For two consecutive years, we found ourselves in Madrid on the last day of our spring break trip. Both times, Madrid was an afterthought. The main purpose of the visits was that we needed to fly home, and Madrid has a lot of flights that go to Chicago. What we learned in those two visits is that our enjoyment of the city was highly dependent on the neighborhood where we were staying.
The first trip took place in March of 2025, after spending six days on the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago. We had just gotten off the train from Santiago de Compostela and were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. I thought that, having spent most of the week in hostels, a stay at a highly rated hotel would be a great way to cap the week.
We showed up in the lobby in our Camino backpacks and dusty shoes and stood in the lobby waiting to get into our hotel. We were out of place. Most of the other guests were dressed in suits and dresses, and we were clearly the riff-raff who stumbled in off the trail. Our rooms were not ready yet, but we were allowed to leave our backpacks, so we left to go explore the area and get some lunch.
The area around the hotel was modern and noisy. There was considerable traffic from Paseo de la Castellana, an 8-lane road, with adjoining frontage roads. We walked west of the main road and found a string of white-tablecloth restaurants. I really wanted a beer and some tapas, but after looking at about a dozen restaurants, I realized that the food here was going to be expensive and the atmosphere formal.
We did manage to find a place, quite a way away from the hotel, that had some sandwiches and that, at least, got us fed. The prices were a bit of a shock, compared to what we had been paying on the Camino; however, pretty much in line with what you would expect to pay in a modern city. On the walk back to the hotel, I thought, we need to get out of this area. It’s not that Castellana was a dangerous or ugly part of Madrid; it’s just that it’s similar to any American city. Noisy, modern, lots of cars. Frankly, this just isn’t how I envisioned Madrid.
By the time we got back to the hotel, they were not quite ready to get us our rooms. The kids were able to get their room, but we ended up waiting until around 4:30 to get ours. By the time we had checked in, the evening was already setting in, and we decided to go out and find some dinner.
After a week of drinking Galicia Estrella, I was in the mood to try some craft beer. We took a cab to a little pizza place called Brew Wild Pizza Bar. They had a nice selection of beer and some really great, unique pizzas. The bar itself is small, but it has a really cool brick cellar in the basement. It would have been great to hang out in the basement, but someone was throwing a party down there, so we took a table by the bar. Luckily, we managed to get there before the rush, because this place filled up to standing room only by the time we left.
Even though we took a cab out to Brew Wild Pizza Bar, we decided to walk back to the hotel. In the evening, the city was quite beautiful. We walked past a lot of the administrative buildings in the city, illuminated by the lights of the city. On the way back, we stopped for a drink inside a plastic tent along the route. The tent was actually a restaurant’s outdoor seating, which was covered to protect it from the weather. I guess that was smart, because it began to rain hard while we were there, and we ended up taking a cab back to the hotel.
At night, especially, Madrid was beautiful, but we didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. We had only spent a small amount of time there, but I was expecting something livelier, more vibrant. This wasn’t what I hoped for, and frankly, I think it was the location of the hotel. The Castellana neighborhood was something for bankers and businessmen to enjoy. I was disappointed, not necessarily in Madrid itself, but rather that I hadn’t chosen a neighborhood that matched our travel style.
When we decided to go to Tenerife for our spring break trip the next year, once again, it made sense to fly out of Madrid. This was our opportunity to see if we weren’t thrilled with Madrid itself, or if it was just that we chose the wrong neighborhood. We went looking for a hotel in the area around Plaza Mayor. The prices of hotels weren’t exactly low in that area, so we ended up settling for a hostel with private rooms. It was the Live It Gran Via hostel.
Checking in at the hostel, we realized we weren’t getting five-star accommodations. There wasn’t any air conditioning, as expected, but there also wasn’t a fan in our room, and the window didn’t produce any air movement either, because it opened onto the atrium rather than the street. The bathrooms were shared and down the hall. Being diplomatic, I would say the accommodations were modest; however, when we walked outside, the streets were packed full of pedestrians, and there were restaurants and shops everywhere. This was a great location.
