i_am_kane

We've bought our plane tickets to Madrid, and now the hotel selection is stumping me. We are six family members, including 16-yr. old girl and a 13-yr. old boy.

Our arrival date is June 28, 2009 (when school is out) for three nights then we move on to Barcelona. The lodging should be in Old Madrid so that we can move around easily using public transportation.

I've planned quite a few trips to Europe, but this one is throwing me a curve. One thing for sure is we need good A/C. Breakfast included in the room rate is a wild card.

After almost three weeks, I've narrowed my choices down to the following:

Hostal Adriano
Hotel Meninas
Room Mate Alicia (bathroom set up is odd)
Hotel Plaza Mayor
Vincci Centrum
Vincci Soho

My DIL would like to walk out of the hotel and hit the bricks running. The grandkids like the excitement of a lively area, my son will go along with anything. Me and my husband are looking for a good night's sleep and from all accounts, Madrid never sleeps.

DeborahAnn

kane, my husband and I stayed at the Hotel Plaza Mayor selected from the hotels Maribel suggested. It was perfect. We loved being close the Plaza Mayor and were able to walk to most of our destinations. Never heard a sound in the room or from the outside. If Maribel gives you any suggestions you can't go wrong. Have a great trip, Deborah

cmeyer54

You don't mention a budget which might help narrow things down; we stayed at the westin palace with our teens - we needed two rooms but you might need three. The location is wonderful, the lobby bar is gorgeous and its well located...but pricey.

i_am_kane

Deborah, Thank you for input on Hotel Plaza Mayor...quiet is GOOD. I assume you have no complaints, or you would have mentioned it.

cmeyer, If it were just me and my husband, a more upscale, luxurious room wouldn't be a budget-buster. On this trip, we are paying for everything for six people. I'm trying to keep the daily room rate in a nice, updated hotel to "around" 100 euro a night.

Surfergirl

Well, you didn't mention the Tryp Hotel Reina Victoria, where the bullfighters stay, right off Plaza Santa Ana.

You're right, Madrid never sleeps (except during the day!).

We loved this hotel -- depending on the room, you may or may not need earplugs.

We were a family of 4, and had 2 rooms -- the parents had one room, and the kids (16 and 11) took the other, next to each other. Great A/C, breakfast included, and you really walked out of the hotel onto a crazy plazza -- the tapas bar center of Madrid.

dmlove

Not on your list, but we loved, the Hotel Preciados. A small modern boutique hotel (not on the grand scale of the Westin Palace or Villa Real). The rooms are small, but so well designed that the size was of no consequence. The bathroom is actually pretty large (by the way, we rejected staying at the Roommate Alicia specifically because of the bathroom arrangement). Its at one end of the pedestrian-only Calle Preciados, about 2 minutes from Puerto del Sol. Our room looked over the narrow street behind the hotel - never a sound. You can see my review (with pictures) at tripadvisor.

i_am_kane

Surfergirl and dmlove, Great hotel suggestions.

We are probably going to split up the hotel rooms like this: My and my husband, DIL and GD, Son and DS. Quad rooms were an option when my GD was 12 and we visited Italy, but she'll be approaching 16 y.o. on this trip and privacy may be an issue.

I'll tell you, I really needed to get on Fodors to get feedback - thanks again.

Surfergirl

We go with extended family often, and I think the one time we learned that getting a quad may not be such a great idea (or even that much cheaper) was in 1994. We like 3 star hotels, so often you'll get this big, big room (that you're all stuck in, lol!) and this little tiny bathroom that was probably added when they realized that Americans don't usually appreciate the bathroom down the hall thing.

So when you compare price, take bathrooms into the equation. Of course, in Spain, they created the great bathroom (my mom says it had something to do with the Franco regime, and she had this whole history on the subject -- don't know if it's true or not, but even in dumps, you seem to get the nice bathroom!).

The extra bathroom can make all the difference between a good family relationship and a great one.

amsdon

I have not been to these yet, but I thought I read ( in Maribel's guides?) that some of the Room mate hotels (room mate Laura) had duplexes? Upstairs & downstairs? Perhaps that would work?

I find the roomate website is harder to see the general overview
http://room-matehotels.com/eng/madri...bitaciones.php

But here is one of many sites that give a good overview http://www.ciaobambino.com/profile.asp?id=33

On trip advisor they said some delux duplex rooms have two baths.

dmlove

I wonder if that's TWO baths open to the bedroom (seriously)?

amsdon

It was trip advisor that said two so I assumed two bedrooms, two baths..???

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ra-Madrid.html

cova

Surfergirl, the Reina Victoria exists no more since a couple of years ago. Itīs the ME right now, very stylish and certainly not in the budget.

Have you checked any of the Petit Palace and High Tech hotels? They have plenty of them in the centre, and they are usually nice.

