Check out the tapa bars here...
by Krystynn
Check out the tapa bars here in Madrid.
But do remember one very important fact though: The Spanish meal times are legendary! The Spaniards have their lunch from 2PM to 4PM and their dinner? After 9PM! If you pop in to a tapa bar any earlier, you'd probably be the only lonesome soul in there..... unless you meet other like-minded tourists. :-))
Another place I'd like to recommend is the 'VIPS' Spanish fast food chain. They sell all kinds of food here - from sandwiches to sphagetti etc. The VIPS eaterie that I frequent the most is the branch located just down the street from the Miguel Angel Hotel/ InterContinental Hotel. The prices at this joint are VERY reasonable too! The service here however is kinda slow; so, if you are in a rush (like I was one afternoon), I had to forego my lunch after waiting for almost 45 minutes for my food to appear. It didn't. So..... :-(((
Excellent hotel and service
by TripAdvisor Member Honu_Ohana
We are staying here and I´m writing this from the excellent (if a bit pricey) business center computer. My husband is here for a business conference and I have come along--this is our second stay here in two years. The hotel is one of the best business hotels in Madrid. The lobby and public areas are immaculate, lots of marble and crystal. The rooms are very clean and well serviced, good bathrooms, adequate lighting. One slight drawback is only 2 small dresser drawers, requiring ¨living out of a suitcase¨rather than unpacking all for the 4 night stay.
The breakfast buffet is included in our rate. It is excellent, lots of variety in tersm of eggs, ham, other meats and cheeses, pastries, cereal, yogurts. The garden restaurant has a new chef and menu but we stuck with the lobster paella that we enjoyed last trip. The concierge staff is very helpful (we arranged for tours by email before we arrived). On Monday, when the museums were closed, I went to the Madrid Zoo. It´s a good zoo, with tigers, lions. bears, etc. plus a great coral reef aquarium with shark tank and a dolphin show. One WARNING--it is easy to get to the Zoo by cab but can be very hard to get a cad to go back to the hotel. Be sure you take teh hotel phone number with you and know how to use a Spanish pay phone. I had the first, didn´t know how to use a pay phone, and it made for an interesting half hour...but I finally reached the IC concierge, who gave me a better cab company to call and all turned out well. There is also a Metro stop (Caso de Campo) about a half mile from the Zoo entrance, better to take that than a bus and get totally lost."
I would recommend this hotel for anyone, tourist or business traveler. It is about a 30 minute walk to the Prado, closer to the Archeological Museum, Science Museum, and shopping.
A good Basque restaurant outside the hotel is Alkalde, Calle Jorge Juan 10, about a 20 min walk.
Not All That
by TripAdvisor Member Ontheballcity
Stayed here for a weekend with my wife, what can I say except that I was massively underwhelmed. I totally agree with the review from a previous traveller with regards to the common areas being fantastic, but the rooms themselves were nowhere near 5 star standard, from the look of the pics of the "view" that the previous traveller had, my room was in the same area as theirs. Don't get me wrong, the rooms were clean and the housekeeping staff were spot on. However, there was not enough room to swing the proverbial cat, the bathroom shower screen had a huge gap, so it was not possible to shower without making the bathroom floor look like a pond, there was a very funny smell in the room (not my feet). I guess I was just expecting more, I had originally planned to use the Urban, but decided against it because all the reviews said the rooms were small, so you can imagine my display when I arrived here! I stayed at The Aurora at Gatwick the night before we flew here, and I can honestly say that my room there was far superior to this!
Had a great stay
by TripAdvisor Member crvcrv
The Intercontinental at Paseo de la Castellana was excellent in every respect. I had joined Intercontinental's Priority Club (at no cost) one year prior to this stay, and they placed my wife and I in a beautiful, spacious room at no additional cost. Everyone was uniformly helpful and cordial. The location was very good in the sense that it was central, within a mile from the most important sights, yet quiet at night. I would definitely stay there again.
Standard fare
by TripAdvisor Member DB15
Typical business hotel - good for a city break.
Staff not particularly helpful, especially if you are a tourist rather being their on business.
We upgraded to use the executive lounge - a bit disappointed with it to be fair. The rooms are fine and clean.
Excellent, well run, Business luxury hotel.
by TripAdvisor Member RossandJoan
This hotel is geared towards the business traveller on a substantial expense account and would therefore account for the slightly clinical atmosphere. However, this did not detract from a very comfortable and flawless stay.
The Reception area is tiny, fortunately we had booked a Club Room and as such were steered towards a much more personal check-in desk in the Club Lounge. The welcome was friendly and efficient which was reflected throughout our stay by all the Intercontinental staff.
If there was one criticism, the room we were allocated, whilst clean, with all the essential amenities, was smaller than we had expected. It was facing the noisy main road but the sound insulation was extremely efficient.
The double bed was in fact two twins pushed together - even the duvets were single! The beds were very comfortable.
Breakfast was slightly better than the standard fare but not exceptional.
In conclusion, it is hard to criticise the hotel but when we return to Madrid we will seek out somewhere, located closer to the centre of Madrid, which has more atmosphere and character.
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