Priceline Hotel: 5* Madrid (Airport Barajas) Hilton Madrid Airport

[hcm]

Saw that this price has been accepted in the past for the Hilton, and seeing as there are no other 5* hotels in the area, and it is extremely highly rated by almost everyone at tripadvisor, Expedia, PRICELINE, etc., I wanted to get this deal.

Made one bid, $100, and got it. Used the link at top right of betterbidding forum to get to PRICELINE.

Check-In Date: Monday, October 5, 2009

Check-Out Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009

Hotel Name: Hilton Madrid Airport

Avenida De La Hispanidad 2-4

Madrid, Spain

34 911534 000

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Looks like a nice deal for a 5* rated hotel. Hope you're happy with the results and this property works well for your plans.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[hcm]

Just wanted to follow up on this win of mine, as background for future travelers. This was a very nice hotel, but I have the following comments you should keep in mind:

1. The hotel has a free shuttle bus that will pick you up at the airport - although it comes frequently, you should take the phone number along in case you want to call them to get you right away.

2. The hotel is in a very hard to find location off a service road behind the cargo area of the airport - taxis get lost all the time trying to find it. They enter 'hilton barajas' in their GPS and nothing comes up.

3. If you stay here and do need a taxi to pick you up at the hotel, I recommend you IGNORE the front desk and simply wait for a taxi that is dropping someone off - they want to call a taxi for you, which will often take longer, and it results in a fee being added to the taxi meter, because they start their meter the moment they take the call from the hotel and run the meter all the way while they come to get you. Not a pleasant surprise to have an extra 7 bucks on the meter when it arrives.

4. The metro in madrid is wonderful and cheap (1 euro). It is close to the hotel, but you do walk over a freeway overpass to get there - so it takes about 10 minutes to walk there. it's a nice neighborhood and a pleasant walk. it will take you less time, and of course cost you a fraction, to use the metro to get downtown as compared with a taxi. I just don't think taxis are necessary from this hotel.

5. The breakfast buffet here is huge and fantastic. Luckily, it was included in our rate. However, I have no idea if they will always include the buffet in the priceline rate; frankly I was surprised. Not much you can do; just be aware that you might get breakfast and might not.

6. They also told me I would get the Hilton HH Honors points. Not sure if I will, but that would be another unexpected bonus.

7. Internet and telephone calls are astronomically expensive - just don't, if at all possible - the internet costs something like 19 euros per day, or 1 euro a minute in the business center, and the local telephone calls are about 3 euros a minute, and calls to cel phones are 4 euros a minute.

8. The pool and workout room are fantastic, and there is a sauna and steamroom - it's one of the best pools I have ever seen.

Hope those tips are helpful!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the detailed follow-up/review.

[MrSparkle]

Thank you for the detailed follow-up/review.

+1 I will be booking my trip in the upcoming weeks for this summer and this is quite helpful.