We have made a reservation there for our last night in Madrid because we have a very early morning flight (6:00 a.m.)the next day. They have an airport shuttle service and the price is reasonable compared to the other airport area hotels that are available. Just wondering if anyone has stayed there ( Hotel Avion ), or knows anything about the hotel. A search here turns up nothing (very unusual), and I'm not seeing anything in searches elsewhere. Thanks.
GG

We spent the last night of our trip at this hotel. The AeroCity shuttle dropped us off at the airport and we called for the hotel shuttle. They said they would pick us up in 5 minutes. More like 25 minutes later, a nice van arrived and we left for the hotel. It's actually very close to airport property, but the ride takes about 15-20 minutes (not the 5 minutes mentioned on the hotel's website). The hotel consists of a main building containing about 16 rooms, a separate building with many more rooms, each with an entrance directly to the outdoors (which I really don't like for security reasons). Fortunately we had rooms in the main building that were nicely furnished, had good lighting and satellite TV. The bathroom was nice and everything was very clean. Our room was on the front of the building near the main highway which provided considerable traffic noise all night. It was unseasonably warm so we had to choose between having the window and shutters open for some air, or louder traffic noise. There was no air conditioning as far as we could tell. Our friends' room was on the back side of the building and wasn't as noisy. Up at 4:00 to catch the 4:30 shuttle to the airport. No coffee available at the hotel at that early hour. At checkout, the bill was about 10 euros per room higher than the confirmed rate through the BW website. The clerk claimed he was powerless to change it since the clerk who had checked us in the previous day had made the error. We insisted and said we would not sign the credit card slips with the higher amount, so he did change it. We went to this hotel since at 90 euros double, it was considerably less expensive than any of the other airport area hotels. I'm not sure I would go back, but, there really don't seem to be any other moderately-priced options for those who need to stay near the airport for early morning departures.
GG

Hey GG2! Thanks a lot for the detailed feedback about Hotel Avion near Madrid's Barajas airport! Many people ask about this and other hotels near the airport and it's nice to finally have something here on the message board about one of them. Your initial posting and subsequent follow-up is much appreciated.

Saludos, MadridMan

I just returned from a wonderful 2 weeks in Spain. I also stayed my last night at the Hotel Avion, with the same thoughts - free airport shuttle - not too high a price. It worked for us since we were not planning on one last night in Madrid. The hotel is near the airport but is not accesable by Metro. A bus stop is located on the highway outside the motel - which we reached by walking thru a muddy path. You then must go 3 bus stops to reach the metro. We decided against it since nobody at the hotel was really sure which bus to take back (they said ALL the buses go by there!!! ) and what time the last bus would run. I am not sure I would stay there again but it was clean and did serve the purpose of getting to our flight on time. Many thanks for all the useful info that really made our trip so great. Can't wait to start planning the next one.

Another Best Western property near the airport is Villa Barajas with 36 rooms in one building. Very near the airport and the shuttle bus will pick you up and take you back. However if you must go to the airport before 6:00 am, they will get you a taxi. The rooms were very small but they were air conditioned and had good shutters to shut out the noise. The restaurant was excellent and all we wanted was a clean bed very close to the airport because we had to go to the airport so early. This more than met our needs :p .

No one has mentioned this hotel here recently, so, since I had an "interesting" stay there earlier this year, I'll update everyone who may be interested:
I've stayed at the Hotel Avion several times over the last 10 years or so, always been happy with the facility, considering all things (price, location, proximity to the airport).
Made a reservation via a web-based system for an overnight stay in March ('04). Arrived late p.m, as per plan, and found that the character of the hotel had changed somewhat -- it is now, essentially, a brothel (whorehouse)! I was somewhat alerted by the new name atop their exterior sign, something about "InterFoxy"...
At first, they denied knowledge of my reservation, saying it didn't come from their system.(?)
After some protracted discussion, I was "allowed" to stay for the night (solo), but they did not honor my printed-out price quote for a single room (said "all we have are "doubles"!). (It was after 11PM by this time and I didn't want to start a room search at that time of night, via a taxi, yet...)
I asked for a room that was quiet, away from "party central", and it was as good as ever (Amenities the same, except for the condom that was also provided!)
I'm a tolerant guy, I'd even stay there again, except for the issue of honoring the room price stated... BUT you don't want to arrive there innocently expecting a "mom and pop", resort hotel!
How you can still find it displayed on the web here and there with the "Best Western" logo prominently attached sure mystifies me! Their nightclub has been expanded, for all this additional nightlife.
I describe all this for you now because if you are a family arriving from out of town, you may not want to reserve this place and show up with small kids... You'd have some "interesting" explaining to do...!
If anyone else has been at the "Avion" recently, I'd be curious to hear your story. Apparently the change took place sometime in 2003; As I say, it is easy to stumble onto their name as a "real" hotel in sites on the web, so here's my travelers advisory on this one. (I tried to message Yahoo Travel about it, but they can't seem to be bothered!)
This character-change was probably caused by economic forces at work: the opening of the new "Auditorium" hotel nearby, plus the difficult vehicular access (inbound-direction only) off N-II which makes driving there yourself harder if you don't already know the area.
The highways are again being rebuilt and upgraded in this immediate area, so things may change again soon.
And thanks to MadridMan for an interesting and worthwhile site!

Thank you VERY MUCH for the 1-person recent review, Paul Rayton, and welcome to our message board.

I think it was about a 12-18 months ago that they wrote to me to change my listing of their hotel because they were no longer part of the Best Western hotel chain. When I saw their new website, I could see why!!! They had a "show bar" with dancers (or maybe they were strippers).

I guess there IS market for such places - especially near airports where businessmen are flying in for a day/night and leaving the next morning. ugh. :rolleys:

Saludos, MadridMan

Wow! Talk about back to the future: back in the early '70s when I was flying transports for the Air Force I stayed at the Avion a lot. It was not quite so blatant, but the "bar" had young women who would drink with you and I suspect were available to accompany you to your room.

I rode the bus to connect with the Metro, but I don't think it stopped more than once if I remember correctly (it has been a LONG time). It was close to Torrejon AB and their shuttle would take us back to the base.

ernie