sel, yes, Calle de Huertas is closed to traffic (except for delivery trucks only during certain hours in the morning and afternoon) from near Paseo del Prado all the way to Plaza Santa Ana. So no, no taxis/cars will be able to take you to the door of
Hostal López but will take you to one of the cross-streets or one block over/back. So a taxi/
AeroCITY will be able to take you NEAR the door but not TO the door. The owners of Hostal López have expressed some anxiety about this as well and the conversion of their street to a pedestrian street has taken some toll on their business, they say.
sel, take a look at Hostal López's address, Calle de Huertas, 54, on the QDQ.com site
HERE . You'll see the street shown in grey/beige as a pedestrian street. A taxi could take any number of street to get you to that cross street just "above" the Hostal López door.
lexis, for me to say "It's Safe. You won't have any problem" would leave me open for a lawsuit should anything happen to you. I can tell you that Huertas is not at all a "bad" neighorhood.
Question: If one person in 1,000 get pick-pocketed in Huertas does this mean that Huertas is not "safe"?
I'd have to say that chances are EXCELLENT that nothing will happen to you at night and chances are even better that nothing will happen to you during the day.
Huertas is no "Artistic Barcelona", that's for sure, but Huertas is SO "Old Madrid" and has so much charm as any old neighborhood in Spain. The thing you'll want to be MOST careful about are the cars and motor scooters zipping by at high speeds but with these narrow streets you can usually hear them coming from some great distance but on Calle de Cervantes, for example, there's really very little traffic as I recall from my experience during Holy Week - the time that half the city leaves for somewhere else.
I think I would feel MORE comfortable if I stayed with my family in Huertas than, say, around Puerta del Sol or Plaza Mayor areas. Although, I think I would still
generally feel safe even around there.
Safety. What is
Safety? There a VERY low violent crime rate in Madrid but the petty crimes are on the rise. Petty crimes include pickpockets, purse snatchers, and camera cases grabbed when they're put down while paying the bill at a bar or while you're sitting on a bench in Plaza Santa Ana or Plaza Mayor for example.
You'll find LOTS AND LOTS of postings about Safety in Madrid and other locations in Spain in the "Safety & Security" forum of our message board. I have to tell you that (I'm convinced that) MOST of those postings are by that 1 in 1000 people who had some bad luck and felt the understandable need to share their experiences and warn others. Afterall, these people have the loudest voices.
Have a wonderful time. Saludos, MadridMan