Cova

dmlove

amsdon, I wasn't questioning whether there were two baths, but whether both baths are "open" to the bedroom. The Roommate Alicia (at least, I didn't check the others) has a shower that isn't exactly private. Apparently the shower has a partially frosted door (strategically placed?) but the shower is still "in" the bedroom. No thanks!

Maribel

I_am_kane,
For total bathroom privacy, you'll need to avoid the Room Mate Alicia's standard rooms with open bathrooms, and shower part of the bedroom. Not for those with privacy issues. The Alicia duplexes don't have two bathrooms. The Room Mate Laura duplex apartments might.

I personally prefer the handy Barrio de las Letras location for first-timers rather than closer to Sol where the Preciados and Laura are located, by that's a personal matter.

And I'm not such a big fan anymore of the High Tech/Petit Palace group in Madrid because they're building them so fast that they lack proper finishing details and good sound proofing, plus they just don't offer as good a value as the Room Mate hotels with that free buffet breakfast served until noon. The only P.P.-High Tech ones that I do like are the 4 star Petit Palace Embassy and High Tech President, but both are in the swank Salamanca quarter so rates run high.

Yes, the old Reina Victoria, totally gutted and reinvented as the ME is very expensive.

One can sometimes find really great rates at the very nice 4 star Meninas (we have a 109 rate there in Nov. including buffet breakfast), but usually not in late June (but you never know...).

If you do book 3 rooms and do want to keep the rate to around 100 euros, then your least expensive, best option, by all means, is the Hotel Plaza Mayor-both for price and location.

I know all the hotels on your list plus the Preciados, and the Plaza Mayor offers the best *consistent* quality to price ratio. Low rates, but seems to please.

Hostal Adriano is cheaper but the P.M. has the better location, for my money.

So, if price is indeed a major factor (and you still want to stick to three doubles for 100 each), plus have a location to move around easily and hit the ground running in a lively area, then the Plaza Mayor, as Deborah says, would be a solid choice. Good value for a low price.

Just my thoughts...

worldclass

another vote for hotel preciados. once you step outside your hotel, it is very lively. fnac and el corte ingles are on one end of the street, on the plaza del sol side. other side leads to plaza mayor. we stayed there in 2005 and were given free buffet breakfast with our 100 euro/night rate. the breakfast is quite good.

i_am_kane

I'm on the East Coast in the U.S., so I just logged on today, and found all these wonderful responses!

Hostal Adriano replied with a quote of 72 euro for a double and 100 euro for a quad (I responded asking them if two of the beds would be cots, which is unacceptable to me). Anyway, in the message, I was cautioned that the FITUR (World Tourism Fair) is taking place during the time period that I need rooms. I'm sure room inventory will start to get scarce and rates will rise.

Room Mate Alicia also responded to me with a total room rate of 353,00 euro for three rooms per night. (I just can't wrap my mind around those weird bathroom set-ups.)

Maribel, you explain everything beautifully and cut right to the chase. Regarding the Hotel Meninas, the rates on the web site yesterday were as follows: double room for three nights is 311 euro, and two twin-bed rooms for three nights is 622 euro - with breakfast included. This hotel (like cream) has risen to the top right now.

I will wait for responses from the other hotels I sent e-mails to prior to making a decision.

Right now, I'm sending an e-mail to the Hotel Preciados for rates.

i_am_kane

Hostal Adriano just replied to my inquiry about the four single beds (or cots) in the quad room: They are beds.

There was a misunderstanding with the dates. The hotel thought that I meant January (the trade show?), not June 2009 and wrote it is too early for such a reservation. They do not have the rates for June 2009. Further...I can easily contact them by February 2009 (this is, 3 to 4 months before) for this reservation.

amsdon

Interesting about the bathrooms, yes that could be an issue...I see there is some commenting of ensuite baths, but the official Romate Laura website says this:

Bathroom equipment:
- Complete, private bathroom
- Magnifiying mirror
- Hair dryer
- Variety of amenities
- American-style heavy-duty towels

Hmmmm...if that ends up being the best $$ deal I suggest thoroly checking out Trip Advisor or e mailing re the bathroom privacy.

I have my eye on the Meninas too. Maribel are you going in Nov? Lucky!

amsdon

whoops I am sorry I meant "thoroughly" sheesh,

Too early for spell check rushing in the morning.

i_am_kane

amsdom,

In Maribel's Madrid Guide regarding the Room Mate Laura, she writes: "...trendy (read minimum) privacy) baths."

Perhaps, if Maribel reads this thread again, she will clarify the description of the bathrooms.

I "think" the Laura is more expensive than the other properties I mentioned, but I will check once again.

I noticed that no one has commented on the Vincci properties. Hmmm.