Nice restaurant in MAD T4 before passport control
Mar 11, 2024, 4:08 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,210
I'm sure everyone following this thread is being kept awake at night wondering about the outcome so I'll let you out of your misery and let you know that I successfully got the Metro to Barajas and spent a few hours in Egun-On which is about ten minutes walk from the metro station.
Very pleasant ambiance full of local residents (I was the only obvious non-Spaniard) and so I achieved what I wanted. For the record, I had the cod-stuffed peppers as a starter and lamb chops main course (which arrived, curiously, in reverse order) accompanied by three glasses of Rioja. All good, though I wouldn't say it's an experience I would go out of my way to repeat because walking back to the station I saw there are plenty of places to eat and drink along the main road and most of them would have done the job so I want to reassure anyone looking for something similar to me that eating out from T4 in the evening here is easy.
I'll update this with my experience sleeping in T4 tomorrow. The T4 hotel is trivial to find being right by the Metro ticket machine area and I'm about to attempt my sleep.
As an aside, the Madrid Metro is not friendly at all to visitors because this one-stop journey taking a few minutes from T4 costs a relative fortune because you have to buy a Metro card and pay the €3 airport supplement each way. I bought a €10 daily tourist card for this return journey because it appeared to be slightly cheaper than two singles from the machine. I've not seen this type of insane gouging by metros in other European cities.
Very pleasant ambiance full of local residents (I was the only obvious non-Spaniard) and so I achieved what I wanted. For the record, I had the cod-stuffed peppers as a starter and lamb chops main course (which arrived, curiously, in reverse order) accompanied by three glasses of Rioja. All good, though I wouldn't say it's an experience I would go out of my way to repeat because walking back to the station I saw there are plenty of places to eat and drink along the main road and most of them would have done the job so I want to reassure anyone looking for something similar to me that eating out from T4 in the evening here is easy.
I'll update this with my experience sleeping in T4 tomorrow. The T4 hotel is trivial to find being right by the Metro ticket machine area and I'm about to attempt my sleep.
As an aside, the Madrid Metro is not friendly at all to visitors because this one-stop journey taking a few minutes from T4 costs a relative fortune because you have to buy a Metro card and pay the €3 airport supplement each way. I bought a €10 daily tourist card for this return journey because it appeared to be slightly cheaper than two singles from the machine. I've not seen this type of insane gouging by metros in other European cities.
Mar 12, 2024, 5:35 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: IHG Diamond Ambassador, Accor Plat, M&M FTL, BA Blue, QR Gold
Posts: 3,738
Yes, sorry for the ticket thingy. To/from Barajas, the free shuttle to T 1/2/3 and then the local bus 101 is a good alternative, not *that* much slower and stops closer to most restaurants, tickets for the local bus are € 1.50 single, bought from the driver.
Mar 12, 2024, 9:46 am
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,210
If anyone is thinking about staying at the hotel in the basement of T4 then it did the job. Quite easy to find upon arrival because you just go down one level to the Metro ticket machines and double back on yourself. So, the Air Rooms by Hello Sky cost me GBP140 for the night booking through Revolut which I believe gives you Expedia rates but with 10% immediate cash back. Booking direct on their web site was insanely more expensive. No best rate guarantee here.
It's a single corridor of what I guess is pre-fabricated units. They gave me a room at the end of the corridor that was spotlessly clean and had a Nespresso machine. No problems with noise at this end of the corridor but I'd guess the rooms near reception would not be effectively soundproofed.
It's not a hotel experience but simply a place with a clean bed and shower so it was fine for what it was and waking up at 6am, showering, drinking a proper coffee, and getting the lift up to Departures on Level 2 in about 10 minutes cannot be beaten.
It's a single corridor of what I guess is pre-fabricated units. They gave me a room at the end of the corridor that was spotlessly clean and had a Nespresso machine. No problems with noise at this end of the corridor but I'd guess the rooms near reception would not be effectively soundproofed.
It's not a hotel experience but simply a place with a clean bed and shower so it was fine for what it was and waking up at 6am, showering, drinking a proper coffee, and getting the lift up to Departures on Level 2 in about 10 minutes cannot be beaten.