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Not slackin' here - but I've searched back through 1500 posts (we need that new server back up and running!). New some input on Madrid Hotels. Carlos V? Hotel Plaza Basilica? Which is an apartment hotel recommended by Inns of Spain - thought I saw it in an old post, but .... Hostal Dulcinea - good reviews on Rants and Raves - I'm housing as many as 5 people over a long weekend in Madrid, so cost matters! Suite Prado? Other suggestions??? Thanks so much! Marcia

Marcia: Check the Tryp Ambassador.We stayed there 2 years ago.Nice hotel,good location and reasonably priced.They have a web-site.Enjoy Madrid.

Marcia, Suites Prado, in the heart of Old Madrid, is a good choice for a family of 4, but I wouldn't put more than 4 (2 adults, 2 small children) in a suite. I've seen the largest ones (with separate l.r.,with sofa bed for the kids and kitchenette), and they're quite nice but not large enough for 5. The Carlos V is an old Fodors favorite, old fashioned tried and true, good value, A Best Western, on a pedestrian street but in the heart of the Puerta del Sol area (Madrid's Times Square) and the El Corte Ingles dept. store complex. About $100 double. For around $100 double, I personally prefer the Hotel Opera, another Best Western, which is adjacent to the Teatro Real and a metro stop (which you won't really need), right below the Tryp Ambassador and within easy walking distance of the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and the rest of Old Madrid. Rooms all have twin beds that can be put together and all face the street but not noisy. There's a handy cafe next door with singing waiters. If you don't mind a basically monolingual desk staff (English spoken only by the day clerks) and no guest services other than laundry and breakfast, there's my favorite budget choice, actually a little mansion (the Marquis still lives upstairs) in the upmarket Embassy district of Chamberi, very near Plaza Colon on Castellana boulevard and on Madrid's very safest street, called the "Hotel Residencia Galicano". Quite elegant in an Old European way (this is not a hostal) with antique & tapestry filled downstairs salons, upstairs hallways very stylish as well. I stayed there for 2 nights in June. 85 euros for a single, 15 for a large double-suites with l.r./kitchenette go for 170 euros, But there's no "hand-holding" from the desk staff and no on-site bar/restaurant (a very good one right across the street though), so it's better suited for those who already know their way around the city or thosoe who don't need a lot of orientation. www.hotelgaliano.com I've stayed at the Aparthotel Plaza Basilica on numerous occasions (even for a month), but I've chosen it because my family lives in that northern business district, I know the area well, and I haven't needed to sightsee. For a long weekend, it wouldn't be convenient because it's a 20 min. bus ride to the Prado, for example. The Espahotel apartments called Los Jeronimos are much better located for the short term visitor, behind the Prado. The newest Espahotel apts. are on the Gran Via, but I'm not very fond of that location (like Broadway). You don't need to go through Barclay. See www.espahotel.es

Fabulous! Thanks! Marcia

Checked into the perfect Hotel Reine Victoria. The room was large (two easy chairs, plus writing desk with chair) and its French windows opened directly onto Pl.de St. Ana….a small beautiful park surrounded by bars and restaurants.

Just an update here - Hotel Opera has its own website - but it is not a Best Western. May have dropped the brand (and looks like they raised the prices a little bit). Sorry, I forgot to note the web address, but a search for Hotel Opera easily brought it up.

Marcia, Thanks for the update about the Opera no longer being a BW affiliate. The Opera does have some promo rates as low as 105 euros, depending on your dates (just used Fri. Nov. 15 as a test) on www.hotelbook.com Good luck!

Many years ago we , as a family, loved to stay at Colon Hotel, in Plaza Colon, this is a four stars hotel, where Placido Domingo lived at the time, a good deal . It was ideal for families , even the studios had full kitchens . The hotel had all the services, and in the ground floor there was a combination of a cafeteria, a bar-restaurant and a fine restaurant all served by the same kitchen . There is another hotel called Colon but this one right in Plaza Colon.

Maribel - or anyone - Both Los Jeronimos and Galicano have availability. From looking at the map, and remembering how far I had to walk to the hotel from the Biblioteca Nacional in 1970, the Galicano is a little bit "out of the way". But not much? I remember distances in Madrid being extensive - but I was there doing research in the Bib. Nac., and highly stressed - no travel pleasure that time. Both look like great places from their websites. The Galicano is a little less expensive. We don't speak Spanish, but I've survived other trips without language, so that doesn't worry me. Maps and pointing and sign language and a smile work really well. So...given that, any strong pros/cons? And isn't nice to have this all working again?!! Thanks Fodors! Marcia

