Smartr Madrid Gran Vía 47 — Hotel in Madrid

I booked this hotel because the Expedia rating was pretty good. Then I read the Google reviews and realized that this place may not have been a great choice.

ARRIVING AT THE HOTEL: First of all, arriving can be a little confusing. On Expedia, it gives you the instructions to always check in down the street a bit at Gran Vía 42 (for my fellow North Americans, the 47 is the street address. They say “Broadway 47” instead of “47 Broadway” like we would). When you make your reservation, the hotel sends you an email that between certain hours of the day you should go directly to Gran Vía 47, which turned out to be true.

If you look on Google Maps ahead of time, there is a bus blocking the entryway so I’ll post a picture of it. It’s immediately to the left of the Atlético de Madrid (soccer team) store.

THE BUILDING: It’s in one of those beautiful old buildings in the center of Madrid that was probably built around the 1880s and has a “portal” to enter the building, high ceilings, the classic old-school doors to the rooms (with a center nob), and crown molding.

LOCATION: The location is fantastic. You are within easy walking distance of Callao and close to the Plaza Mayor, Malasaña, the Puerta del Sol. There are several subway (metro) lines nearby as well as commuter train access nearby.

RECEPTION: Checking in was quick and easy. The ladies we spoke with were friendly and helpful. We read reviews about the receptionists being rude, but we did not experience that at all. There was a third receptionist that we didn’t talk to, but he seemed nice too. In the morning when we checked out the gentleman that was there was both friendly and efficient.

AIR CONDITIONING: I think it got up to 103 degrees (almost 40 degrees C) when we were in Madrid and the feeble air conditioner could not keep up with that high-ceiling room. I don’t think it got cooler than about 80 degrees in the room even with the A/C on all night. This was room 609 so maybe the air conditioning works better in other rooms, but I had read about this problem in some of the reviews.

THE ROOM: Our room was 609, which was a studio with a few of the Gran Vía. It had a kitchenette with plates, silverware, a stovetop espresso maker (cafetera italiana), a stovetop, and a mini-fridge. You’ll have to bring your own coffee grounds though. The double bed was comfortable, although pushed up against a wall so one person did not have a night stand and has to climb over the other person to get out. I’d reconfigure the room so that the bed is parallel to the windows and the desk is in the nook where the head of the bed is since it’s intended to be a single room.

THE BATHROOM: The bathroom was fine. The shower had great water pressure. The main downside was that the shower had one of those goofy Spanish (European?) half-walls so there is no way to keep the water in the bathtub. So as usual in Spain, you will need some towels for drying the floor when you get out. By the way, hotel staff, if you read this, the drain doesn’t work very well in the bathtub in room 609.

They do provide soap and shower gel in wall-mounted containers.

NOISE: The dealbreaker for us, and why we’ll try a different hotel the next time, is that you can clearly hear people’s conversations and showers from the other rooms. Some of our neighbors came back to their room around 2:30 AM and woke us up talking and showering. They weren’t drunk and loud or anything…. They were just talking at normal voices, but you could hear everything. It kept us away until they finally went to bed (maybe an hour later). It was honestly hard to sleep anyway being about 80 degrees in the room.

SUMMARY: Great location and friendly staff, but I don’t recommend this place (at least not room 609) in the summer, and I can’t recommend it any time of the year if hearing people from the other rooms will...

Hello. I give 2 of 5 stars because good location in Madrid, and confortable apartement. Service and capacity of solving problems, help client and good phone assistance was very very bad. All started by had to ask 3 times in 1 day and a half until had some help on where to park car, but ok very busy so we can manage. The major problem was: day 1 we ( with 3 children) had trouble coming in the door with the link sended, but we reported and after 15minutes it open. Day 2 same and nothig done. Day 3 almost one hour to go in and they send a Tec person who conclued that the elctric piece as to be replaced and they will do next day. Day4 we return at 9 pm to apartement and it did not open! I phone to assistant that did not now the problem they themselfes identify day before + did not talk to me verbal , only messages , sayng they will see, " i can not talk because i am very busy" " try to push and pull" , it did answer why they not deliver key nowing the problem day before. 1hour and 15 minutes after a nice enplyee appear with th key. 5 minutes before the door opened. As SmartRental was douting my word ( and of they own Maintenece information!) we close the door and, off course, the person from SmartRental did not manage to open with the link, because it was not working good ( elctric piece). The person atemding phone ( Irene) was so so bad that at 10 pm, afrer all this mess , she even asked, " if you are in, why need the key?" , so i should stay stuck in apartement being afraid of get stuck out with 3 children? This damage half of our experience in Madrid, even delaying the last day, as i feel oblieged to do formal written complain, to the future clients do not sufer...

DONT STAY HERE. SO MANY BETTER OPTIONS NEAR BY. The hotel is a complete disappointment. The room looked like a dungeon. They have a horrible ventilation system and you can smell everything from the other rooms cooking. You can hear everything too, so if your neighbor uses the bathroom, you can hear it all. We asked to check out early as we were uncomfortable and we’re denied. Not even asking for a refund of the nights stayed, just to not be charged the nights we will NOT stay. The manager left on Friday and is the only person who can make the decision on our early check out AND HE WONT BE BACK UNTIL TWO DAYS. completely ridiculous. Not to mention they denied any refunds completely. If you’re a woman, it’s impossible to have any privacy, the other rooms can see right into yours and you’re forced to keep the curtains closed at all times otherwise exposing yourself. I was made feel very uncomfortable. The poor front desk was acomodable but the manager restricted any possible immediate solutions. For such a great area, it is a shame that they have such bad customer service being that it is so competitive with the AMAZING hotel...