Ayre Gran Hotel Colón - Madrid

I am THINKING about returning to the Ayre Gran Hotel Colon but am not sure as of yet. The staff a the front desk varied from a couple that were great to nearly all the rest who know very little about internet pricing, cancelations or general services. And the really bad ones were very put out that I continued to ask questions until I received a complete and correct answer. I finally had to write down everyones name to make sure that I did not have to backtrack as i did with the first problems. My stay was for 10 days and I may be return for another 2-3 days on my way out of Spain. Frank

We were on a holiday in Madrid and felt the hotel had a 'business' feel about it. This was not a problem. We had never been to Madrid before and felt the location was a good choice for the Metro. We were very pleased we had bought a one week tourist pass which we made good use of.

This hotel was really lovely, very modern, spacious room with separate lounge area. The room had 2 TVs, a couch, armchair, mini fridge and a large bed. The hotel restaurant had a large outdoor dining area and a roof top garden. The hotel was close to Metro and bus stops and was a nice walk through the gardens into the city about 20 minutes. The hotel also has free wifi. Overall this was a really nice place to stay and we would definitely stay again.

The hotel was great, It was close to the metro station which takes you everywhere you need to go in madrid. nice classy neighborhood and priced exellent for madrid. i will definetly stay here again and recomend it to all my friends and family who travel there.

I think that the price of the breakfast was expensive. But I enjoyed may staing at the hotel very much.

Although the reception area at the Americas building smelled somewhat funky, the rooms themselves appear newly renovated and were excellent. We had a double and a family room and both were excellent - the family room was very spacious. The rooms were quiet and the beds very comfortable. The hotel was very close to the Metro and there were restaurants and and food shops nearby. I highly recommend it - good value for the money.

Nice hotel in a good location near park Retiro - within walkable distance for all major attractions but in a quiter area; also very close to a Metro station. Clean, modern rooms. Breakfast expensive but a very reasonable alternative is the continental breakfast at EUR 4.50 in the hotel cafeteria. Very good value for money. The only objection during our stay was noise from another room quite early one morining - fortunately it was the only occurence.

The lunch very good

The cool cycle of the aircon.appears to be turned off until june. This was no problem this visit however a very hot day in May could require cooling.Close to bus and Metro for travel to town and train station

We stayed in Madrid 3 nights in this hotel. Our overall impression is positive, but there are points that you must know and pay attention to. The positive: The hotel is very well located. It is pretty central, but isn't very expensive. It is very close to the subway (Sainz de Baranda station). There is a straight subway line from Avenida de America and it is very convenient to reach the airport (one short subway line interchange). It is very easy and fast to reach the city center ~15-20 min (one subway interchange). If you like walking, you can reach the city center by foot ~30-40 min (pleasant walk through Park de Retiro- a beutifull park close to the hotel). We walked in the mornings. It is not luxury, but the rooms and the bathrooms are nice. * The breakfast is very expensive (we didn't have it, so can't comment on quality). The hotel however has some problems, that I would like to point out. 1. Although I ordered a double room, we got two separate beds room on the first floor, because at the time we arrived (23.00) they didn't have any available double rooms. So we needed to change the room next morning, which was unconvenient. 2. There are two computers in the lobby, and they charged 3 euro per 15 min for using them!!! We felt it was very unappropriate for a four star hotel to charge the quests for using the computers in the lobby!!! And the 3 euro rate is outrageus, because in the internet cafe it costs 20 cents for 15 min. But sometimes you don't have the time to go look for an internet cafe, and the hotel uses it to charge such high prices! 3. The biggest problem: During the night time, the computer at the reception is closed and they can't do many of the operations in the evening and early morning. For example they can't give you an official bill during these hours. Be carefull: if you need to check out during the night time or early in the morning and you need a bill, I would recommend to check out and pay one day earlier. To summarize: Good hotel

This was my second time to Madrid and I had a very nice stay at the hotel. The staff were very friendly and the hotel and location were perfect.

Good hotel to stay in. I liked thier identification of the hotels belonging to Ayre group by fragrance concept very much.

Two separate hotels connected by ground floor link. One hotel at side of 8-lane highway,the other I stayed in on quiet/residential side. Excellent hotel. 5 mins from Metro, 10 mins to Parque del Retiro and useful facilities nearby. As hotel food and drink is expensive (pre warned) I eat and drank in Mallorca en Madrid over the road from hotel on quiet side. Budget place very popular with locals. Excellent 4 day visit.

We stayed in a lovely spacious and spotlessly clean double room. Friendly staff and Hotel and location was great although not central, close to metro which is so easy to get around the city.

Madrid was my first european impression. I stayed there for 5 days. The hotel was very clean, with free wireless acess, in an non-turistic location, but very close to the "Sainz de Baranda" metro station. It has a fantastic price/quality relationship.

Very nice Hotel,with metro nearby to take you into city. if you like walking,its a pleasent half hour walk to the centre. I would definately consider staying at the hotel again although the food is over priced. Plenty of eating places in the Sol area.

