My husband and I spent seven nights at this hotel (from December 29th to January 5th) and had a great time. It is so centrally located that we never used the metro, buses or taxis to move around. We are city people and enjoyed our corner room (208) on the second floor, which had two balconies (one on the Gran Via and the other on the side street). The room and bathroom were very spacious, nicely furnished and very clean. There was a lot of storage space, the bed was big and comfortable and the lighting was excellent. We were not bothered by the Gran Via’s noise, because when the windows were closed the room was almost soundproofed.

The buffet breakfast (included in the rate) was OK with a lot of cold and warm options. The receptionists (especially Oscar and Ruth) were professional, friendly, polite and extremely helpful.

All in all this is a great hotel, we can recommend it and would not hesitate to return.

Prior to our trip in September 2007, I was calling ahead to confirm my familys reservation and was advised by the reservation desk at Hotel Atlantico that I didn't have a reservation on record nor did they have my name anywhere in their records. As a result, I ended up scrambling to locate other accomodations with only a little more than a week before our scheduled arrival in Madrid.

We had used the Hotel Atlantico web site when making our reservation, so it was an overall dissappointing situation being placed in this difficult situation.

What then added insult to injury was that upon our return to the States, on my next credit card billing there was a charge from Hotel Atlantico for not showing up. When proceeding with a dispute of this charge, not only did Hotel Atlantico refuse to reverse the charge, the credit card company also supported them by stating we didn't follow the proper cancellation process. I'm having trouble understanding this end result when it was Hotel Atlantico that stated we had no reservation to cancel in the first place. In the end, I'm the one paying for no services or accomodations provided. I would only caution when deciding to stay here, given our experience and penalty costs incurred based on the actions of Hotel Atlantico themselves.

After seeing the good location, good price and solid reviews on TripAdvisor, my travel companion and I picked the Best Western Atlantico for our Dec. 25-30 trip with some confidence. Up until the fifth night, this hotel had a strong four points (above average) going for it, then everything collapsed on the final night in a way that cannot be dismissed as a mere anomaly.

First, the positive: The location is solid. On the Gran Via just off of Plaza de Callao (and the Callao metro station) and is only a short walk from the major attractions clustered around downtown Madrid, particularly the areas around Puerta del Sol. The hotel is clean, and run professionally (i.e. how you'd expect a Best Western or equivalent to be run in a place like the US or Canada). They always had someone at the front desk who spoke a decent amount of English.

Now the neutral: the free airport shuttle proved to be useless since it only works at a handful of specific times. On arrival we barely missed the set departure, and it didn't leave early enough in the morning for any flights before late-morning. However, traveling to the hotel on arrival wasn't too much of a problem because the excellent Madrid Metro got us from the airport to the Callao station for a reasonable price, reasonable time and three line changes. The way back to the airport was a problem because the Metro doesn't actually start until (as per Spanish culture) relatively late in the morning. We ended up taking a cab in the morning, which with no traffic (as the front desk estimated) gets you there in about 30 minutes for just under €40. Its convenient, but it really makes the "free shuttle" utterly useless for a lot of people --especially those flying back on extended trips to North America or further afar. The hotel offers breakfast, and we found it to be adequate but not noteworthy --if anything the €9 price was the most noticeable aspect. But its no real issue since, thanks to the central location, there are several chains like Pan & Co., Starbucks and numerous other local cafes nearby. The bar on the top level was completely overrated: the bartender seemed to have serious issues (he wasn't rude to us, but clearly didn't want us around) and isn't very popular --its furnished well and has a deck, but it really isn't a place I'd recommend spending time in unless you want to insulate yourself.

So now you're probably wondering what happened on the final night that knocked two full points off of the review? Noise. Noise beyond your wildest dreams. Noise that goes through walls, goes though their metal shutters, goes thought what we believe were double-paned windows, through your pillow, through your arm, reaches into your head and pokes your soul: shaking it over and over and over until you lie there, futilely shaking your fist at the the darkness, wondering why you decided to stay at this hotel. Its hard to pinpoint what was the worst part: since Gran Via is a major street, and because the Plaza de Callao is a major intersection for cars and pedestrians, you have a lot of options to chose from. There's the almost constant honking coming from every direction and distance. There are the people yelling for the sake of yelling. The mysterious (and often startling) crash sound that would happen without any rhyme or reason --it almost sounded like a TV gunshot, but was more likely something like a large wooden crate being dropped from a great distance (don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities to figure it out for yourself if you stay here). Still, I would have to give the highest "honors" to the traffic cop who will make sure you will never be able to get sleep before 10pm (which I would normally not recommend anyway, but since we had a very early flight we had to bite the bullet and try to sleep): If there's anything positive out of that night from hell, its that I've memorized the proper pattern and style for using a traffic cop whistle in Madrid. The cop ended before 10pm, but the honking and incredibly loud crashing sounds didn't end until the wee hours of the morning. When we got up at 5:30am to get ready, there were still drunk people screaming at the top of their lungs as they waited for the subway to open later. If this had happened on the first night, I would have changed hotels and ate any loss incurred --it was that bad.

Let me be clear: we were not staying right on the main street, we were actually staying as far from the street as you can stay without facing towards the courtyard. I'd read in the tour books that the noise in Madrid is notorious, but I didn't realize (or I supposed appreciate) how bad it was until that final evening. It wasn't a mere anomaly that I can write off to a bad night at the hotel, rather I must say it was likely closer to what a normal evening is like: our first few nights were on and immediately after Christmas, and downtown Madrid is much quieter during that time. The final Saturday night was the city getting back into the swing of things, so that's what you will face if you stay here in a similar situation. Be warned.

The best western atlantico offers a cafe giving free coffee on a rooftop terrace over looking the city and shows maginificent views of madrid.

The rooms are spacious, the breakfast buffet is multivarious and the staff are helpful and friendly.

If I was going to madrid again, I would stay here.