I'm going to be in Madrid for a short time and haven't been before so am looking for some tips on best part of town to stay, any 'must sees' etc. I'm arriving after 9pm on a Thursday and leaving Saturday morning. Basically looking for somewhere nice but not too expensive if paying cash. I also have Points with pretty much every hotel programme and am happy to use them if there's a standout redemption though. I'd prefer to be somewhere near lots of good tapas bars etc, but won't be having a really late night. Cheers!
I'm not aware of any standout point redemptions in Madrid. It's usually a very cheap market though, especially at weekends. There are dirt cheap Holiday Inns near public transport that might do the trick for an Accelerate target or two. I am curious to check out the new boutique Doubletree when it opens. The two SPG hotels are also great options. The MR AC hotels might be good value with converted SPG points. I was reading some of the Flyertalk thread on the Intercontinental, with people complaining that it's not central enough. Kind of like saying that the Hilton Tower Bridge isn't central... Presumably the problem is that Madrid is a big city and you have to take public transport sometimes... You want Calle Cava Baja for tapas although of course you'll find tapas places everywhere.
Fantastic tips Craig, exactly what I was after- cheers! Haha yeah, big cities are big... Madrid seems to have decent public transport though, so absolutely fine by me. I've narrowed it down to cheap Holiday Inns for 'Accelerate' ( I'll likely hit my targets regardless though), or Airbnb nearer the main stuff. Or maybe a decent RocketMiles, Flyingblue/Pointhound etc offer will come along before I book. Lots of good and reasonably priced options regardless!
Take a look at Melia - with a sale on they can have some good value options, and being their home market they have lots of hotels! Otherwise probably just find something on a good metro line, and go with that The Prado is excellent, and also open for free before closing. Aim to get there 30 minutes before to get a fair spot in the line, then pick a couple of areas to visit in your ~2 hours.
In my pre travel hacker days (or at least before I knew I was a travel hacker ) I used to stay at Melia hotels a lot. However, IIRC, the Melia options in more touristy areas of Madrid were over-priced and underwhelming.
With players like Ronaldo and Gareth Bale strutting their thing, Real Madrid is one of the most recognizable teams in the world. If Atlético Madrid is playing while you are there, you should definitely see them because they are more of an underdog story. Aquarius 2023 Horoscope have a knack for visiting high places and are very much fascinated by the idea of tall empires.
