Madrid – Ibis Madrid Alcorcon Tresaguas

For my time in Madrid, I decided to stay at this Ibis hotel, which was around a fifteen-minute underground journey away from the centre. It’d have been nicer to have stayed in the city centre, in the way I was able to in Seville, but it was just a little too expensive. I opted for this one as the room and breakfast came to around £40 per night.

The hotel is around a twenty-minute walk from the nearest underground station, although there’s a slightly nearer railway station.

The check-in process felt a little awkward, as it was mostly conducted in silence. The staff member seemed to speak English, but nonetheless, it was all efficiently handled. I was given my free drinks voucher, but this is perhaps the first time in my experience that it was only for a soft drink.

I’m not sure why the free drinks voucher was only for a soft drink, perhaps the hotel isn’t very generous, or perhaps it’s limited by Spanish law from giving away alcohol. However, the Fanta they gave me free is actually more expensive than the wine, which was €1.95 per glass.

The room. The sheet wasn’t like that, but I’d had to lie down after getting into the room as it was so hot outside. Ibis rooms have a standard design across the world, although this is the first time that the cushion to go on the bench on the right hand of the photo wasn’t there. I managed valiantly without it.

This was a complete bloody mystery to me. I have no idea why they’ve provided an ashtray in a non-smoking room, with a no smoking sign placed on it. I had wondered whether it was in case I wanted to go and smoke outside, but they had ashtrays there anyway. Since I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, and don’t intend to start now, I didn’t find the need to locate somewhere that I could use my ashtray.

If anyone from the hotel, over the next few years, ever reads this, I’d like to know the reasoning behind it though.

The breakfast selection was reasonable and there was lots of choice, with numerous different types of bread.

Churros or something similar.

There were cold meats, cold cheeses, cereals, freshly squeezed orange juice, fruit and yoghurts available. It was all acceptable and kept topped up by the staff, who all seemed friendly and helpful.

Overall, I thought that the hotel was a rather good choice, as it was clean, at the appropriate temperature for me (cold) and the breakfast met my expectations. I didn’t experience any noise issues either internally or externally and I thought that the price of the room was reasonable.

The only limitation for me, as a walker, was the location of the hotel, as it was just a little bit of a trek to walk to and from the underground station in the heat (I might have mentioned that it’s hot in Madrid). The hotel does though have free car parking, so it’s likely much more accessible and appealing for those driving there.