Of the rave reviews which the Hostal/Hotel Residencia Galiano had received, the one that caught my eys most was its being a quiet hotel... Do they have a web site or even just an email address by which they can be contacted?

On the other hand, the Hotel Carlos V offers an "early bird" deal of 90 euro including breakfast. This looks like a not to miss offer, or doesn't it?

Last but not least, should I just settle for the much cheaper Hostal Adriano , which was dubbed in this forum 'the best hotel in Madrid'? (Provided they reply to my email request...)

Good question about Hostal/Hotel Residencia Galiano . I wasn´t aware of its website until I read your posting and did some research. You'll find it at http://www.hostalgaliano.com/ . They own both domain names of HostalGaliano.com AND HotelGaliano.com.

But yes, it does seem they call themselves a "hotel" and they do appear to have many of the characteristics of a hotel like a streetside entrance directly to the lobby. They ALSO have a car-park under the building and a dining room in the hotel for, I assume, breakfast.