Crowne Plaza Madrid - Centre Retiro

A very nice hotel with a relatively good location. Right outside, there's a bus stop that takes you directly to the city center. The room isn't huge, but it's very comfortable, and the soundproofing and blackout curtains at night are excellent.

The hotel is right near the Spanish Steps, and you can see the plaza from the window. It has an outdoor pool, but unfortunately, it was a bit too cold to try it out.

The hotel is located right next to Retiro Park, on the edge of Madrid's central business district. It takes over half an hour by subway to get to the Royal Palace or the Prado Museum area, or about 15 minutes by taxi. The nearest metro station is a very close 3-minute walk away. The hotel's cleanliness was decent, but it's clear the facilities are quite old. I booked a room without breakfast, but for some reason, breakfast was complimentary, which was a nice surprise. The variety wasn't extensive, but the taste was acceptable. You could also order from a menu.

The room was spacious enough for four people. It was incredibly comfortable and clean, absolutely perfect for a family stay. The surroundings and facilities were thoughtful and convenient. For breakfast, we opted for the community cafe next to the hotel, which was delicious. The lobby also offered complimentary sparkling water and still water refills, which was a fantastic perk for us.

The room was very spacious, and the service was excellent. The hotel was also very clean, and the lobby was quite large.

I booked a family room, and the sofa bed was a large and spacious double. The only issue was that room 305 had a TV with a poor signal, causing a pixelated screen. If you're looking to watch the World Cup or any other game, definitely avoid this room. Secondly, the air conditioner had a loud hum, which seemed to be a compressor issue. However, a good workaround was to turn down the fan speed, and it quieted down considerably. Other than that, there were no other major problems. The staff's response time was very quick, including fixing the AC (even though they just removed and cleaned the filter, their attitude was excellent, and they responded promptly). The day before leaving, I asked a male front desk staff member to help me book a taxi to the airport, and I was very grateful for his help with my luggage and seeing me off. Their English was also excellent (perhaps due to many English-speaking guests), so there were no communication problems whatsoever. The only downside was that when I booked, I saw comments saying Madrid isn't that big and you can take a taxi anywhere, which led me to book this hotel. In reality, a more central location would be more convenient for getting around. Even though the hotel is near Retiro Park, it's a 6-minute walk to the metro station, and there are buses nearby, but getting to the city center still takes over half an hour, and a taxi to El Corte Inglés takes 28 minutes... (considering it was 40-degree weather, you really don't want to walk that long). However, the fact that there were often taxis waiting right outside the hotel made up for this quite well. All in all, it was decent, but if you can choose a hotel in a more central, well-located area, go for that. If you want a quiet location with considerate, warm, and friendly staff, then choose this hotel. The room's mini-bar came with many complimentary drinks. There's a Carrefour just a 4-minute walk away, and many Chinese restaurants catering to Spanish people nearby, but Uber Eats can deliver better food from the city center in about an hour. They close late, around 11-12 PM in the summer, which is nice.

I stayed at this hotel again, and I'd like to thank the lobby manager for arranging a room with a terrace on the 10th floor. It was so comfortable to enjoy the cool evening breeze there. The hotel breakfast was superb, and for dinner, I tried their one-kilogram steak, which is supposedly the best in Europe – it was incredibly tender and delicious.