Hi Madridman!

Right here is my report of my impressions:

I went to Madrid form 22nd till 25th of February and I have to say Madrid is one of the best cities I've ever been too because there is just something for everyone, go into any street and you will most certainly find an old beautiful building with style. The people are laid back and friendly and its all reasonably cheap (compared to UK). There is so much arts to see. It was great!"

As for Hostal Martin ...the rooms were clean and comfortable and me and my gf had a double bed room looking into the interior, although I had requested one looking onto the street. But that didn't matter because the street was actually quite loud so it was more quiet in the interior room. ANd yes I had the same problem as everyone...the waalls seem to be really thin so you could hear a pair getting it on quite loud next door and at night a man snoring so loud that I had to knock on the walls to make it stop (It didn't help though). So yeah it can be really loud. There were also some workers doing refurbishment or something like that in the basement but luckily they stopped hammering at about 9pm....probably because it was dinner time anyway.
Other than that the location was so ideal...so close to everything...I didnt use the metro once as everything is in walking distance. even on the day of my departure I walked from the Hostal in Calle de Atocha to Plaza Colon. You see so much more when you walk through the streets.
So all in all it was a good hostal although it was a bit loud. Another negative factor might have been that compared to Hostal Gonzalo (which is also highly recommended here and was actually my second choice) it is more expensive (more than 42 Euros per night). The people in the Hostal were really friendly though and spoke some english which was quite helpful. The security was also really good.

Thats my story

Rusty

PS: The cup of chocolates at La Suiza at Plaza Santa Ana is one of the best I've ever had! Secret Tip!

[ 02-25-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]