After bailing out of yet another sub standard hotel, we booked into the Holiday Inn. Whilst it is nothing too brilliant, the rooms were clean, the bed quite reasonable and the service pleasant.

This is a typical Holiday Inn, I guess, reasonable standards all round, with nothing spectacular. Definitely not a tourist-friendly location, being in the financial district of Madrid, far removed from the cultural heart. In fact, I found the surroundings downright depressing, as the buildings were clearly constructed in the late 70's and early 80's, and the surrounding streets felt a little unsafe, although there was no problem walking around, fortunately. Public transportation available by either Metro or bus, but when you're on holiday, and time is at a premium, the last thing you want is to travel further than necessary - well, for me anyway. Perfect if you're a soccer fan, as the Santiago Bernabeu stadium (home of the Real Madrid team) is right opposite, and sells Real Madrid merchandise. Lousy gym - poor selection of equipment. Would recommend tourists to choose hotels in the downtown area, e.g. Salamanca, Gran Via or Retiro.

Checked in. My wife went sleeping and I went walking. When came back I asked at the counter what kind of room I had and what did I book. They told me I had standard, but no idea what I had booked. I asked to use their computers in the Business center and checked my confirmation that I indeed had booked a executive room. They apologized. I was not happy. Told me that we could move to an executive room. I had booked a 2-4-1 rate of 240?/2nights and they told me that the rate was so low, that they thought I had to have a standard room. Is 120?/night without breakfast a low rate in Madrid? I asked to speak to the manager on duty and told her that I wasn?t quite satisfied in getting less than I had paid for. After I ask, I get what I had prepaid for. Is this standard practice at the hotel? No, she says and apologizes. I take the key to the higher floor room and find out that the room is exactly the same as the standard room, but there?s a bathrobe and you get one juice, a water and a chocolate bar from the minibar for free. I go back downstairs and tell them that I?m not waking up my wife to move into that "executive" room. And I tell them they?d better not charge me the higher price. When checking out, they had fixed the bill. I understand that mistakes happen. It?s their attitude that bugged me the most. Other than that the hotel is quite tired and in need of a facelift.

Due to a good experience in two very reliable Holiday Inn's in a recent trip to France, I decided to choose Holiday Inn this time for a weekend in Madrid. The hotel building is in a big office complex made in the 1980's and 90's. The rooms are big, and although a bit old-fashioned, extremly well mantained. The staff is friendly and ready to help. They were also prone to share the old tradition of conversation as good people from Madrid, of course, in Spanish. Moreover, I think they have been very effectively briefed. The hotel is very near the Castellana, the big avenue that crosses Madrid from North to South. The hotel is about 5 Km. (3 Miles) North from Museo del Prado, for example. There are lots of buses that go along this avenue. You can pay cash, provided you have change. The bus is nicer than the subway, as you can enjoy the avenue at all its length. I imagine, however, that it can be a bit inconvenient on raining days. I would warmly recommend to avoid crossing the office complex during the night, for security reasons. This is easy, because the hotel is situated in the perimeter of the complex. There is no problem during the day. Breakfast is excellent, really above average.