[Closed] Madrid - Where to Stay?

I think Madrid is better than Barcelona, more because of the general ambience rather than any architectural beauties. The real joy of Madrid is just walking around, soaking up the atmosphere and finding lovely little squares. For a weekens trip concentrate on tapasing your way around, there's a lot of lovely places to eat and drink. Madrid is centred on Puerta del Sol where there are hundreds of bars, some touristy, some not. Go to Papa Bravas for the Patatas Bravas, lovely. Nearby you have Plaza Sanat Ana, which is a great place to sit outside and watch the world go by, close to here is Cafe Central which hosts fanatastic live Jazz at the weekends.
Plaza Mayor is a good place to sit with an overpriced beer, here got to "el torre oro", its a bar that show bullfights oin video where the bull wins. Around the side streets near Plaza Mayor there are variety of bars and resaurants worth trying, especially "lizarran" a basque bar, great tapas(your first is free).
The retiro park is a great place to go walking in the afternoon. There are plenty of museums and buildings to admire, most are walking distance of the centre, so just randomly walk and discover them.

Places to stay, lots of cheap Pensions around Puerta del sol, better places include the TRYP on Gran Via which is often very cheap, otherwise check out the NH and Sol Melia chains. Anywhere central will do as the Metro is cheap and excellent.

Madrid's a great city for a long weekend, all the good stuff is in a fairly small area. Aim for a hostal / hotel somewhere near Sol, Santa Ana, Gran Via or Plaza Mayor - you'll be within walking distance of 95% of what tourist Madrid has to offer.

When my parents have been to visit they've stayed a couple of times at the [url= http://maps.google.es/maps?sourceid=navclient&hl=es&rlz=1T4GGIH_esES270ES270&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=hotel+londres+madrid&fb=1&split=1&gl=es&cid=0,0,17600750106409143050&ei=bEJjSqOSHImCnQOciJX4Dw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1 ]Hotel Londres[/url], seems OK and the location is perfect. Mind you, most of the hostals around the center are fairly cheap and clean, perfect for a weekend break anyway, so check around.

If you do come, don't forget it's hot out here at the moment!

Price guide might be a good idea. What type of accommodation are you looking for just a cheap room or a more decent hotel.

Places to avoid, Puerto del Sol and Plaza Mayor..... sorry Mackem, but they are just tourist central. Expensive and not good quality if I remember.

Better areas for visiting are further up C/Fuencarral, head towards Plaza Dos de Mayo/ Chueca (yes, it's the gay area, but also quite interesting)/ get around Malasaña. Anything near Plaza de España/Plaza Oriente should be a bit quieter a are still very central.
Have a look [url= http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do ]here[/url], search for nightlife, then find a hotel far away!!!

Somewhere quite to stay??? Ha ha, this is Madrid. There is nowhere. When I visited, I stayed in a place near to Atocha station, not too bad pricewise.

When are you coming? July and August will leave you in a relatively quiet city as everyone is on holiday!!!

[i]Places to avoid, Puerto del Sol and Plaza Mayor..... sorry Mackem, but they are just tourist central. Expensive and not good quality if I remember.[/i]

There's a reason they're tourist central - it's where all the bits most tourists would want to see are... For a weekend break the price difference isn't going to be that much. Chueca's not a bad recommendation, though I doubt it'll be any cheaper than Sol tbh.

You're right about the lack of quiet, though!

Thanks Guys.

Re budget will probably be thinking of spending up to £100 per night for a room. Expedia seems to be offering 4* for around that price.

There's a reason they're tourist central - it's where all the bits most tourists would want to see are... For a weekend break the price difference isn't going to be that much.

I completely agree, but I think the bars and restaurants are overpriced and crap, I would much prefer to spend in Plaza Oriente where the restaurants are not cheap and the food is good. 😉

We stayed in Chueca - had a quiet flat. I wouldn't stay there if you're homophobic, but otherwise it was nice - lots of nice shops (some of which weren't sex shops) and things but not too full on.

It is quite an expensive city, especially with the exchange rate. The people are famously rude, and don't expect people not to get annoyed with you if you don't speak much Spanish. There is nice enough food, although if either of you doesn't eat meat, I'd not bother going. We found the quality of ingredients etc. nothing like as good as in Italy, you can get better food in London without trying too hard.

If you really like art, then the museums are great, if you like old art, then the Prado is amazing, and the Reina Sofia is a very nice building, with some good more modern art in it. If you don't like art, you're probably looking at the wrong place to visit, at least as far as the major tourist attractions go.

Joe

Lots of cheap places to stay in the middle of town. Whenever I've been, there's always been a strong pound against the pesata/euro so staying right in the middle in a nice(ish) hotel was affordable. The Tryp Gran Via was nice and was where Hemmingway stayed during the civil war. His desk is still in the bar. Personally, I prefered the Hotel Opera down by, well, you know, and also the Palacio Real.
Wherever you stay, you're in for a treat. Love the place 8)

[i]The people are famously rude, and don't expect people not to get annoyed with you if you don't speak much Spanish[/i]

Maybe right in the center, but a little further out they're fine, not servile as you'd expect in a UK restaurant, but certainly not rude.

Another thing: if you're coming for a long weekend, be aware that on Monday most of the museums are closed.