| | Marques De Urquijo, Gran Via, Arguelles, Madrid, 28008, Spain
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Overall Community Rating: |   8.3 (based on 1 user reviews) |
 Tirol: Excellent hotel, excellent city! by Exiled Angel |
| Posted 20 September 2005 about a visit in August 2005 | Overall rating: 8.3 |
I was really pleased with this hotel and we had an amazing time in Madrid overall. The hotel is about 25 mins (30 euros with luggage) from the airport though you can catch the Metro easily, it's the last stop on the brown line - Arguelle (pronounced Argwell). The rooms were spacious, clean, bright, stylishly colourful and comfortable. We had a balcony with a street view and a spacious bathroom with a window looking out onto the balcony for a wonderfully cooling breeze. The hotel itself is well placed for the shopping, in fact we spent all saturday (and more money than I could really have afforded) merely walking less than 50 metres up one street. I'm told we barely scratched the surface, so if you stay here, be prepared to leave with your purse lightened! There are several Zaras on that road, the Martin de los Heros street, to the left of the cross roads that Hotel Tirol sits on and apparently all are slightly different. If you walk up this road be sure to pop into the shop under the arch on the right hand side if the road - it looks like it might house a museum or gallery but as our last shop and the most cheap and most stylish we wished we'd found it first! I'm told there are shops up every road on the crossroads, and also a great place is the shopping centre on the corner which houses a mixture of expensive designer and cheap chic so don't be put off by the designer concessions.
I don't know what the food was like at the hotel, though friends were a tad annoyed to find the breakfast was not included and incurred a 10 euro charge which they didn't feel was worth it. Just 5 doors down from Tirol is an irish styled pub sometimes with live bands, and almost next door is a cash machine which was very handy so we didn't have to carry more cash than we needed or leave cash in the room. I didn't have much call to speak to the staff much but when I did the gentleman was helpful (knowing my room number without me having spoken to him before) and english-speaking.
There are many bars and restaurants nearby or catch a cab (about 6 euros) to the livelier part of town. Of the other places nearby, friends were disappointed by the nearest cafe/restaurant futher down the Calle del Marques de Urquijo. The food was apparently mediocre and they paid well over the odds for it. We found a much better tapas place down Martin de los Heros, with wonderful tapas and friendly service, though I can't remember the name but it looked like it would have been wonderful for an evening meal especially. There was a fabulous argentinian steak restaurant further along the road from the hotel down the Calle del Marques, right near the park which we ate at one evening, though we suspect it is more popular with the locals as you wouldn't necessarily notice it during the day and as a british hen party we attracted some curiosity. A friend from Jersey claims they are the best steaks anywhere though. And a meal for 10 people including 8-10 bottles of cava and more food than we could shake a stick at came to 35 euros each!
Take an open top bus tour if you want to see a bit more of Madrid but don't expect the headphones to be very informative or to work all the time. They are temperamental to say the least.
We also went to several clubs in the lively part of town, the name of which I don't know but according to a card I have much of it is on La Escalinata (road). The best club was by far was The Palace, which has to be seen to be believed. We believe it may even have been a real palace with a massive stone staircase and marble bathrooms. Drinks were expensive (9 euros each for a spirit + free mixer) We then bar-hopped down the road taking advantage of the cheap drinks and entry offered by the touts. At least two I don't know the name of but we had a wonderful time in all of them. Make sure you have enough for a cab back though as it is a long walk home to Tirol!
On the second night we were booked to see a flamenco show at a tapas bar in the flamenco part of town. The taxi driver informed us that the show was performed by the local gypsies and was the best in town (Casa Patas) and that after midnight the gypsies are all out dancing in the street. The show was wonderful, and the atmosphere brilliant so do try and go but book in advance. Tickets priced around 30 euros for entry and a drink, but food (limited tapas menu) and drinks get a bit expensive after that and the whole hour and a half experience cost about 55 euros in total which seemed a bit steep though worth it. We would recommend eating elsewhere before or after, or perhaps in the restaurant in the main room. Around that part of town also apparently is a massive street market which sounded wonderful but we didn't have time to go unfortunately.
Basically, we had a wonderful time and felt that the hotel was well placed for everything. We could have taken the Metro had we wanted to save cash but with 9 of us it made sense to catch taxis and share the cost. If I go back to Madrid I would definitely stay there again.
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