I wanted to go to Plaza Mayor, so we immediately walked in that direction. The route took us along Calle de Bordadores, a narrow road filled with 4 and 5-story buildings. Shops dominated the ground floor, and above were apartments with Juliet balconies. While there was some traffic, this road was a single lane and mostly pedestrian, a welcome contrast to the busy multi-lane roads in the Castellana neighborhood.
We reached Plaza Mayor, and it was full of life. A lot of it seemed to be dominated by tourist groups, but there were plenty of people stopping for lunch or a drink and sitting, enjoying a coffee or beer. We looked around for a while, but we had something else in mind – a little treat for our son Alex.
Part of my plan was to stop at a variety of places and get some tapas. While we were in Tenerife, we turned on Somebody Feed Phil one night. We rewatched the Madrid episode, and he tried the shrimp at La Casa del Abuelo. He was gushing about how good it was (in all fairness, Phil Rosenthal emphatically loves everything). Alex said he wanted to try it, and it happened to be just outside of Plaza Mayor. We did try the shrimp and another dish, and while it was good, I think Phil might’ve oversold it a little bit.
We then headed to the street in Madrid known for a high concentration of tapas bars. Calle de la Cava Baja, over the course of a couple of blocks, has dozens of tapas bars. The problem for us was that it was around 2 in the afternoon, and most of these bars hadn’t yet opened. There were enough for us to get a sample of tapas from a few bars, which was plenty. While it would have been fun to be there in the middle of the rush, it was nice to know that the servers had plenty of time to deal with us when we were confused about what to order and how.
We tried a variety of bocadillos (sandwiches), including a calamari bocadillo, croquettes, and some kind of cold shredded whitefish on toast. It was a great way to get a quick sampling of Spanish cuisine. With our bellies full, we went out to explore more of the city. We did a little bit of shopping, because Alex wanted to visit the Uniqlo, since we don’t have that in Iowa.
We then headed across town to Bee Beer, a brewery in the Chueca neighborhood. Microbreweries aren’t common in Madrid, but we managed to find one that was pretty interesting. I had a pint of Coronel Mostaza, an IPA with Mustard seeds, named after a character in a board game, if that’s enough of a clue for you. The atmosphere was fun, the bartender was engaging, and the beer was very good. We had a great time there.
Leaving Bee Beer, we started our walk back toward our hotel. Over the course of the day, the streets had been filling up with pedestrians. Now it was dusk, and the streets were filling up with people who were eating, drinking, and returning home from work. There was an electricity to the crowds in this area of Madrid. This really isn’t that different from a similar time of the day in most cities in the US, but instead of traffic noise from cars, it was the more pleasant sound of footsteps and people chatting.
We needed some food and decided to stop at Divorare, a sandwich shop using focaccia as the bread. All of the sandwiches on the menu at Divorare were interesting. I got a Diavola sandwich, and Jenn got a sandwich with Mortadella, Pesto, and Stracciatella. Diavore has a funky vibe, and the food is fast casual. It’s perfect for a day of exploring the city. Our sandwiches were delicious, and after our meal, we headed back to the hotel to go to bed and prepare for our flight home the next day.
Two different days, two different locations, and two completely different impressions of the city. Having visited London for two days at the beginning of the trip, it’s easy to see that when you visit cities that are as large as London, Madrid, Paris, etc., choosing a neighborhood that fits your travel style is important. If you are someone who likes 5-star accommodations and 5-star dining, then maybe you want to stay in that city’s financial district. We like to stay where average everyday citizens eat, work, and play. That’s where the energy is; that’s where you’ll get a great sense of that city’s culture.
When we planned the trip to Tenerife, I was actively trying to avoid Madrid, because I didn’t enjoy our first visit. I’m glad that we got a second chance to explore the city. The fact of the matter is, it’s one of the few cities with a lot of direct flights back to Chicago, so chances are we will find our way back here again. The difference is that now, I’m looking forward to it.
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