Vitium Urban Suites

“Simple budget option on Gran Vía”

Located a little further up on busy Gran Vía near Plaza de España. Not my favorite part of Madrid, but convenient Metro access and the ability to walk to Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace or Puerta del Sol in ~15 minutes makes it a good home base. Our room on the back side of the hotel was basic, cl... more

Located a little further up on busy Gran Vía near Plaza de España. Not my favorite part of Madrid, but convenient Metro access and the ability to walk to Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace or Puerta del Sol in ~15 minutes makes it a good home base. Our room on the back side of the hotel was basic, clean and reasonably comfortable, small but not cramped. Windows did an excellent job of blocking out sound in this noisy neighborhood. They do have A/C, but you may find opening the window works better. Just bring ear plugs if you plan to sleep that way. Note that from the street, you take stairs or the small elevator up to the office on the 5th floor (what we’d call 6th floor in the US). I believe rooms are either on that floor and the 4th. The staff was friendly and helpful and spoke much better English than my horrible Spanish. I believe they do offer breakfast, but we chose to save a little and just grab something from one of several coffee/pastry places nearby. Overall a fine option for simple, non-luxury accomodations in a convenient, relatively central location.

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“Great Location, Great Price, Staff could use Some training”

the pros: The hostal's (not a hotel, not a hostel) online photos do not do it justice. It is even better looking in person and you really get good value for your money especially because of its PRIME location. The room I stayed in was the right size for a solo traveler. The bathroom is VERY small... more

the pros: The hostal's (not a hotel, not a hostel) online photos do not do it justice. It is even better looking in person and you really get good value for your money especially because of its PRIME location. The room I stayed in was the right size for a solo traveler. The bathroom is VERY small. It is hard to maneuver in there even to get in the shower. This is not a big deal but something I think travelers should know ahead of time. Again, the best thing about this place besides the price is the location. The Cons: The front desk staff are very short with you and have snippy attitudes. The hospitality industry is one where it is 100% guaranteed that you will encounter tourists from all walks of life, countries, and backgrounds. So if this is something that bothered them I do not understand why they chose this profession. They seem annoyed even if you say good morning or hello to them in Spanish. You can't seem to win with these folks and I'm not a sensitive person, coming from NYC, but it is universal in the hospitality world that it is bad business to treat your customers like you don't want them there. If this is a deal-breaker for you, then this might not be the right place to stay. But for the affordability of the room, I dealt with it. Secondly, not too long after my first day, a smell that resembled raw sewage seeped through the hallway and persisted throughout the entirety of my stay. It was only in the hallway and front desk area but not in my room thank goodness. Overall, I still liked my stay enough to not be turned off by the negative side and I think it would be much improved once you hire more personable staff.

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“Centrally located (perfect!), clean, comfortable. But.....”

I spent a few days in this hotel. The welcome was not really " warm" (contrary to the weather). I think this is kind of an issue for me. I'd rather be in a hotel in which personnel is really friendly (and be in a mediocre room) than a hotel with people that are not really interested in their clie... more

I spent a few days in this hotel. The welcome was not really " warm" (contrary to the weather). I think this is kind of an issue for me. I'd rather be in a hotel in which personnel is really friendly (and be in a mediocre room) than a hotel with people that are not really interested in their client. The room was comfortable and very good. Breakfast was served in a room that wasn't very interesting too. So...... great location, if you don't expect much welcome her you'll be in the right place. For me I'd say: step up and show some interest in your client (and having travelled to 100+ (probably even 200+?) hotels in the world, I can have an opinion about the matter.

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