Check In

Used the free airport shuttle to the hotel, approx 10mins.  Fast and prompt check in with Accor Gold status regonised and upgrade to Executive room.

Room

Clean, spacious and quiet. Good bathroom, mini bar too warm.

Service

Discreet and friendly staff

Dining

Good breakfast options and evening bar snack/meal.

Location

A few minutes walk to Feira de Madrid Metro Station. gives acces via one stop to Terminals 1,2,3 at the airport and approx 25mins into Sol in the heart of Madrid

Pool

Overall

Well recommended

I stayed there recently for a three nights stay. The rate were quite competititve and I was globally happy with the hotel, despite a few minor issues. 

Check In

I arrived there quite late in the evening. Check-in took only a short time as my key was ready and there was not too much to explain about the hotel. Voucher for a drink was given, no mention of an upgrade. The staff was polite and as it was Halloween night, we had some fun when a fake Donald Trump came in for check-in.

Room

I had booked a Superior room with 1 King size bed and I guess this is what I received. The official description says: This soundproofed 312 sq. ft. room with a double size bed measuring 79 x 71 in and a sofa bed, LCD TV, safe, bathroom with shower and hair dryer. Complimentary CO Bigelow toiletries, bathrobe, slippers and complimentary water. Free WIFI.

When I arrived I put my luggage down and immediately look for the complimentary water, as I was thirsty. In the mini bar there was one bottle of still water, along a few sodas and orange juice (no alcohol neither snack). There was no mini bar price list I could see so I assume the bottle of water was the complimentary one, despite not having a tag mentioning this. 

It turned out that the free water was in the bathroom (weird location to put it): two 500 ml bottle with a tag saying "Complimentary" were replenished every day. The mini bar content was also for free. I wish the check-in agent would have mentioned it.

The room was OK. It was clearly dated, some of the furniture was in a dire state, the curtains had red and brown stains. The desk was perfectly adequate as well as the desk chair. The bed was not as comfortable as I am used too at a Pullman. It was somewhat soft and you could feel the springs moving. The pillow were good on the other hand.

The bathroom was the opposite of the room: very modern, they seem to be recently renovated. The shower had good pressure and temperature control, and had four modes:

- Hand held

- Rain shower

- Massaging backside

- Massaging the back (you need to be seated for this)

Typical CO Bigelow amenities, plus razor kit, comb, vanity, etc ...

Service

Service was good on general but some staff were not very patient. One evening I decided to eat in my room and I ordered a TV tray at room service. The agent on the phone hang down on my two times as "I can not help you with your TV". I had to resort to very broken spanish and order a "menu de cine" for him to understood what I wanted. 

Location

Location is very good for the airport and the Feria/IFEMA. There is an entrance to the metro station Feria de Madrid 200 meters away, with direct access to the airport and to Nuevo Ministerios. It took me 25 minutes to Sol, 25 minutes to the Tribunal area and its many restaurants. 

The hotel also has a shuttle to the airport, every 30 minutes, free of charge.

Gym

Tiny and underequiped: one standing bycicle, one treadmill, free weights, one bench. They should give it a better space and invest in equipments. 

This was a 3 night stay and I chose this hotel due to the location close to MAD Barajas as I had meetings in this area. 

Although nothing was extremely bad, I don’t recommend this hotel as it is very outdated and is in urgent need of renovation. The atmosphere is depressing (accentuated by the fact that it was not busy at all, so you have a feeling of emptiness). I really missed the nice modern design you find easily in Spanish hotels (contrarily to Italy where old and dusty hotels are very common). 

It is in a large building shared with a Novotel, 200m from Feria metro station, one station from MAD T1/2/3 and 3 stations from MAD T4 (line 8), so quite convenient. Of course, it’s a place of choice for fairs and exhibitions. There was no fairs/exhibitions when I was there, hence the relatively low bookings. 

Check In

I was nicely welcomed at checkin and was upgraded from Executive room to Junior Suite. Welcome drink was given at checkin. As soon as I entered the lobby, I felt the outdated character. It “smells old” everywhere with a kind of relish of cold tobacco in the background, if you see what I mean. 

Staff at front desk was always nice and welcoming.

This is the lobby

This impression was confirmed in those very red corridors (really not my cup of tea) and in the room. 

Room

Everything looked old, although furnitures were in acceptable shape. The suite was composed of 2 joined rooms, one used as bedroom and the other one as living room. There were 2 full bathrooms. One TV per room, one desk per room. So the upgrade was certainly a nice one as I had plenty of space, but the outdated look just made me a bit sad. There were 2 minibars with soft drinks (for free) and a Nespresso machine. Plenty of water bottles, replaced daily. Bathrobes but no slippers, although some were placed in the room on Day 2. Very few plugs accessible and none on bedsides (you need to unplug the lamps).

No welcome letter, but the following plate of sweets as welcome gift. I found it somewhat minimalist for a Pullman and as Diamond amenity. 

Both bathrooms had a bathtub (no walk-in showers). Bigelow products 

There was no turndown service. 

View from the room (note that many rooms are facing the pool).

Dining

I had dinner at the hotel the 1st evening. Only the lobby bar was open. I redeemed the drink voucher for a glass of Sangria. The food was really nothing to write home about (disappointing for Spain), and the bar tender was not so pleasant (never smiling, seemed bored with his job). 

Breakfast buffet was served in the "Mare Nostrum restaurant", a very depressing room as you can see on the pictures. The buffet proposed a decent choice but warm items (eggs, bacon, etc) were cold. Staff was friendly there. 

Pool

The pool is a big plus of this hotel, but the surroundings are also depressing as you can see. They could put some plants or other decoration items to make it a bit nicer. Note that there is exactly the same pool 10m away for the Novotel (there is no separation, so you can go from one to the other). I have been twice in the evening returning from work meetings and there were always left cans, bottles, papers on the ground that no one seemed to care about. Each pool is attended by a lifeguard. They were totally bored and obviously, doing a minimum of housekeeping was not part of their job description. 

Overall

I obtained a late checkout at 2pm without difficulty (not surprising if low occupancy). 

Overall, although I was very decently treated at this hotel, I would not return before a complete renovation is done and the hotel is bring back to Pullman standards.