Rooms are cleaned and spacious, service is good. There is just a few noises from the street and close rooms. Be carreful if you have to go to the aiport quite early, it is quite far from it. You probably should have to take a cab.

We found the hotel very comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful.A little disappointed that we could not get a smoking room as requested.Clients in previous reviews have complained about the price of breakfast and that there was no continental alternative but if you just book a room you can get continental breakfast in the cafeteria for only 4.75 euros.

I had two stays there: for the first one, the room was ok but one coocaracha was welcoming me in the bathroom ! Nothing was working in the gym (batteries dead and they did not have available similar batteries to switch them....). Second stay, the worst room i have never seen with two army bed, no remote control for the TV and old walls paint spoiled by water... for 115€ per night, this is f***ing unacceptable ! I do not recommend this hotel at all... the only "good" thing is the free wifi and water in the fridge (when they re-fill it), so i don't think this is worth it !

What a great place! Convenient to the downtown area and a lovely park and not too far from the airport (about 20e taxi ride). The free wireless worked great, from the rooms...what a plus! The restaurant was very good, with a great lunch buffet.

It exceed our standard. The only problem was in the check-in,as we arrived about 13 hs , there were certainly empty rooms and they didn´t allowed us to get into a room until 14 hs. That displeased me a lot and I am sure it could have been different. Marcus

My first time in Ayre Gran Hotel Colon and definitely my last time!! The hotel is divided in two sections; "Edificio Europa" and "Edificio America". The web site pictures illustrate "Edificio Europa" but we were sent to "Edificio America", very different to the newer 'Europa' side. It was the older part of the hotel... dirty carpets and filled with college teenagers that spent all nights running around the hall ways, playing loud music, bannging on their neighbors doors, and horse-playing. I was informed that the hotel is known for hosting many students in sporting events and this was an awful experience. We were not able to sleep every night and despite our constant calls to the reception desk, they were not able to control the situation. Edificio America" also has older men working the reception desk, very unfriendly. One individual denied my petition for information on the city by telling me to come back the next day and talk to some one else. When I came back, it was still him there and he felt forced to provide answers... very unfriedly. So, I don't advice anyone to stay here. I dreaded having to return to the hotel at night and I hope no one else goes through this experience.

Good value for the price, "charme" of a 60ties business building, however kept in good shape.

Very nice hotel, clean, new. Competence of employees. The nearest metro station is SAINZ DE BARANDA on the line 9 (violet). Arriving by plane at the airport you take the line 8 until COLOMBIA Metro station, here change, take the line 9 until SAINZ DE BARANDA. The hotel is 400 meters by the metro station, 5 minutes walking. Price and quality are excellent, Daniele and Stefania, Salvaterra, Reggio Emilia, Italy

I'll return

The leaflet in the room advertised free Internet available in all areas. Unfortunately this is not true. Internet in the room is really expensive, but you can get free Wifi (apparently) in the lobby. The hotel is actually two hotels merged into one. The one on the side of the avenue is the "business class" type which apparently has free Wifi in the rooms. The hotel in the back where I was, didn't, but I really can't complain about the rooms itself - for Madrid, they weren't expensive, and definitely OK.

We staid three nights for a long weekend, in a double room. The hotel is very near to the metro, just 15 minutes away from Sol. Clean and quiet. There are two different buildings that have separate check-in, so the arrival can be clumsy. Employees are pretty young and sometime not really expert, but always kind and keen to help. Price offered was excellent compared to other hotels even lower in category.

This is an excellent hotel. The staff is superb, the rooms are clean, the food is good. The location is very good- quite close to the metro. Close to the Retiro, also. (Not as close as it seems on the map-but an easy walk.)We would stay here again.

I stayed in Madrid 5 days. The hotel has exceeded my expectations: it is modern, very clean and quiet. It was a pleasure to come back to the hotel after a day spent walking in the city. I slept very very well.

Ottima struttura,facilmente raggiungibile dall'aeroporto con la metro.Hotel diviso in due edifici(Europa ed America sul retro, più silenzioso). Ottima colazione, ma un pò cara.

Ottimo hotel,camere moderne e pulite.300m dalla fermata della metro.Non vicinissimo al centro di Madrid Consigliato

Very nice hotel, obviously newly renovated in a very tasteful manner. Spacious rooms, nice and practical design. Overall the impression is very good. The location is a little bit "out of town" but on the other hand the walk through Retiro park is very nice (the way to get closer to downtown by walking).

The hotel looks nice, but the employees provided a very poor service. The hotel is listed as a 4 star hotel, which should incluye all the services of a this category. When we arrived there the room was extremely warm,when we tried to turn on the air condition they told us the entire building`s air conditioning system was shut of, their solution was for us to open up the windows, which we did. We were awakened at 11:30, 12:30 and 03:00 a.m. by garbaje trucks doing thier rutine pickups. When we called to complain, they told us that there was nothing they could do because nobody was in charge that night, and they said that we shouldnt complain because winter in spain had already started (in mid october!!!). We spent the worst night of our trip and the hotel staff was not willing to make our stay better. I would defently not recomend this hotel to anyone. While we complained the next day we had to wait in line, others were complaining about the cleanliness of the rooms. My suggestion for the hotel, take a star or two off your category.

