I just returned from a 10 day stay at Hostal Adria/Adriano . I am pleased to be the first to report on it. Alberto gave me a personal tour upon my arrival and behaved more like a "proud papa" than a business owner. He gives most of the credit for the decorating to Enrique, but it seems to me to be a producer/director like thing.

You enter through the same door as the "older wing" but take a sharp left and you notice a different ambience. There is carpet in the halls (for the noise). The ceiling is lined with hand-made arches and decoratve plaster mouldings.

There is a full sitting room with several chairs, a crystal chandelier that matches the one in the lobby and the companion piece of original art (a Las Meninas theme) to the other in the lobby.

The rooms are more varied but as original as the other side. They all feature the same handmade mouldings and arches of the hallways, some highlighted with colors, others stark white. Some of the rooms have antiques desks, chests and chairs refinished by Enrique. All have a mix of original art, prints and photos on the walls. All the rooms have sliding sound proof windows with the traditional green slat "cortina" to keep out the sun.

Especially striking to me was the 'black and white' room, which was stenciled with a greek key
design and featured some great B&W aviation photos and bed and bath linens in stark black and white designs. I also was able to peek into the Maria Callas room, which was decorated with sheet music and a picture of the Diva.

To keep up with the new wing, the whole hostal (Adria y Adriano) has been fitted/retro-fitted with:

Digital safes (Alberto says, "Americans like 'em". I agree!)

Electric air fresheners.

Full length mirrors.

Overhead, adjustable high volume shower heads.

Samsung air conditioning. (Real cold stuff, American style!)

Ceiling fans

Refrigerators (I like to bring ice cream home and eat it later!)

An elevator now carries you effortlessly to the fourth floor.

Also returned from the Adriano. The staff is very helpful, the rooms are great, as is location. Just ask for a inside room. I stayed twice at the Adriano over the last 3 weeks and the inside room is definitely much quieter. As a womean traveling alone and staying at different Hostals I appreciated the attention to detail.

Also just returned from Hostal Adriano. Stayed 9/11-18 and 9/28-30. It is everything reported and more. The place may be great but the staff puts it over the top. Other people I met at a conference could not believe what I had discovered on madridman.com.One other participant
even changed to stay at Adriano. I can't wait to return. Wouldn't stay anywhere else in the city.
The local'ladies' don't bother anyone not interested.Stayed in the 'greek'room my first night and 2 other rooms over my stay.Each was beautiful.Javier,Vlad and Alex keep things perfect.

I just received word from Hostal Adriano that they have installed CNN, BBC and channels from Germany, France and Italy.

I, along with many others, do appreciate this website more than you'll ever know! Thanks Madrid Man!

Question regarding the Hostal Adria. When making reservations, do you need to specify that you would like to stay in the Adria or the Adriano? Or do they just put you in which ever they choose? My husband and I will be traveling to Spain in May 2004. He is a hotel kinda guy but from reading this message board I think we would miss out on so much culture by staying in hotels vs. hostals. Since he is turning this over to me I must make absolutely sure I'm making very good reservations (so he won't regret letting me do it my way ). We were struggling with making our own reservations for our stay in Spain. We will be there 12 days visiting Madrid, Sevilla, Grenada, and Costa del Sol (with some day trips thrown in). The travel agent that we were considering going through is only interested in helping if we decide to stay in hotels (we are traveling using frequent flyer miles). We could pay her a fee to book our hostals and rental car but this seems like a waste of money? Any input?

Hopefully Mongo (or others) can give you his personal insight about whether they'll book you at Hostal Adriano or send you across the hall to the brand new Hostal Adria if they're full. I haven't seen Hostal Adria yet but can only imagine it's as nice if not nicer than Adriano. Surely it has brand new furniture since it's only been open a month or two. The only "downfall" (what a choice of words!) is that there is no elevator and one must walk up 4 flights of stairs to reach it. So if either of you has health/heart/knee-joint issues this might be of concern.

As for your other destinations, feel free to post your questions in this forum but also be sure to do a SEARCH using the SEARCH link above/right using specific keywords with city location and the word "HOSTAL".

Good luck and enjoy your time in Spain.

Saludos, MadridMan

I believe they are running it as one hostal, so if you would prefer The Adria, you would need to ask. Although 'Adria' is more ornate, you would still be doing very well in 'Adriano'. The service is the same in both.

Hi RedRedWine!!

My first trip to Spain was with two of my kids and I was really nervous about the hostals. (My husband still has not been able to come on a trip to Spain with me!) We booked nothing but hostals and they were wonderful. If you do some searching under my name you can find some of my previous postings about the areas you are going to visit. We were there for 6 weeks. I returned last year and am returning twice in 2004.

You get more out of a trip when you plan it yourself. With the use of the internet it is easy to book your own places and rent your car. Save the fee.

By the way, our college kids love weekend visits to Wilmington.

Feel free ask for help!!