Hostal Matheu

For a two-star place, this was very good: clean, basic rooms right in the centre, about a five-minute walk from Sol station. I requested an interior room with a patio window, so noise wasn't a problem despite all the restaurants on the street. The room was cute and the air conditioning worked fine, though the toilet was a bit tight. Check-in is at their sister hotel one minute away on the same street, and I didn't see anyone at this hotel itself. They also partner with the restaurant next door, Carmela, for breakfast. Spanish toast and coffee cost 3 eu, and a big Irish breakfast was 8 eu. Delish!

I got to the address I had booked and discovered the front desk was in another building. I had to ring a neighbour to find that out, then go to the other building, which had a different hotel name. Check-in there was quick, but what I received didn't match what I'd booked through Agoda. The room was clean, but it felt like a total prison cell. That was just my experience.

Don't consider this place if you need sleep. The hotel was ridiculously noisy, with street sounds coming into the room until 6/7AM because the AC didn't work. On weekends there was also a nightclub in the same building, and it seemed to have no sound insulation, so the party noise came right into my room. It shouldn't be allowed to offer rooms like this.

The staff were friendly, but nothing else justified the price. It was ridiculously overpriced, and outside noise carried on late into the morning every night. The air conditioning never worked, and none of the staff knew how to use it. Madrid was extremely hot, but we couldn't open the window because of the noise. Some rooms don't even have a window, and there was no minibar or fridge to cool water, or safe. The only good thing was the location.