Where to stay in Madrid
Sol and Las Letras keep the palace and the museums on foot, Malasaña and La Latina put dinner under the window, and Salamanca and Chamberí trade the walk for quiet.
- First visit
- Sol or Las Letras
- Going out
- Malasaña and La Latina
- Quiet
- Chamberí and Salamanca
Madrid has no single district that suits everyone, only six that trade one thing for another. You are choosing between the palace and the museums on foot, dinner under the window, and a quiet street that needs the metro, and the price runs from a hostel bed (€13–22) to a four-star room above two hundred euros. The city charges no tourist tax, so no bill grows at the end.
The prices below are the hotel room range per night that a tourist guide publishes for each district, and they move with the date and the star rating. Las Letras has no range of its own; it sits between Sol and Lavapiés, so expect something between those two.
Sol and Centro, for a first visit
Sol is Spain's symbolic kilometre zero and the most central metro station, with lines 1, 2 and 3 and the commuter trains, so everything else stays close to you from there. Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace are on foot from here, so the first day needs no metro, and a four-star room costs €160–280 a night.
The price of the position is a loud street, because the square stays awake deep into the night. If you sleep lightly, ask for a room over the courtyard or move one stop away.
for two, per night, high season · mid-range for the city
Las Letras, museums on foot with a night out downstairs
Las Letras, with Calle Huertas, lies between Sol and the Paseo del Prado. Cervantes and Lope de Vega lived here, and their lines are set into the pavement. You walk to the Prado, and line 1 runs from Sol through Antón Martín to Estación del Arte, the nearest stop for the Reina Sofía.
Huertas is part of loud night-time Madrid, so the first floor above a bar is a poor choice if you sleep lightly, while the upper floors and the side streets are quieter.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
La Latina, for tapas and Sunday evenings
La Latina is a dense web of narrow medieval streets around Cava Baja, with one station, La Latina on line 5, which runs through Ópera and Callao to Gran Vía. A hotel costs €100–220 a night. Friday and Saturday are loud, and the narrow lanes keep a taxi from the door, which you feel when you arrive with a suitcase.
for two, per night, high season · the cheaper end of town
Malasaña, for independent bars and late evenings
Malasaña is the young, alternative post-Franco district: Plaza del Dos de Mayo, vintage shops, cafés and natural wine. The stations are Tribunal (lines 1 and 10) and Bilbao (lines 1 and 4), so Sol is one line away with no change. A hotel runs €120–200 a night.
At weekends the square drinks until three or four in the morning, and luxury hotels are few, so you will mostly choose among small hotels and apartments.
for two, per night, high season · the cheaper end of town
Salamanca, for quiet and an expensive room
Salamanca is a regular, wide grid of streets from the 1860s with the elegant shops on Serrano and Velázquez. The station is Serrano, line 4. A four-star room costs €220–380 a night, the dearest in this list. It suits couples who want calm and a wide pavement, while the street has less life in the evening than the old centre, so if you want a night out, sleep elsewhere.
for two, per night, high season · the pricier end of town
Chamberí, for a longer stay and the way residents live
Chamberí is a quiet residential district with cafés, Plaza Olavide and the Bilbao station on lines 1 and 4, and a hotel costs €100–180 a night. Hotels are fewer than in the centre but flats are easy to find, so it pays if you stay a week or more, and you reach Sol on line 1 with no change.
for two, per night, high season · the cheaper end of town
Lavapiés, the cheapest, with a street to check
Lavapiés, on line 3, is the cheapest of the six because a hotel costs €60–130 a night, and the district is mixed, but some streets feel rough after dark, so look at the street of the entrance before you book.
for two, per night, high season · the cheaper end of town
Rough prices by district
Per night, approximate, no extras — ≈
Where to next
What Madrid costs
→In Madrid the room makes the bill, not the museum: one hotel night costs more than the Prado, the Reina Sofía and the palace together.
Cuenca · 139 km
→Houses hanging over a gorge, an hour by train from Madrid
How well does Madrid suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Madrid
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Where should you stay in Madrid on a first visit?
Sol or Las Letras: the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor and the Paseo del Prado are on foot, and Sol carries metro lines 1, 2 and 3.
Does Madrid have a tourist tax?
No. The city council and the regional government ruled it out in 2024, so nothing is added to the room.
Which district is quiet for sleeping?
Chamberí and Salamanca. Both are residential and quieter in the evening, and the centre is a metro ride away.
Ready for Madrid?
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