Crowne Plaza Madrid Airport (Master Therad)
 

Located directly opposite the Holiday Inn Express, my cab driver did have some problems working out where it was as it was so new.

Currently in a soft opening, the EUR99 rate was pretty good.

The Club Lounge and restaurant are not open yet, but they provided bar snacks and room service, although I noticed the Room Service items were about EUR5 more than the same item in the bar. I understand the restaurant opens on 17 Jan 2011.

The staff could not have been nicer - very helpful, and willing to go the extra mile when I needed a document printed. The gave me a free wired internet code at check-in which worked fine and the internet was pretty fast.

Room was large, although located on the ground floor. The corridors have motion detectors to turn on the lights but I found they did not come on soon enough and I was half way down the corridor before it finally came on.

Bad points - shuttle only runs 4 times per day (6am, 8.30am, 8.30pm and 10.30pm)- twice in the morning and twice in the evening leaving you a EUR20 cab ride to get there or back. In room coffee machine was broken which is disappointing for a new hotel.

Will not come back
 

Had a terrible experience here. Can happen anywhere, but something tells me it will take awhile for this hotel to become a good option near MAD.

I contacted the hotel about the shuttle and was scheduled to be picked up at 10 pm. The flight was a bit delayed so I wasn't outside until 10:20 pm or so. I called the hotel and was told to wait for the shuttle. I was not told to wait at a particular spot, so I was waiting at the curb by the bus stops near the arrivals (this area, as the entire airport, is huge). After 50 minute wait I finally saw the shuttle for CP fly by at 50 kph and not even notice me waving my arm like crazy. There may be a special pick up area, but again I had to idea where that was, and wasn't told.

Anyway, cab driver had no clue where that is, but eventually (25 euro later) found it. It's almost 11:45 by then and I have to get up for the 4:30 am shuttle. No recognition of my Platinum status, no upgrade of any kind, not particularly friendly staff, but fine. Have dealt with worse. The room was perfectly clean and comfortable. I decided to check email, to find that I need a wifi code from the front desk. Pick up the phone and ... nothing! The phone is not even on. My foot is sprained, so I am not about to hobble downstairs for it. The shuttle in the morning was on time and took me to the airport.

This is the last time I'll use this place again. But I hope others have had better experiences here.

That "hospitality" attitude seems to be pretty common in Spain, and probably isn't isolated to this specific property (which, none the less, doesn't make it right though). I had gone to the hotel's website when I almost had to overnight it at MAD; and there doesn't seem to be any functional access to a train station from this location, unless you use the shuttle to/from the airport. The rate was pretty good though (I think around 70 Euros). Good thing I didn't have to waste my money.

Would appreciate more info on the shuttle. Can I trust it, or not?

I'm planning a return flight from Spain (Malaga) to the USA. I have 2 choices:
1. Do it all in one day - this would require a minimum of 3 flights and would make for a very long day, with arrival at my destination quite late. I could stay the night before my return at the Holiday Inn Express Malaga Airport.
2. Fly to Madrid on teh afternoon of day 1, stay overnight, then take an early (7 AM) flight back to the USA - this would get me home earlier, and I'd only have 2 flights on my main travel day. (I could stay at the Madrid Airport Crown Plaza overnight using my Priority Club credit card free night certificate.)

The ICH reservation agent told me that the CP Madrid shuttle runs 24 hours. If that is true, and if the shuttle will actually work for me, I'm tempted to take the overnight stopover in Madrid. But if the shuttle is hard to catch, then I'd drop the Madrid stayover idea. Using the 6 AM shuttle for a 7 AM international flight is cutting it pretty close.

Thanks for any help.

Tried this inexpensive option with an early flight out of MAD

Pros
1. Price (57++ Euros)
2. Free Mini Bar ( contains 3 items, a bottle of water , a Coke, and an imitation orange drink)
3. Reasonably decent room.


Cons
1. Airport Crown Plaza is strictly a name, it is a 30 Euro cab ride. it is likely close as the crow flies but not by car.
2. No upgrade available. They explained that the level right above my purchase was sold out, so if I wanted one even higher, I would have to buy it.
3. Managers can only be contacted via email ( asked for an explanation of above)
4. Remote, 6-7 Kilometers from nearest restaurant walking. If you take a taxi it is 20 Euros as its on a freeway service road and has only some long route to back track. They have a shuttle to nearby civilization, but it stops at 6:00PM.

When I stayed there about 7 months ago there was a free shuttle from/to
the Airport, operating 24hrs.
I used it several times late at night.
On their website it says that it is still operating 24hrs.

I will be staying there in September and emailed them about the shuttles. This is the information I got:

I'm pretty happy with that response.

I had said that the shuttle to the civilization(restaurants) stops at 6:00PM. I made no mention of the airport shuttle.

Stayed here a couple of weeks ago - shuttle was every 30 mins to the airport.

Also, as a lowly gold got upgraded to a suite that was huge and spotlessly clean.

Very good service overall.

Previous visits have been hit and miss but generally getting better over time.

Booked 67euro "executive double" but got upgraded to a very nice, very large "suite room". Couch and chairs in living area. Interesting bubble shower between bath and room with clear glass on both sides.

Bath also has huge spa tub.

Recognized as Spire. Option of points or one drink at check in. Actually showed up at about noon and no issue getting into room.

Had rental car and parked underground for 8euro/ night.

Pretty good cafe which is open most of the time. Got lunch at 2pm. Three courses for 12.5euro.

Very nice stay.

Can anyone comment on club access / club quality at the CP Madrid Airport? The CP site for this property says "Club Floor Lounge - Exclusive for bookers of Suite Room", but they are also selling other non-suite rooms as "Executive" rooms???

Does anyone have any experience with whether or not Spires / Platinums are granted club access (1) with status, (2) if upgraded to an executive room or (3) only if an executive room is originally booked?

Last time I got upgrade to J Suite but excluded lounge access as Spire

I stayed there last night and it was ok, sort of. To be honest, the place already looks a bit worn and tired but a lot of people must tramp in and out of there every day. It was a complicated mess trying to pay for the drinks with the vouchers they give out to elite guests, which irritated me a bit because I was quite tired and it was late. The room was ok, nothing special. On the other hand, the shuttle turned up quickly at the airport, within 5 minutes of making it to the hotel shuttle buses stop.

On a side note, there was a pretty good bonus points offer with 5,000 points for €15 extra. That was a good way to hit my Accelerate target.

Be vigilant on that shuttle - a friend witnessed a distraction burglary between the stooge on the bus and someone trying to ask the time of shuttles. The stooge grabbed the bag of the distracted and they both ran off. The bag had valuable computers and about $4,000 according to the owner.

I'd never heard of such a thing (July 2014).

Forwarned is forearmed

Thanks for the heads up. I think you just have to watch out for things like that when you're travelling generally. I've usually got my bag right with me, so no problem there.