The staff was unfriendly. There is a garage, yet only with few places (cc. for 40 cars). Garage men crashed our car but not bothered about it at all. Usually there is no place in the garage, in the surrounding there is only short parking facilities. There were no free wifi in the room. Surrounding is very good, easy access to center. Never go back again.

Everything was fine

Really comfortable hotel!

The quality of this hotel was much higher than expected. We had a wonderful stay there. Room very design, LCD screen, quite big and very clean. The situation of hotel is very good, easy access to metro station, 2' nearby. Hotel is just next to the biggest park of Madrid, which is great. Sometimes a bit noisy but it was fine. Fitness room is very small and sauna is not free, do not expect more. Again, we had a Perfect stay in this hotel, we recommend it to everyone.

I would not want to insult the real dumps in this world by calling this hotel a dump. It is one of the worst business hotels I have stayed at in Madrid. I travel extensively.

This hotel was exactly what I thought it was going to be. I wanted to save some money by not being right in the centre of town but still be easily accessible to it....SUCCESS!!! The bus stop was a 2 minute walk straight down from the hotel and it took maybe 10 minutes to get to the city centre and for only 1 euro. There wasn't much to do around the hotel at night but again I knew that when I booked it. If you wanted nightlife close to the hotel then this is not the place for you. They have a great lounge area where you can relax at night and have beer or some wine. I'm glad I booked here and will stay here again. The staff were very helpful and they stored my luggage for the day after I checked out so I didn't have to lug it around all day with me. The subway/underground is very close so you can save money by taking that instead of a cab to the hotel. I took the transit back to the airport, but a cab there which cost me 34euro vs 2euro to get to the airport by transit. Granted the cab was worth it since I arrived at 11pm and just wanted to get to my hotel at that point. I would stay at this hotel again without hesitation.

The staff were very helpful the rooms were very clean and spacious and surroundings were very quiet. Would recommend this hotel to friends

Too far from center Madrid and from the airport. The hotel was quasi empty and yet our room was on the second floor with the hotel air con noise all night long

Hotel had excellent service, it was confusing finding the actual hotel since they were renovating part of their building but once inside the hotel it was alright. not many restaurants around but easy access to metro..would definitely stay here again!

Very nice and clean hotel. The only problem was to find the hotel. It took us an hour and a half.

We understand the hotel is under renovation and hopefully the carpeting and shower curtains get replaced as well. Other than that it's a very nice hotel for the price we paid. It is relatively easy to get anywhere in downtown Madrid from this hotel by metro. Don't forget to go to beautiful Toledo by train only 30 minutes south of Madrid. Atocha station is 10-15 minutes from the hotel by metro. We purchased our roundtrip tickets to Toledo the same way we departed (Friday) in the fastest train they have for only 28 Euros (2 persons). When you get to Toledo get out by the right hand side of the station and a few feet away you'll find the bus stop which will take you all the way to Plaza Mayor (the center of town) for 0.85 euro .

Very kind and efficient, I mean the employees. They always were available and ready to serve and work for me. It was a marvelous experience! Our room was big, spacious and confortable.

Very very very Good ! ! ! Excellent! I will back

Good location, around 4 blocks from a subway station and a walk distance from Park Bueno Retiro. The map presented in the internet page does not help very much. It should indicate the main street where the hotel is closed by. I had some trouble in finding the hotel using this map.

Wonderful hotel Very close to city center and to the airport (10 min each). Excellent breakfast

I prefer that the door to the balkony could be opened. There must be another chair in the room. It is really a good choice.

For me the qualities that I appreciated were the quiet neighborhood, the excellent access to the Metro, and the closeness to the airport, a short 10 minute ride away and thus a small taxi fare.

EXCELLENT

Door lock did not work Air conditioning unit was making noise and not working.

Very nice hotel, swimming-pool next to the hotel, comfortable, ask for a room at the back court, curtains very proctable, roomy, excellent price/quality, good restaurants around, very next to the park,

The worst thing was the poor quality of the food os service room, which is very sort and poor.

For 50 Euros in mid February was a good deal. The rooms were clean even though a bit smaller than expected. 30-40 minutes walk to the city center. From 1-10, my overall expereience was a 7. If you driving, hard to find parking close by, parking is around 14 Euros a day, .

This hotel offers top quality for moderate pricing, definetly beat stayin in a hostel.....I was pleasantly suprised when I checked in....Outstanding for it's price!

The staff were welcoming and friendly and could speak English very well. There are several bars and restaurants close to the hotel were you can enjoy a drink and tapas. The centre of Madrid is close enough to walk into through and very attractive park. For the less mobile a taxi from the hotel would get you into the city centre in 10 minutes at a very reasonable rate.

A good hotel, which we have been before, because, price and quality is excellent.