Advice on these Madrid apartments and hostels please.
 

I would appreciate if I could have some feedback on these location options for a week in October.

Based on an earlier post, the las Letras area seems good, but I'm having a devil of a time figuring out where exactly that is.

We are not at all interested in a young, loud, party area, but still want to be close to cafes and cobble streets, history. We live in a modern city so European charm is what we are after.

I hope I've added the links correctly!

https://www.vrbo.com/6702561ha

https://www.vrbo.com/842365#reviews

https://www.vrbo.com/1097689ha#calendar

http://www.hostaladriano.com/en/

By the way, none of those are hostels. Hostal Adriano is a "hostal", which is just means it's a guest house.

Yes, thanks. Auto correct was doing its thing.

The first and the third are in what I would consider to be rather busy/noisy-at-night neighborhoods but without the exact location it's kind of hard to tell for certain...the apartments might be at the back in a quiet spot I suppose.

The Barrio de las Letras is the area from vibrant Plaza Santa Ana and and down on both sides of cobbled Calle Huertas towards Paseo del Prado, that is down towards the three most famous museums, Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía.

You could also take a look at these apartments just off Plaza Santa Ana, excellent reviews and some of the reviews I looked on mentioned it was quiet although it's right in the heart of everything. 16 apartments to choose from, and I'm sure you can find one that is especially quiet: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/dfla...-sl.en-gb.html

Why are you having trouble figuring out where it is? Do you have a map of the city? You could buy one on Amazon or somewhere, by Streetwise, I find theirs useful. I know they make one for Madrid. I believe they have the neighborhoods on them, if not, you can easily find streets you are looking for with the index.

Otherwise, just type "madrid las letras" into Google and its first find is apparently Iberostar Las Letras hotel but a map comes up on the right side of the screen and all you have to do is click on that and enlarge it and you can see where the area is. The Google search also has this find just a few down which tells you all you would need to know, plus it has a map link
http://www.spain.info/en_US/lugares-...as_letras.html

I stayed in a place just down the street from the first one for 10 days in 2011 (on Santa Isabel.) Its a residential neighborhood right there. I would not call it especially glamorous, but you can easily walk to Las Letras (and many other places) from there. And the price is very good, if you don't mind a 3rd floor walk up.

It is about a 25 minute walk to Plaza Mayor from there. The Anton Martin market is very close by - fab place to buy groceries.

Thanks, kimhe, the boundaries you gave are clear and easy to find on the map. That was exactly what I was looking for!

Unfortunately, the apartments are booked for our dates.

Rialtogrl, I appreciate your opinion. Did you feel the neighbourhood was safe? I wouldn't mind being a bit closer to Plaza mayor.

I'm ok with the Adriano, but my husband would prefer a place with a little kitchen so we can eat breakfast in.

I found an airbnb on Calle Moratin, described as in the Cortes area. It's a little studio, which is fine, but what about the area? I can't figure out how to link it though.

DDD, thanks also. Interesting you note the first is a busy, noisy area, but just down the street from it Rialtogrl was in a residential neighbourhood.

A couple of blocks either way makes a difference! Another reason this forum is so helpful :)

We loved this apartment in Madrid last year in Barrio de Las Letras...

http://www.spain-select.com/en_US/re...ope-de-vega-ii

((H))

Hi Tom

I've bookmarked your Spain report, it was a wonderful read!

I had a look at that company, but it's a bit too rich for our blood for this trip. We're trying to keep costs down this go around.

-Did you feel the neighbourhood was safe? I wouldn't mind being a bit closer to Plaza mayor.-

Yes, the neighborhood was safe. I definitely prefer the Lss Letras neighborhood but its only a five minute walk away. It just seems a little hipper on that side of Calle Atocha. But that was five years ago, so things could have changed.