Madrid Hotel for early am flight
 

We will be taking an 8:00 a.m. flight on Jan. 2 from Madrid and I am wondering if we should stay by the airport that night or is it possible to stay another night at the Westin and make it to the airport early enough for the flight. Does anyone have any advice on public transportation vs. taxi (traffic) at that early hour? Or whether we should just give in and move to the airport for our last night?

A taxi to the airport from Central Madrid is fairly priced and, since you will be traveling at the crack of dawn, extremely speedy.

I wouldn't get and airport hotel and I wouldn't use public transporation at that hour of the morning with your luggage and all. Just get a taxi.

At 5:30 or 6:00AM (especially on 2 Jan) taxi from Madrid's Westin Palace hotel to Barajas airport should be less than 30-minutes. Don't even think about Public Transportation

Check with the airline for your check-in Terminal beforehand and be sure to tell the Taxista which Terminal you want ('new' Terminal #4 is a long ways from Terminal #1).

Unfortunately, the airport Cafeterias don't open until 7:00AM, so if you're running a little early you might ask your Taxista to stop at Toribio's Churreria on the square in Barajas Pueblo (opens 5:00AM) so you can all have chocolate con churros.

It's a very quick ride from Madrid to the airport, maybe 15 minutes.

Anybody that tells you that "It's a very quick ride from Madrid to the airport, maybe 15 minutes." doesn't know what he/she is talking about. First off, Madrid is a big metropolitan city centre is nowhere near 15 minutes to the airport (maybe by helicopter). I had a similar flight schedule and stayed at the
Hotel High Tech Madrid Aeropuerto, a 3-5 minutes from the airport and free shuttle service 24 hours a day. Highly recommend them. I paid about $140/quad. It is a 4-star.

It was about 15 minutes for us in August 2005, from our hotel on Gran Via. We got the taxi about 8:05, arrived at the airport around 8:20, and were checked in and through security before 8:30. But there was no traffic.

I've never had a problem making it to the airport in a taxi in less than half an hour from the city centre when trying to catch a morning flight. When I once caught an afternoon flight, I allocated an hour to get to the aiport, and still ended up getting there in half an hour from the city centre in a taxi.

I stayed near the Opera in Madrid, and I think it took me a little less than a half hour to get to the airport by taxi in early morning. It's not that far, really. Maybe 15 minutes is a bit short, but it's only about 15 km from central Madrid (mappy.fr estimates it as 23 minutes for that trip). I never try to cut those things close myself, but it wasn't a problem (and Madrid's security was a little disorganized -- they have some nice shops in there, though).

While it is a short trip to the airport, Madrid check-in can often be quite disorganized. So be sure to get to the airport at the recommended time.

We just booked at the Best Western Hotel Villa De Barajas at the airport for the night before our flight back to US. They offer great rates, and a free shuttle to the airport.

"We just booked at the Best Western Hotel Villa De Barajas at the airport for the night before our flight back to US. They offer great rates, and a free shuttle to the airport."

Read the small print, Sinkevich! The last time I stayed there, the Villa Barajas airport shuttle service didn't start until 7:00AM. That's no good for an 8:00AM flight.

Hey Nedsireland - chill out - it was just a suggestion! We booked at Best Western because OUR flight is at 11:30 AM. So there is no problem -

Thank you all for your advice. We will definately stay one more night at the Westin to squeeze as much as we can out of the city and take a taxi in the morning as suggested. And thank you NEDSIRELAND for the Toribio's suggestion...will definately do that!

High Tech's shuttle is not 24 hours unless they changed something very recently.