Hi Marcia, I was doing (not easy) research in the Biblioteca Nacional in '70 too! Remember what a time-consuming process that was! About the Galiano vs. Jeronimos. Although the Galiano will be about a 20 min. walk from the Prado, since it's right there at Plaza Colon, you can hop on bus 27, 14 or 45 to get you down to the Prado, or bus 5 to take you straight to Sol. I take them all the time. Or you can hop on the metro (but with line changes it takes longer). But buy a 10 ride "metro-bus bono" ticket for a 50% savings, and your whole group can use the same ticket. The advantage of the Galiano is that it's on a quiet, 1 block long street (right above the Ministerio del Interior that fights ETA terrorism, with those machine-gun carrying Guardias stationed there 24/7) but yet in the center of activity. And at night, that section of the Castellana is really pretty now, and a walk up the boulevard takes you to the outdoor "terrazas" for nightlife (after 11) or a walk down takes you to the literary-legend Cafe Gijon and the pretty Belle Epoque Pabellon del Cafe del Espejo for tapas/people watching/dining. If you have teens in tow, there are several eateries in the neighborhood that they would like. And the Restaurante Hylogui is across the street-they serve nice, big sandwiches on crusty bread (bocadillos de lomo) at the bar. Plus the delicastessen "Mallorca" is a short way away on Serrano, near the B.Nacional. The only caveat here is that if it's summer, ask for a room on the ground floor, as the A/C in my upstairs room on a 40 C day just didn't cool the rm down enough. Downstairs it's fine. I call the Galiano my "decompression chamber" because it's tomb-like silent. Feels like a private home, which it is upstairs. The Espahotel suites are all nice. The Jeronimos is located in kind of a "dead" area behind the Prado. To reach restaurants, tapas bars you need to cross the Paseo del Prado and go into the Huertas/Plaza Santa Ana section of Old Madrid (where you'll have tons) or walk up to Plaza Cibeles. So you'll be doing some walking there as well. The construction work on the Prado annex has been stopped around the Jeronimos, so it's quiet. If savings is your primary deciding factor, and the savings are significant, I'd go with the Galiano, but either will be fine. The Riofrio bar/cafeteria/restaurant complex at the Centro Colon (below the apts. I think Graziella is referring to on side street Marques de la Ensenada) is very handy for families to grab a bite to eat on the run or for dining outside traditional meal hrs. Cafeteria is open late. Also the NH Sanvy (the other hotel on the Plaza Colon besides the recently redone Melia Gran Hotel Fenix, next to Hard Rock) has a very pleasant upstairs restaurant called Sorolla. Nice set menus. Hope this helps you to decide.

Maribel, thank you so much. You are most helpful, as always. That is funny about the Biblioteca Nacional in 1970! Not only was it an arduous procedure, but it turned into a 5 minute nightmare at the end - a testament to my really poor Spanish and my youth. There were entrance forms in multiplicate - which I did. It was this time of year - warm. When I went to leave, this enormous guard, with a gun, wouldn't let me out. Since English was not a working language between us, so I was trying to use my little bit of Spanish, which I am certain was unintelligble. What I finally figured out was that it was a Catch-22. Somehow, someone had mistakenly relieved me of the green copy of the form and I couldn't leave with out it - but without forms, I couldn't get back in to get it. I was hot, tired, and on the verge of tears with visions of being hauled off to the local police station. Momentary inspiration struck, and I dropped into English, threw up my hands and shook my head in total helplessness and told him I had no idea what he was talking about, couldn't speak/understand etc. To my immense relief and total astonishment, it worked like a charm. I guess he figured anyone that clueless (with just a small purse and a folder - no briefcase) probably hadn't stolen the 50 pound medieval manuscript! I was out the door in a flash, totally drained and giggling hysterically while wiping away the tears! Hoping this trip will be less stressful! Marcia

Hi Marcia, Great story! Brings back so many memories of my similar experiences with that infamous Franco regime bureaucracy.

Hi Maribel, Marcia, I love to read your postings full of souvenirs and useful information, :-) thank you for reminding me of the name of Riofrio, that is the right name! Maribel you know every little corner...amazing! I haven´t been lately in that area, does anyone know what happened to the Hotel Colon , in Plaza Colon , the one that was some kind of an apart hotel with 4 stars, meaning very nice. ??????????

Hi Graziella, It seems the apts. are still there (the ones with the entrance on Marques de la Ensenada next to what used to be the Bocaccio disco-I looked into them myself about 8 yrs. ago), but they're no longer called the "Hotel Colon"-not sure of the name now. There's a "Fiesta Gran Hotel Colon" behind the Retiro whose name often confuses people. It's named for the discoverer but not located on his plaza! The only hotels currently on the Plaza Colon are the redone Melia Gran Hotel Fenix (the old Tryp Fenix) and the NH Sanvy. I'll see if I can find out what those apts. are called now... Hasta luego, Graziella.