Crowne Plaza Hotel - is it a real bargain?
 

I was able to book Crowne Plaza Hotel for 2 tickets from Bancotel. Now I am looking at it's location, and I am concerned I am too far away from anything. Has anyone stayed there and was it inconvenient?

In what city?

Sorry. You are right!!
We are staying in the Crowne Plaza Madrid. It seems just a bit too west of where we should be. Thanks for the correction!!

jparis
The Hotel location is fine, you are not facing the prado or the thyssen museum,
15/20 minutes by metro taxi,bus or metro.
But you will be very near to the Royal palace and the plaza de oriente area.
There are many shops bars and restaurants around the hotel
You will not be disapointed.

And I can heartily recommend both the Metro and the taxis in Madrid; the former is particularly easy to use and convenient. Folks are up late at night (often eating) and we never felt unsafe walking about way after dark. Enjoy your trip.

jparis,
Although the Plaza de Espana isn't my favorite Madrid location (it's at the end of the Gran Via, Madrid's Broadway), as car says, you'll be close to the Royal Palace, the Teatro Real and the Parque del Oeste. And of course, you have a metro stop right there. The Crowne Plaza has been around since the fifties, was once the Holiday Inn C.P. and long, long ago (when I was a teen) it was Madrid's only downtown "skyscraper".

While its interiors won't impress like your hotel choice in Seville, the Westin Alfonso XIII or Granada's AC Palacio de Santa Paula, of the bancotel Madrid options requiring only 2 coupons per night, it's one of the 3-4 best options, although I wouldn't say it's the very *most* stylish of the 2 coupon Madrid choices with Bancotel.
That distinction I'd give to the recently and gorgeously renovated Castellana Intercontinental (a 4 star that now looks like a 5 star) which has just come out of a 32 million dollar total refurbishment and absolutely shines. But the disadvantage to the Intercontinental is that it's located further north up the pretty Castellana Blvd. beyond Plaza Colon, but then it's a very tony and safe neighborhood with metro right in front, plus super service. Also the "extras" (their huge buffet breakfast, for example) would be pricier because it's a top tier business class hotel.

With your kids, you may well prefer something where most of the sightseeing is walkable, so practicality and convenience may be more important to your family than high style.

So, another 2 coupon option downtown would be the newish Intur Palacio San Martin, which I like a lot, nearer to the sights of Old Madrid but tucked away on a quiet square, away from the noise, congestion, hustle-bustle of the Puerta del Sol and Gran Via. It's received recent kudos here, if you do a text search. It has very pretty decor. They've kept some of the original 19th c palace touches, such as the cage elevator (but there's a modern one) but the rooms are thoroughly up to date, quite stylish for the price with nice marble baths. If it's available for your dates through Bancotel, I'd actually choose it for quiet but very convenient location over the Crowne Plaza.
Just some thoughts...

Intur have done a good job in their hotel in Plaza de San Martin.
While Madrid is a city with not many homeless and beggars, they seem to concentrate in the pedestrian area of the Plaza de San Martin.
Certanly not my choice.

jparis and car,
On the day I toured the Intur Palacio San Martín and then went next door for the first morning tour of the Convento de las Descalzas Reales, I didn't see any homeless congregating in the square outside the hotel, but the large parts of the square were under renovation,
I haven't been walking around there recently.

Some Fodorites such as travelrex, lily and just last week, diversityjobber, who spent 7 days there, recommended both the hotel and its location highly, with no remarks about the "street life" there.
However, car, I sense that you are a Madrid resident, (?) and if so, you certainly would have seen the area more recently than I, and of course, things can and do change.
So that's info I'll duly note.

Ironically, the idle, immigrant homeless population congregating in the Plaza de España, is exactly what always gives me pause to recommend the Crowne Plaza across the street. Plus, I' m just not personally a big fan of the lower end of the busy Gran Vía or the beginning of Princesa in Argüelles as the best as in most convenient hotel location. (My husband was brought up in that area). For the same reason, I hesitate to recommend the spiffy looking Hotel Preciados because of the persistent and annoying gypsy women "working the crowd" with their rosemany sprigs on Calle Preciados. Again, both just a very subjective reaction and personal preference.

Maribel and Car: Thanks so much for your incite and concern. We live in NYC, so we are pretty "city wise" (however, I was almost pickpocketed in Madrid right near the Reina Victoria hotel (a "good neighborhood"). A bunch of boys were "playing soccer" and kept bumping up against me. I kept pushing them away, and while I was doing this, a woman coming the other way yelled out to me something about my "bolsa" (luckily my Spanish includes important words like pocketbooks and shoes!!) and sure enough, I look at my pocketbook and the "soccer player's" hand is in my pocketbook. Luckily, nothing had been taken (yet). Anyway, the point of my story is that you've got to be careful wherever you are. When I stayed in Madrid last time, i stayed at Carlos V (from recommendations listed here)and it was fine. Not luxurious by any standard, but it was conveniently located, clean and large for a three star hotel. Maribel, you know how perfectly I have worked out these coupons for the trip, but I would rather be more conveniently, or safely, located and not use the tickets. I am still toying with the idea of taking another night in Seville, or possibly going to Ronda, so I will see. Just to let you know, the hotels in Madrid that are available for the time I am there are:
Husa Princesa, Husa Serrano Royal, Monte Real, Agumar, Convencion, Gran Atlanta, Husa Chamartin, Emperador (VERY Curious if you like this one), praga and Velada Madrid. If you think any of these would be better located, please let me know.

Again, thanks for all your help.

hi jparis,
I completely forgot that the last time you stayed at the Carlos V, so you known the neighborhood well!
If you don't add another night in Seville or do a night in Ronda (I love Ronda!)...
I've just gone through your hotel availability list, and stick with the Crowne Plaza! I know all the other hotels except for the Velada. None on the list you will like better or be significantly better located, some on the list, quite inconvenient. I promise.
I know how hard you've worked to make the bancotel plan work out just right for you!