Accommodations in Madrid

Yardner said:

My son and I will be traveling to Madrid in late June and then subsequently starting the Camino in Leon. We arrive mid afternoon and want to stay the night in Madrid the travel by train the next day to Leon. Any recommendations on a good place to stay with easy access to the train station the next day?

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there's a hotel right at Chamartín station where your train will depart from and with access to the Metro if you want to head downtown.

If this is your first trip to Madrid, I’d highly recommend staying in the center of the city near the Plaza Mayor or Puerta del Sol. Lots of budget friendly hotels in the city depending on the season and particularly if you make your reservation well in advance. In the past, I’ve stayed at The Hat Madrid. As an hostal, they offer both private rooms and beds in dorms. Great location! It’s then just a metro ride away from the train station. Buen Camino!

Some options:
1. If you need to sleep off the jet lag, then stay out near the airport with a shuttle. Then take the Cercanías train from the airport in the morning. We stay on points at either the Marriott Conference and Convention Center or the AC Hotel Coslada. You catch the shuttle at the hotel bus shuttle stop. They bring you back to the airport in the morning to catch the Cercanías to Chamartín Station. There is also a less expensive Hostal Vicky (not sure on spelling) that will also pick up and drop off. All other airport hotels require you to call or book ahead for their shuttles.


2. The Chamartín station is not really close to anything interesting and you can stay there if you like. I prefer to take the airport shuttle bus or the Cercanías train to Atocha Station. We have stayed at the AC Atocha on points or at Oxygen which is very quiet, has 24 hour checkin, clean, and has cool pods to sleep in. I loved it, but my husband found it too claustrophobic. Take the train back to the Chamartín in the morning from Atocha.

If you purchase your train ticket in advance, you can ride the Cercanías train to the Chamartín station on the Cercanías Combinado. Your train ticket will have a little QR code in the corner and you use that at the turnstile with a code reader to board the C train up to 3 hours ahead of your departure.

Which train station, and what's your budget and preference?

if you have an early train from Chamartin, there's a hotel literally at one corner of the train station, past the construction. Hotel Chamartin the One. Cheap by US standards. Cercanis C10 or C1 is a short light rail ride from Madrid T4.

Can't answer for Atocha.

I am fond of Hostal Inn Madrid, Mesonero Romanos, 10 Planta 4, Madrid City Center, 28013 Madrid, Spain. You can find it in Bookings.
It is not fancy, but it is a fairly-priced hostal, very clean, and right by the center of Madrid. It's a short walking distance from Callao metro station. I get from and to the airport using the metro, although admittedly the route can be a bit convoluted and confused if you have never used Madrid's metro. (Anyone attempting to use the metro, remember that an additional Airport fee must be added to the metro fare - another bit of information that is not at all clearly explained to tourists!)
Anyway, whether you get there by Metro, bus, taxi or Uber, I have found it to be a great place to spend a night or two in Madrid at a reasonable price, albeit definitely not luxury. There are also a couple of small restaurants and bars right on the same alley where the hostel is, that serve local food and used mainly by locals, at a very reasonable price. Far better than the many tourist traps a couple of blocks away.

If you arrive mid afternoon from the US, once you get through customs all you are going to want to do is eat and then sleep. I agree that staying at one of the hotels close to Chamartin would be best as I don't think that you are going to want to "sight see" in Madrid at that point. Just make sure you set wake up alarms especially if you did not sleep well on the flight over.

Arriving mid-afternoon suggests that you may arrive too late for a Madrid lunch and too tired to go looking. You can either eat in your hotel or if you have the energy take a short walk down the Paseo de la Castellana- Dia Grocery and Carrefour (and others) not too far. Make a picnic in your room- we have done this many times when just too tired to eat in a restaurant.