Just tried to book a room for the night of January 2, 2005, which is over four months away. I have to layover and wanted to hit the Prado & Sofia museums.

When I spoke to the Spanish-only speaker in my Spanglish, she laughed because I was so temperano (early). She said to call back later and speak to the English-speaking person.

When I called back, the English-speaking person said all rooms were booked for that day.

This corroborates other postings that Hostal Lopez only wants multi-night tenants, so if you are looking for only one night, look elsewhere.

Hi EsMercadal! Welcome to our little message board!

While we can't know for sure what's happening in this case - it may very well be full on that day - but many owners of "hostales" prefer to say "we're "full" instead of "we don't take reservations that far in advance." I think this mostly applies to the smaller establishments the size of Hostal López . I'd be willing to bet that if you called back 2 months in advance of your intended stay that you'll find they may have a vacancy as I've never heard of a lodging establishment denying patrons a 1-night stay. 1-night is definitely better than 0-nights!

Saludos, MadridMan