A mini vacation in Madrid
Hotel, restaurants and getting around
Hotel - Carlos V, Madrid
We selected the Carlos V because of its very central location and
recommendations on this board. Although the décor in the rooms is a bit
tired, the room itself was comfortable. Our triple room was on the interior
courtyard, so there was no view, but it was very quiet. The bathroom was
large and had excellent plumbing.
The ambience of the surrounding area (crowded, pedestrian shopping
streets near the Puerta del Sol) is not really our cup of tea, but the central
location more than made up for that.
Service at the hotel was efficient. There is a very nice breakfast room/bar,
and a substantial buffet breakfast included with the room. For 130E per
night for a triple, we could not beat the price. Booking was easy through
Best Western, and we got a lower rate than by booking with Expedia or the
hotel itself. They also have a shuttle to and from the airport for 6E per
person.
Getting around
Once in Madrid, we walked nearly everywhere; the biggest benefit of the
Carlos V is its very central location. We did use the Metro a few times and
found it fast, clean and very easy to find your way around...definitely on par
with the subway systems in other major cities we've visited, and better than
some.
Restaurants
We are not particularly big eaters and were traveling with a 10-year-old who
has a pretty set list of "favorites" and doesn't like seafood. Our dining
tended to be more spontaneous (we did take along Maribel's lists with us,
though, and used them to target some areas), and we went for generous
tapas over full dinners. Here are a few that we liked:
Cervecerria El Zagal on Costanilla de Los Angeles, near the Teatro Real.
We stumbled in here for lunch, right off the plane, feeling a bit lost among
the local business-lunch crowd. The waiter was very helpful, though, and
we had an excellent cocido, plus a chicken dish and house wine for about
20E.
Vegetarian café/bar (name unknown) on the SE corner of Calle Santiago
and Calle de Espejo, near the Teatro Real. This was a very low-key bar
with a good wine selection, very reasonable prices and good vegetarian
tapas (although not necessarily traditional Spanish food). Allie particularly
liked the warm Asian noodle salad. This was our first experience with
tapas (outside of Chicago-area restaurants), and the proprietor was very
helpful. We ended up eating here twice.
La Cruzada on Calle Amnista 8, also near the Teatro Real. Also a low-key
bar/restaurant with nice-sized tapas, including some chicken and beef
selections that appealed to our little carnivore.
El Escarpin on Hileros, near the Teatro Real. We also just happened upon
this one for dinner on our third night. From the raciones menu, we had an
excellent paella large enough to feed an entire family, plus a sizable steak
with potatoes and vegetables, along with house wine, for under 30E.
Cerveceria Alemana, on the Plaza Santa Ana. While a bit touristy due to its
history (Hemingway ate here), this was a fun place to hang out. The
calamari and meatballs, in particular, were hits, as was the huge plate of
Spanish olives.
Vinoteca Barchera, also on the Plaza Santa Ana. A wine bar, with an
excellent list and good variety of tapas. We enjoyed it, but had difficulty
finding something that Allie would eat here.
El Schotis, on Cava Baja 11. We had a relaxing and enjoyable Sunday
afternoon lunch here, including a steak that was still cooking on the clay
plate when it arrived at the table. This restaurant seemed to be quite
popular with local families, who had reserved most of the tables.
On the other hand, we had fairly unmemorable lunches in Toledo and
Segovia...the latter which was our most expensive meal on the whole trip.
Getting there
Although Iberia has a nonstop route from Chicago to Madrid, we usually
stay in the Star Alliance and, as such, chose an Air Canada route through
Toronto due to a favorable departure time and good price. We found the AC
planes (767 on the transatlantic legs, with 2-3-2 seating) clean and well
kept, and the service on board friendly, attentive and efficient. The flight over
was nearly empty, allowing all the coach passengers to stake out their own
rows for sleeping. The return flight was full. The seat pitch didn't seem too
bad. The food was, well, what you'd expect in coach (no worse than others
and, in our opinion, edible). Beer and wine were free on the transatlantic
legs. The 767s used on this route have large movie screens in the fronts of
the cabins, so everyone has to watch the same movie (we have become
spoiled by the individual seat screens and choice of movie on United).
We'd intended to carry on our regulation 22" roll-aboards, and we did so on
the Chicago/Toronto leg (United). However, Air Canada is very strict about
the 10kg weight limit for carry-ons, so we were required to check them in
Toronto and also on the return. Overall, not a bad experience. We've
certainly had worse (Air France, for one).
The one (BIG) downside was having to connect through Pearson, which is
[rather, was, as this was in 2003 and Pearson now has a new, more efficient
terminal] not a model of passenger convenience and
efficiency...particularly if you are connecting to the US on your return and
are checking bags. If so, you essentially have to deplane, go through
Canadian immigration, claim your bags, go through Canadian customs,
recheck your bags, take a shuttle from T1 to T2, reclaim your bags again,
go through US customs and immigration, recheck your bags again, then
go through security. In our opinion, the new terminal can?t open soon
enough. If you are a Red Carpet Club member, T2 does have a very nice
Maple Leaf Lounge with free, serve-yourself drinks.
A word of caution: allow plenty of time to get to your gate in Madrid. We
arrived at Barajas about 2:15 minutes early for our afternoon flight and
needed almost all of it. We had maybe 10 minutes for some duty free
shopping, and never had a chance to sit down before getting in the (also
very long) boarding queue.
