We reserved three rooms, a twin and two doubles for (unfortunately) the night of the Madrid - Barcelona football game. When we attempted check in, for close to an hour, the desk staff was challenged by only having set aside one twin room. Subsequently, they found a second twin at the Senator about two blocks away. The following morning when it came time to check out of the Senator, our party was asked to pay a 300 euro rate when the prepaid rate was about 1/3 that amount at the Santo Domingo. We got the desk staffs to communicate to resolve the issue in our favor.

The lobby is attractive as the pictures show. I found it a bit strange that one of the elevators was about 6 steps up from the other two. I guess adding them late in the hotel's life may have been a challenge.

The twin rooms are tiny as we expected. We had to separate the bed halves to meet our social objectives. As our phones registered with Vodafone ES or Telefonica, the speakers in the ceiling proclaimed the transaction with a strange noise. A bit irritating after bed time.

The hotel location is pretty nice, just a few blocks from the historical city square where we met up with local friends prior to going to a great restaurant for delicious lamb.

When I return to Madrid, I will continue shopping for hotels by staying at another one.

Staff WERE helpful and friendly (and we had no Spanish). Breakfast was more than adequate - kept us going 'til well into the afternoon when we boarded our flight home. The room could have been bigger, but there was still a lot of space; and the bathroom was large. The Metro being so close helped with our travel about the city (surely, the only way to go!). Our room on the first floor had a neat wee balcony from which we could watch the Madrid world go by - and through the S. Dom. Plaza. We were not annoyed by any noise/s (except for the door of another resident being banged shut). Cannae complain, as they say.

The best thing about the BW Santo Domingo is its location. It's one minute from Grand Via (one of Madrid's main shopping streets) - and 30 seconds from the superb Madrid Metro (the station is actually called "Santo Domingo"). The hotel is also very nicely decorated and my room was kept spotlessly clean. So, if you want a well located, clean, interesting hotel then BW Santo Domingo will not disappoint.

But I found the staff pretty cold - especially the reception desk people. They could do with a salary raise and lessons on how to smile. Oh, and they should learn some English... you know the language that is the most widely spoken in the world - although this could be an act to get rid of you (they gave off that sort of vibe - "go away, I'm busy").

The hotel has wi-fi thoughout BUT ITS NOT FREE (the info given inferred that it was) and is very expensive (14E per day - around £12/$20) and pretty flakey.

My advice is thay if you're going to Madrid on company expenses then the BW Santo Domingo is fine. If you're paying yourself, find another place out of town (but near the Metro) and save yourself a packet - and maybe get the odd smile from the staff).

One last thing, if you're coming from the airport, use the Metro to get to the hotel. It takes around 45 minutes, costs buttons and the Madrid Metro is the best one I've ever experienced.

I only gave it one star because non was not an option. Rooms are like shoeboxes and I dont just mean the size, I think the walls are cardboard may as well be open plan! 4* hotel hmmmmmmm. I have stayed in better hostels. staff are miserable no tea and coffee facilities in the room (probably could not fit the kettle in). No need for an alarm call as people start wandering in and out of your room from about 9 o'clock onwards. window looks in to a shaft. I could go on..............