The bless only has one room that will accommodate our family and it is somewhat small. Also, it seems as far as Magna location wise but i may not be understanding the location well?

Principal is closer to Plaza Mayor, the Palace etc...not right nextdoor to the museums but walkable
distance.
There are many beautiful buildings around and a number of hotels.
It is a very popular area....not exactly “Time Square “ like Sol ,but a different vibe than Salamanca.
As you can see , Madrid “lovers “ preference varies when it comes to
the favorite areas, to follow your analogy- Salamanca is sort of Upper East side..
Like in any big city ,different parts of the city can give one a totally different impression of the place especially
on a very short visit.
To be honest , I like Salamanca because it is upscale, elegant, with leafy small streets, best shops,
good restaurants, galleries , well to do residents, and relatively small number of tourists.
Park Retiro is absolutely beautiful...not to be missed.
I am not sure you have the time for museums , you should definitely see Plaza Mayor and the area around it (however touristy..)The Palace is not far from Mayor next to lovely Plaza Oriente( you can see it from the outside.)
If you don’t stay in Salamanca at least visit the area for a couple of hours to get a glimps of Madrid many tourists
don’t.

Thank you so much Danon, that's good avice