Sightseeing and attractions
See all of our Spain photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
Hotel - Carlos V, Madrid
We selected the Carlos V because of its very central location and
recommendations on this board. Although the décor in the rooms is a bit
tired, the room itself was comfortable. Our triple room was on the interior
courtyard, so there was no view, but it was very quiet. The bathroom was
large and had excellent plumbing.
The ambience of the surrounding area (crowded, pedestrian shopping
streets near the Puerta del Sol) is not really our cup of tea, but the central
location more than made up for that.
Service at the hotel was efficient. There is a very nice breakfast room/bar,
and a substantial buffet breakfast included with the room. For 130E per
night for a triple, we could not beat the price. Booking was easy through
Best Western, and we got a lower rate than by booking with Expedia or the
hotel itself. They also have a shuttle to and from the airport for 6E per
person.
Getting around
Once in Madrid, we walked nearly everywhere; the biggest benefit of the
Carlos V is its very central location. We did use the Metro a few times and
found it fast, clean and very easy to find your way around...definitely on par
with the subway systems in other major cities we've visited, and better than
some.
Restaurants
We are not particularly big eaters and were traveling with a 10-year-old who
has a pretty set list of "favorites" and doesn't like seafood. Our dining
tended to be more spontaneous (we did take along Maribel's lists with us,
though, and used them to target some areas), and we went for generous
tapas over full dinners. Here are a few that we liked:
Cervecerria El Zagal on Costanilla de Los Angeles, near the Teatro Real.
We stumbled in here for lunch, right off the plane, feeling a bit lost among
the local business-lunch crowd. The waiter was very helpful, though, and
we had an excellent cocido, plus a chicken dish and house wine for about
20E.
Vegetarian café/bar (name unknown) on the SE corner of Calle Santiago
and Calle de Espejo, near the Teatro Real. This was a very low-key bar
with a good wine selection, very reasonable prices and good vegetarian
tapas (although not necessarily traditional Spanish food). Allie particularly
liked the warm Asian noodle salad. This was our first experience with
tapas (outside of Chicago-area restaurants), and the proprietor was very
helpful. We ended up eating here twice.
La Cruzada on Calle Amnista 8, also near the Teatro Real. Also a low-key
bar/restaurant with nice-sized tapas, including some chicken and beef
selections that appealed to our little carnivore.
El Escarpin on Hileros, near the Teatro Real. We also just happened upon
this one for dinner on our third night. From the raciones menu, we had an
excellent paella large enough to feed an entire family, plus a sizable steak
with potatoes and vegetables, along with house wine, for under 30E.
Cerveceria Alemana, on the Plaza Santa Ana. While a bit touristy due to its
history (Hemingway ate here), this was a fun place to hang out. The
calamari and meatballs, in particular, were hits, as was the huge plate of
Spanish olives.
Vinoteca Barchera, also on the Plaza Santa Ana. A wine bar, with an
excellent list and good variety of tapas. We enjoyed it, but had difficulty
finding something that Allie would eat here.
El Schotis, on Cava Baja 11. We had a relaxing and enjoyable Sunday
afternoon lunch here, including a steak that was still cooking on the clay
plate when it arrived at the table. This restaurant seemed to be quite
popular with local families, who had reserved most of the tables.
On the other hand, we had fairly unmemorable lunches in Toledo and
Segovia...the latter which was our most expensive meal on the whole trip.
Getting there
Although Iberia has a nonstop route from Chicago to Madrid, we usually
stay in the Star Alliance and, as such, chose an Air Canada route through
Toronto due to a favorable departure time and good price. We found the AC
planes (767 on the transatlantic legs, with 2-3-2 seating) clean and well
kept, and the service on board friendly, attentive and efficient. The flight over
was nearly empty, allowing all the coach passengers to stake out their own
rows for sleeping. The return flight was full. The seat pitch didn't seem too
bad. The food was, well, what you'd expect in coach (no worse than others
and, in our opinion, edible). Beer and wine were free on the transatlantic
legs. The 767s used on this route have large movie screens in the fronts of
the cabins, so everyone has to watch the same movie (we have become
spoiled by the individual seat screens and choice of movie on United).
We'd intended to carry on our regulation 22" roll-aboards, and we did so on
the Chicago/Toronto leg (United). However, Air Canada is very strict about
the 10kg weight limit for carry-ons, so we were required to check them in
Toronto and also on the return. Overall, not a bad experience. We've
certainly had worse (Air France, for one).
The one (BIG) downside was having to connect through Pearson, which is
[rather, was, as this was in 2003 and Pearson now has a new, more efficient
terminal] not a model of passenger convenience and
efficiency...particularly if you are connecting to the US on your return and
are checking bags. If so, you essentially have to deplane, go through
Canadian immigration, claim your bags, go through Canadian customs,
recheck your bags, take a shuttle from T1 to T2, reclaim your bags again,
go through US customs and immigration, recheck your bags again, then
go through security. In our opinion, the new terminal can?t open soon
enough. If you are a Red Carpet Club member, T2 does have a very nice
Maple Leaf Lounge with free, serve-yourself drinks.
A word of caution: allow plenty of time to get to your gate in Madrid. We
arrived at Barajas about 2:15 minutes early for our afternoon flight and
needed almost all of it. We had maybe 10 minutes for some duty free
shopping, and never had a chance to sit down before getting in the (also
very long) boarding queue.
Sightseeing and attractions
See all of our Spain photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
Iglesia de la Vera Cruz, Segovia
Segovia, walk outside the city walls
Iglesia de San Martin
Madrid, Cathedral
Palacio Real
Museo del Jamon, Madrid
