My girlfriend stayed here one night between flights. They gave her a room that was only superficially clean - i.e, the bed was made and the toilet had a strip of paper across it that claimed it had been cleaned. But the bathroom smelled terrible, as if someone had vomited in it (the window had been left open - in an attempt to air out the room?) The floor was sticky (and there was a peanut on the floor- indicating that the place had not been properly vacuumed.) Oddly, the management, when told of this, was most concerned only about the spider she found in the bathtub. They DID give her a new room when she asked, so it wasn't a disaster, but it never should have happened. The new room was on the 4th floor and less exposed to traffic noise. She liked the view. Cost was about $100. She found it too complicated to figure out how to call the hotel to ask for a ride from the airport; she took a cab instead, for about $10.

For an airport hotel this one is fine, rooms are average to small for European standard, clean and comfortable. For those who complained about the window coverings, perhaps you did not know that there are external blinds that you can lower and the room is dark as night even in midday. Location to the airport and nearby metro line to access other areas of Madrid is good. The shuttle to/from the airport was fine. We stayed here on the last day of our 12 day Spain holiday and it was what I expected for a hotel near the airport. Be warned the restaurant in the hotel is horrible - the worst food I've been served in a restaurant in any country. We paid over $100.00 USD for 4 meals that we could only stomach a few bites of - horrible paella - salads so salty you can eat them - and not a bit of concern from the staff when we told them we could not eat what they served us. This in itself is enough reason for me to say I would not stay here again.

I have to disagree with the some of the negative statements previous reviewers have made about this hotel. For an airport hotel, the Villa De Barajas is perfectly okay. We arrived at Madrid airport after an overnight flight from the US and the hotel's free shuttle bus picked us up after about a fifteen minute wait. When we checked in, they immediately gave us the key to the room, even though it was only 10am in the morning. The room itself was fairly small but spotlessly clean and quiet enough for us to catch a midday snooze before heading into town. Getting to the center of Madrid is easy and only costs one Euro using the Metro which is just a short walk down the road from the hotel. We visited Retiro park, the Prado, the Reina Sofia and Plaza Mayor before returning to the hotel later that night. The Metro is clean and felt perfectly safe to us. We chose a hotel close to the airport because we had to catch an early morning flight to Rome the next day and did want to get up extra early to allow time to get to the airport. As planned, the hotel shuttle bus got us there on time. Of all of the Madrid airport area hotels that I looked at, this one offered the best rate and I really cannot see any reason to pay more.

One of the worst hotels I have ever stayed at. Even for the price, one can do far better than the Villa De Barajas in Madrid. Of the many problems I experienced there during my 3 night stay: 1) Horrific service. I called for the "free airport shuttle" and was promised it would arrive in 10-15 minutes. *FIFTY* minutes later, right before I was going to give up and call a taxi, the shuttle van finally arrived. As another example, I came back to the hotel at night and asked the front desk if they had a recommendation for a restaurant in the neighborhood. The front desk clerk told me just to go to the hotel restaurant (which had all the charm of a low-class McDonalds), and when I said I was more interested in eating out of the hotel, he said, "Well, there are many restaurants in this neighborhood. Just pick one." 2) Tiny rooms. It felt more like entering a cell in a monastery than a real room. 3) Rooms in poor repair. I came up to my room to find that the room number had fallen OFF THE DOOR! That was ominous enough, but after the van ride from the airport, it was becoming almost comical how inept this hotel was. Half the lights in the bathroom were also blown out, and never replaced during my stay. While in poor repair, the room still was acceptably clean. 4) Poor location. While it is fairly close to the airport, it is 45 minutes to an hour outside of downtown Madrid where all the real tourist attractions are. Even for an airport hotel, it was extremely disappointing. The only saving grace of the location is that it is about 2 blocks away from the last stop of a subway line. Needless to say, even if one needs to stay close to the Madrid airport, I would still not recommend this hotel. It is an embarrassment to the Best Western name.

I had low expectations since this was an airport hotel and they were met. The room was small, cold and dark. The beds were soft. The hot water was lukewarm. The window treatments didn't keep out the light. The breakfast was a croissant and coffee. On a positive note, the shuttle was convenient. We called from the airport and the shuttle arrived within 15 minutes. The shuttle driver was friendly. We had no reason to stroll the streets late at night but they didn't look inviting.