The first and important tip about Hotel El Caloso, Calle de Leganitos 13, Madrid would be to ignore the map which says it is just by Plaza de Espana, Arrive in central Madrid by Metro from t.he airport at Barajas by all means; it’s €2 as opposed to over €30 by taxi – a huge saving unless you travel in the crowded rush period when the Metro is chaotic. BUT when you alight at P de Espana there are several flights of stairs to negotiate followed by a significant climb up Calle de Leganitos, and if you are schlepping bags on a warm evening it will kill you. I booked on Expedia and the hotel lobby meets the pictures on that site. The hotel seems to be composed of an older and a newer section. Two quite separate elevator systems serve those and the old back part has tortuous steps to negotiate before getting to the old, albeit always working elevators. The room was fairly spacious and everything in the en-suite shower room/ half-bath worked well. WiFi was promised and inquiry at the desk indicated that it only works in the lobby. Wrong! It worked in my room and I wish I had established that before I had been there for three nights. The lobby staff is pleasant and helpful but some have a poor command of English. Fair enough – few British hotel staff are fluent in Spanish but that’s generally because they are all Lithuanian. El Coloso is just a few minutes (uphill) walk from P Santa Domingo and a lot of good restaurants, or 5 mins from Gran Via. There's a shuttle bus to the airport for €20. Recommended - sure.

Just back from a wonderful weekend in Madrid. This hotel is a stone's throw from the metro station and within walking distance of many of the city's attractions. We were stunned at how many we stumbled upon when we went out for strolls! The staff were very friendly in this hotel, we booked a room and were given a suite at no extra cost. The bed was huge and the room had a large HD tv. The street the hotel is on looks bad but don't let put you off. Getting to and from the airport took us 35 minutes and that included 1 change of line. For that alone it's worth a stay.

Whenever I read negative reviews about a hotel, I always presume it's someone who likes complaining, or just had a very unluckly experience. However, I cannot stress strongly enough how bad this hotel is! And all 5 friends I holidayed with agree. The first problem was the location, which is quite a walk from the main attractions. It is based in an extremely dodgy looking area, next to the police station (conveniently) and in an area full of adult bars. The impressive entrance hall is completely ruined by the smell of sewage which greets you on arrival. They couldn't give us rooms on the same floor, despite booking months in advance, and even gave a couple of us a smoking room, which to non-smokers smelt vile. Another room was on the top floor with feeble air conditioning, and the best room filled with the stench of sewage when the air conditioning was left on. To make matters worse, one friend had 80euros stolen from her room, despite hiding it in her luggage. The staff were rude and unhelpful when we reported this and tried to brand us as liars rather than apologising. We later realised they have no security whatsoever. If you want a room key, you tell them which room number and they give you one, no questions asked! This is definitely not a 4 star, or even 3 star hotel. You have been warned!

After reading some of the reviews about this hotel I was very worried about the hotel itself as I had just booked it. On arrival we pulled up in a little street and couldn't see where our hotel was. We realised we were outside it but the hotel was obviously having some building work done on the outside with scafolding and sheet covering the front. Straight away I thought the bad reviews were right this is going to be horrible but as soon as we entered I was shocked. Inside the reception and decor was clean fresh looking, the receoptionists were very helpful greeted us and got us to our room straight away. The room itself was still in the same style and high standard. The bathroom was spacious with a great power shower and very fresh and clean with modern applicances. The actually bedroom was very spacious with lots of room and wardrobe space with lovely matching wooden features throughout. The room overlooked an alleway but this didn't bother us at all as it was away from the street and very quiet at all times. The location was excellent as it was close to everything and we walked everywhere to see the main sites and of course shopping! But also as it was off the main street Gran Via (which is very noisey with all the cars hooting) is was very quiet and we had a good sleep every night. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Madrid and the hotel was excellent I wish I didn't waste my time worrying about it, as at the end of the day you spend more time actually in Madrid than in your hotel room. But I would definately recommend this hotel to all my firends and family.

Excelente hotel. Situación inmejorable, justo entre Plaza de España y Gran Vía, puedes ir andando por toda la zona centro de Madrid. Habitaciones grandes, limpias y modernas con aire acondicionado, mini bar y TV vía satelite sin canales de pago, todas las películas gratuitas. Atención por parte del personal muy amable, estan siempre a tu servicio. Desayuno Buffet, increible, nunca habia visto un buffet de desayuno tan completo y destinado a todo tipo de cliente y con gran variedad de todo tipo de productos, ya sean dieteticos, frutas, bollerias o bacon, salchichas y demás. Lo que te apetezca seguro que allí está. Repito seguro